Let's start with a question. Is this the biggest game in Mountaineer Field history?

It's a question we kicked around on the Northside Automotive Statewide Sportsline on Thursday. 

Tonight's matchup between Oklahoma and West Virginia will be only the third meeting of two top 10 teams at Mountaineer Field.

It joins Miami vs WVU in 1993 and Pitt vs WVU in 1989 as the only other games at Mountaineer Field involving two top 10 teams.

As you would expect, each of those three games received votes in our poll on the show and on Twitter. 

They weren't the only games that received votes, however. The 2007 Backyard Brawl was the one mentioned most often. The size of the crowd for the 2007 Brawl did not match the '93 Miami game, thanks to code enforcement from the fire marshal, but the pregame hype did. 

WVU was coming off a 66-13 demolition of UConn the week before this game. Chaos had ensued the previous weekend and had left West Virginia in a position to play for the national championship. It was a done deal: beat Pitt and West Virginia would be playing for the title.

I was an employee of the athletic department at that time. I can tell you this ... the only time in my 15 years working at WVU that I was as busy as that week was the week leading up to the 2010 Final Four game vs Duke. 

People looking for tickets, sponsorships, wanting to license products, special promotions ... the volume of activity was unreal in the days leading up to that 2007 Backyard Brawl. 

Remember, Extreme Home Makeover with host Ty Pennington? That show was among the most popular in America at that time. Well, the Brawl was so big that year, Pennington and the crew were at the game and did a segment from the field to promote the makeover they were doing in Fairmont.

If Extreme Home Makeover shows up, it has to be big, right?  

The outcome of the 2007 game against Pitt was a nightmare. But, the hype, anticipation and consequences of the game certainly make it one of the biggest ever, in my opinion.

Will we look back on tonight's game and eventually put it in the category of best ever? 

West Virginia is the hunt for its first Big 12 title. With only two remaining regular season games (after tonight), this is easily the closest the Mountaineers have been to a league crown since joining the league five seasons ago. 

And even though it remains a long shot, a berth in the college football playoffs is still available. Would WVU need some help? Unquestionably, yes. But don't rule the college football playoff out just yet. A one loss, power five conference champion would be tough to leave out.

Yes, there is much to play for tonight. It will be a wild, electric atmosphere inside Mountaineer Field. 

Will it be West Virginia's biggest game ever? That remains to be seen.

Leave a comment below or tweet me @BradHowe07 with your vote for the biggest game in Mountaineer Field history. 

Other games that received votes on Thursday's Sportsline:

1988 Syracuse vs WVU

1993 Miami vs WVU

1984 Penn St vs WVU

2005 Louisville vs WVU

If you're interested in listening to Thursday's Sportsline, click here: http://apple.co/2fmmo3i

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Noble Nwachukwu against TCU, while OU Coach Bob Stoops and running back Samaje Perine are shown during the Sooners' 2014 victory in Morgantown. Photos by Ben Queen of www.benqueenphotography.com.

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