In its inaugural season the Continental Tire Bowl had contracts with the Big East and Atlantic Coast Conferences that allowed them to select one team from each conference to participate in their annual game . From the Big East the bowl selected No . 15 West Virginia , the second-highest ranked team in the conference following conference champion and No . 1 Miami ; Virginia was selected out of the ACC . The two teams had played each other twenty-two times historically , although not since 1985 ; the Cavaliers held a 12 &ndash; 10 &ndash; 1 advantage in the all-time series
Big East
Big East Conference (1979–2013)
2002 Continental Tire Bowl