| 2008 FedEx Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 74th Orange Bowl BCS Bowl Game | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 3, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Dolphin Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Miami Gardens, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Aqib Talib, Kansas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Virginia Tech by 3 (50.5)[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | Katharine McPhee | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Bill LeMonnier (Big Ten) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | ZZ Top, DJ Irie and various high school marching bands | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 74,111 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$17 million per team[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | Fox | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Kenny Albert, Darryl Johnston and Barry Alvarez[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2008 FedEx Orange Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Kansas Jayhawks on January 3, 2008, at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Spread bettors favored Virginia Tech by three points, but in a game dominated by defensive and special teams play, Kansas defeated Virginia Tech 24–21. The game was part of the 2007–08 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) of the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season and was the concluding game of the season for both teams. This 74th edition of the Orange Bowl was televised in the United States on Fox and was watched by more than eight million viewers.
The game between the fifth-ranked ACC champion Virginia Tech Hokies and the eighth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks from the Big 12 Conference (Big 12) was played at neutral-site Dolphins Stadium. Tech served as the home team in the contest. Virginia Tech automatically qualified for the Orange Bowl by virtue of the ACC's tie-in with the bowl, while the Orange Bowl selected Kansas over West Virginia, which had been upset by then 4–7 Pittsburgh, and conference rival Missouri. Two weeks after Kansas's selection, controversy erupted when a deal was revealed to put 4th-ranked Oklahoma against Virginia Tech. The deal was vetoed by BCS commissioners, and the selection of Kansas was upheld.
The game marked the first time the Jayhawks had been to the Orange Bowl since the 1969 Orange Bowl and was their first bowl game since the 2005 Fort Worth Bowl, when they defeated Houston 41–13. Virginia Tech last played in the Orange Bowl game in December 1996, losing to Nebraska 21–41. The 2008 Orange Bowl was Virginia Tech's 15th consecutive season with a bowl game, a streak dating to the 1993 Independence Bowl.
Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing completed 20 of his 37 passes for 227 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. On the opposite side of the ball, Virginia Tech quarterback Sean Glennon finished the game 13 for 28 passing, earning 160 yards and one touchdown, with two interceptions. Kansas cornerback Aqib Talib, whose 60-yard interception return for a touchdown gave Kansas its first lead of the game, won the game's Most Valuable Player award. After the game, Talib was one of several players from both teams to announce an intention to enter the 2008 NFL Draft.