October 30, 2005
Big East: Breaking down the title race
Despite the rumors of a BCS deathwatch, things are getting interesting in the Big East. Rutgers is bowl eligible. (Rutgers is bowl eligible?!) Pitt is in the running for the BCS (yeah, the same Pitt that started 1-4). And one-time BCS cinderella Louisville...eh, let's just say...the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Chas at Pitt Sports Blather breaks down the BCS race for the Big East Conference:
WVU: Win out; win 3 of 4 including the Backyard Brawl; lose to Pitt, but win other 3, and Pitt loses one more game; lose to Pitt, but win other 3, Pitt wins other 2 and Rutgers wins out -- WVU would win BCS tie-breaker based on BCS rankings (beating Maryland and losing to VT would almost assuredly trump Pitt and RU); or win 2 of 4 including the Backyard Brawl and Rutgers loses 1 more game.(Potentially bizarre scenarios for WVU winning would also include: losing 2 of last 4, including the Backyard Brawl, but RU losing 1 more and Pitt losing twice or losing 3 of last 4, but winning the Backyard Brawl, Pitt losing 1 additional game, Rutgers losing twice and Louisville losing 1 more game.)
Pitt: Win out and Rutgers losing 1 more game; or winning 2 of 3 including the Backyard Brawl and Louisville, WVU losing 1 additional game, and Rutgers losing 2 of last 3.
Rutgers: Win out and WVU loses 2 of last 4; win 2 of 3 including Louisville while WVU loses 3 of 4 and Pitt loses at least 1 more game.
Louisville: Win final 4 games (which would include beating Pitt and RU) and WVU loses 3 of last 4.
Long story short, it's West Virginia's bowl slot to lose.
The amazing aspect is: it's easier for Rutgers to win Big East than Louisville.
Comments:
portis said:
posted on October 31, 2005 10:07 AM — 24.140.92.2 — link — abuse?
It is the Mountaineers BCS Bowl Bid to win or lose. I am not getting cocky however, especially after last years collapse. WVU should win every remaining game on the schedule, giving them a 1 loss rebuilding year. Depending on your view of the Big East, you would either say it is a direct result of the week play of the Big East. Or you may say it's Coach Rod's ability to coach'em up!! I agree with the second statement, and look out for WVU next year to follow up this campaign. Staying with this year, if we do go to a BCS bowl the chances of us winning are 50/50. We are a young team, which usually affects teams in high profile/high pressure situations........however we do have Steve Slaton. Go EERS!
Rich said:
posted on October 31, 2005 11:08 AM — 12.20.58.68 — link — abuse?
Maryland does fine yr end & out in the ACC. WV took them to the shed. BC always gets beat by WV look at the record. The # three team in the nation was owned by WV 2yrs straight. Everyone called the Big East weak when we had BC, Miami, & Va Tech. But look what happened every yr. BIG East doesn't have tradition? AH, WV was undefeated in 88 & 93 & played for the National Championship??????? Miami & VA tech played for how many. Syracuse in the Orange Bowl. No there's no history in the Big East. Of course the ACC has a history of raiding other conferences. The Big East was the victim here, they didn't decide one day to ship two National Contenders out they were RAIDED. The Big East had to make the best of a VERY Bad situation. I guess your thoughts are that if a child is kidnapped then we should just terminate the whole family? The Big East will survive. They will not be disinfranchised from the BCS due to there Television markets. Concerning the popular statement that no Big East team would be able to compete in another BCS conference. The Eeers would not only compete we would thrive. WV will be the leader in this conference. We will sell out 62,000 seat Mountaneer field. We will continue to own the out of conference schedule. UL put up how many on NC & Oregan State? The 60's I believe, but no they couldn't compete in the ACC or PAC 10. WV will be in the Sugar Bowl & WIN, UL will be in the Gator Bowl & beat a ACC team & then what will your argument be? Lets get real the BCS is all about Money? WV has a a small TV market or we would have been in the ACC. The ACC didn't want a good team just money. VA tech was only allowed in due to the fact that the Governer of VA would not allow UVA to vote yes unless VA Tech replaced Syracuse. The Cuse was one of the original teams raided & then dumped by the ACC. The ACC didn't want a good team just a large TV market (NY NY). They were willing to take a 1- 6 Cuse team who can't even sell out the dome (42,000) over VA TECH. It's not about winning, but Money. Before the addition of Va Tech, BC, & Miami, the ACC was a good basketball conference. Think about Duke, Wake Forest, NC come on. I tell you what I'll match UL, Rutgers & USF with those three & the big East will be 3-0. As per this Yr WV will win the Big East!!! The Eers are very very young. Next yr watch out!
