The 2002 Continental Tire Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the Virginia Cavaliers (UVA) and the West Virginia Mountaineers at Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, on December 22, 2002. The first edition of the Continental Tire Bowl, the game was the final contest of the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season for both teams, and ended in a 48–22 victory for Virginia. West Virginia represented the Big East Conference (Big East) in the game; Virginia represented the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

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. 1Miami; 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 12–10–1 advantage in the all-time series.

Virginia opened their 2002 season with two losses against ranked teams, losing at home to No. 21Colorado State 35–29 and on the road at No. 16Florida State 40–19. The Cavaliers bounced back from this early setback, winning their next six games. The first, against No. 22South Carolina, saw the breakout of future National Football League (NFL) starting quarterback Matt Schaub, who threw three touchdown passes in a 34–21 win. Wins against Akron, Wake Forest, Duke, Clemson, and North Carolina followed, until the winning streak was broken by consecutive losses to Georgia Tech and No. 10Penn State. Virginia then won consecutive games against ranked teams, beating No. 17North Carolina State 14–9 and No. 18Maryland 48–13, before closing out the regular season with a 21–9 loss to rival No. 19Virginia Tech. Virginia finished the regular season with a record of 8–5, 6–2 within the ACC.

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