So the countdown is at an end. Today is my last day in Morgantown and I leave for Arizona on a 7:30 a.m. flight tomorrow. I?m so excited to be traveling to the West Coast to cheer on my ?Eers. It?s going to be an intense few days, but I can barely contain my excitement at being able to be a part of the bowl game culture. I know that it?s going to be a different atmosphere on the West Coast, then if the game was on the East Coast, but I?m excited nonetheless.

The University has 7,500 tickets to the Fiesta Bowl that haven?t been sold yet, but they are holding onto them for ?last minute? purchases from fans. If tickets aren?t bought, then the University will have to pay around $1 million dollars for the unused tickets. So far, about 8,500 tickets have been bought from the allotted 17,500 for the University. That is a large fan base for the Mountaineers, but not as large as they are used to. I guess that just means we have to be extra loud and support and cheer on our Mountaineers just a little harder than normal.

The Mountaineers can expect to receive between $14 million and $17 million for participating in the Fiesta Bowl, the larger amount if we win (and I have a feeling we will!)

The team has been in Arizona for a few days so far, and the team seems to be handling practices well. Full back Owen Schmitt said that practices have been short, yet sweet all week, with the team working on fine tuning all of their play executions. Schmitt understands that Oklahoma is a formidable opponent, but is optimistic about the outcome. ?Obviously, they are the best team we?ve played all year. I don?t know if there is anyone we can compare them to. They just have so many great athletes on defense. We are definitely expecting them to load up the box. Obviously, they know we are a running team. What we are going to have to do is make sure we can win the one-on-one battles outside,? he said in a press release.

Quarter back Pat White said that the practices have been a little looser, but the intensity is still there. With all of the excitement involving a new head coach coming to West Virginia, many of the players, including White, have been hearing names being thrown around, but they are trying to ignore the hype for the moment. ?I just hear things. I?m not focusing on who is going to be the coach at West Virginia right now. I?m preparing for a big bowl game,? he said.

This is Schmitt?s last game as a Mountaineer, and he is starting to feel the emotions. ?Our last game against Pittsburgh stings a little bit. Hopefully we?ve prepared well enough and we just hang with Oklahoma and see what happens at the end of the game,? he said. White is sad to see Schmitt leave, and has enjoyed playing with him over the past few years. ?On the field, he?s a monster. He loves contact. I think he loves contact more than anybody I?ve ever seen. He?s not a selfish player at all. As you can see, he didn?t touch the ball that many times this year. In previous years he did. Off the field, sometimes he?s wild and crazy. He?s a great friend. He?s fun to be around,? White said.

I?m so excited to be heading out to Arizona tomorrow. I?ll be blogging twice a day from Scottsdale about all of the fan events and media events that are going to be happening surrounding the Fiesta Bowl. Be sure to read for constant updates via stories, photos and video.