ORLANDO – It has been an up-and-down season for Virginia Tech.

But tonight the Hokies have a chance to finish their season on a high note in the Camping World Bowl against Big 12 powerhouse Oklahoma State. Both teams are nationally ranked (Oklahoma State at No. 19; Virginia Tech at No. 22) with 9-3 records, respectively.

Virginia Tech, which played in the ACC Championship Game last year against eventual conference and national champion Clemson, was looking for a rematch opportunity and a realistic shot of qualifying for this year’s College Football Playoff. But that dream effectively died out when it went down in a 28-10 primetime loss to No. 11 Miami, which went on and took the ACC Coastal crown from Virginia Tech.

Despite the 18-point loss on Nov. 4, the Hokies have found a way to get some key wins in other ways. The ACC powerhouse was selected to play in this mid-tier bowl game because of its victories over the likes of West Virginia (31-24 on Sept. 3) and in-state rival/upstart Virginia (10-0 on Nov. 24).

Many pundits are predicting a blowout loss this evening for Virginia Tech. The projections are like that primarily because of Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph, a former dark horse Heisman Trophy candidate who went on to become a record-setting quarterback for the Big 12 school.

Rudolph, who is projected to be an NFL draft pick in the spring, has thrown for 4,553 yards with 35 touchdown passes and just nine interceptions in 12 games played this season. It will be on Virginia Tech’s secondary to limit Rudolph’s effectiveness to give the ACC program a shot to pull off an upset victory in this bowl game.

“I don’t know if we’re eager. I think that’s just what we do,” Virginia Tech cornerbacks coach Brian Mitchell told Roanoke.com and other media outlets. “If you’re in a Bud Foster defense, you’re going to play man coverage. And it’s going to be tight coverage. And I think one of our competitive advantages is we’ve got some bigger, physical corners that a lot of teams don’t have the advantage of having. I like to think what we do in our conference, you see so many different offenses, that we’ll be well-prepared.”

It figures to be a high scoring affair, as Oklahoma State’s defense isn’t particularly a great one. The Cowboys have given up 30.1 points per game (86th in the nation), which means it could be relatively easy for the Hokies to score in bunches.

We’ll see how this all shakes out, as the kickoff time is set for 5:15 p.m. It will be televised on ESPN.