Mountaineer football coach Rich Rodriguez and a few of his players got quizzed recently by the West Virginia University Department of Philosophy.

In the days before the schools Toyota Gator Bowl matchup with Georgia Tech, department chair Sharon Ryan, herself a former college athlete, wanted to know one thing:Is winning everything?

Their answers just might surprise you, and thats the whole point of the deep-thinking exercise known asTHE QUESTION that Ryans department is taking on the road to Florida.

The Gator Bowl version ofTHE QUESTION is a series of sports-theme queries, from the aforementioned one on winning to others likeWhat is a Mountaineer fan?andWhat is a team?

Ryan, in recent days, has also posed questions to mens basketball coach John Beilein and former star players Mike Gansey and son Patrick Beilein; and womens basketball coach Mike Carey and his current standouts, Meg Bulger and Britney Davis-White.

Fans can check out their answers, including some video responses, online at http://bowlgame.wvu.edu (click onTHE QUESTION icon and then a specific question). Theyll be able to add to the dialogue, Ryan said, by responding to their answers or formulating a philosophy of their own.

Fans going to the Gator Bowl can also do that in person at theMountaineer ConnectionsFan Center, which will be in operation Dec. 30-31 at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront Hotel.

Its a real thrill for us to be such a big part of the bowl game,Ryan said.Its a chance for us to encourage everyoneyoung and oldto stop and think deeply about the questions that really matter. That is what philosophy does. It invites you to slow down, stop and consider. Then, reconsider.

WVU s Department of Philosophy is housed in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

TheMountaineer ConnectionFan Center is jointly sponsored by WVU s Office of University Advancement and Marketing, the Alumni Association and WVU Foundation, with corporate sponsors United Bank, Coca-Cola and Verizon.