After Pitt’s loss this week, things just keep getting messier in the Big East. No team in the conference has more than six wins, but a bunch of teams have a shot. Including WVU’s win over Cincinnati today, let’s take a look at the current conference standings.
Pitt 3-1 (5-4)
Syracuse 3-2 (6-3)
South Florida 3-2 (6-3)
WVU 2-2 (6-3)
UConn 2-2 (5-4)
Louisville 2-3 (5-5)
Rutgers 1-2 (4-4)
Cincinnati 1-3 (3-6)
Yikes. Pitt has a relatively tough matchup against South Florida next week, while WVU takes on Louisville. If Pitt loses next week while WVU wins, The Backyard Brawl the following week in Pittsburgh could turn out to be very important in the conference. Syracuse is currently tied 10-10 against Rutgers and finishes its conference schedule next week against UConn in what could turn out to be another big game.
The upshot is that the race to reach a BCS game is already pretty ugly for the Big East:
Halfway through the Big East season, the conference is on track to produce arguably the lowest-rated team by far to ever play in a Bowl Championship Series game. Big East leader Pittsburgh has a computer ranking of 46—and that’s due to drop even further because of the Panthers’ loss at Connecticut on Thursday night. In the 12-year history of the BCS, the lowest-rated team to reach a BCS bowl game was Pittsburgh in 2004 (33rd).
For more on Big East football, check out Cardiac Hill (Pitt) and The Smoking Musket (WVU).