Leftovers said:
posted on October 31, 2005 3:38 PM — 205.143.204.110 — link — abuse?
Rich-are you kidding me?!? I dont even know where to start with your post. 1st of all, do your research on WVU history and who they screwed over to play football in the big east. WVU had an 11-1 season in 93 in the big east, 88 was the 'other' conference they screwed over to enter the big east. How many titles has wvu won outright? 1. The teams that left your conference combined for 10 of 14 big east titles.
isabellle said:
posted on October 31, 2005 4:27 PM — 4.155.75.33 — link — abuse?
How do you determine That the Big East is that Bad,We don:t have any one with 4 loes in the top 25 Ha.unless you are a SEC Fan.The big 10 is for real. The Acc is generic,of the big east we grew then Miami,VT ,Bc ,Money was more importain.But we got some pretty good teams Louisville can play with any one.A young West Virginia gave good account for it self against a #3 team in the country Let see what would USC or Texas do? The Big east is not that bad.
cctke455 said:
posted on October 31, 2005 6:04 PM — 129.71.139.226 — link — abuse?
Hey Leftover's, In Rich's defense I think he was referring to WVU's football history, not their Big East History. However, WVU wasn't in a football conference in 1988, they were an independent along with several other northeastern schools. After Penn State made the jump to the Big 10, the other eastern schools formed the Big East football conference. If I'm wrong, please correct me, but I don't think I am.
isabellle said:
posted on November 1, 2005 2:48 AM — 4.155.84.170 — link — abuse?
Ok,Col.Reb yes I rooted foe SC and Lsu ,Auburn but my point was ucla barely got by stanford.#8 in the country ?somebody besides the player should take the blame for that one.Georgia is about to get lose #2 Vts is gone to show miami who already has 1-lose why they;er lucky to be in the top 25.texas tech plays who texas all but sent to another state.Texas barely gets by ohio st. I love college football,and by the way col.reb thank you for the congrat,and may your team have a good week.
portis said:
posted on November 1, 2005 9:52 AM — 24.140.92.2 — link — abuse?
Hey Col. Reb, why don't you stay down south, where the men are men and the sheep run scared, and watch your boys from Alabama or some other school in the deep south play "real football". The Big East is in the BCS, deal with it!
Rich said:
posted on November 1, 2005 4:27 PM — 192.128.167.68 — link — abuse?
Hey Leftover you got it right the teams that left! The ACC was not a power football conference. The three teams that migrated from the Big East now own this conference. But prior to that move the Big East was always cracked on as being the weakest conference. Lets get real yr in & out WV can play, compete & win against BC, VA Tech, Maryland you name em. The Eers are a top 20 program. As for the rest of the conference Pitt & Syracuse are down right now but they are traditional powers that will be back. UL, DUDE they almost Miami last yr & only lost once. They destroyed NC & Oregan State this yr. But NO they coudn't compete. Go ahead pick apart any confernec & you have weak members. Wake Forest & Duke in the ACC is that tough? How about the Pac 10 where 1-7 Washington, 2-6 AZ & 3-5 Wash state plays Man now that's Power. Or maybe the big bad SEC, Kentucky 2-5 (Beat by UL by the way) Miss State 2-6, Arkansas 2-5, Ole Miss 3-5?. I don't care what conference you pick apart there are weak links. Other than the South Florida debacle I would put UL or WV in any conference & they would finish in the top three. The Big East will repair the damage caused by the ACC theives. It may take a couple of yrs. The key here is not the present but the future. When you look at the new institutions that are in the Big East they have one thing in common high enrollments & large TV markets. When you look at a Nothwestern & Duke you see 6 thousand students. When you look at South Florida you see 40k. Which account to a lot of alumna which will fill staduims. I know sitting in you mommas basement you may not understand marketing 101 but Tranghese does.
ice750 said:
posted on November 1, 2005 8:22 PM — 69.19.14.18 — link — abuse?
yawns
va tech won the big east 1 time outright and never finished tied for any other league titles. their last two years in the big east they finished FOURTH behind miami, wvu, and pitt
miami was the yearly national title contender which cant' be replaced
boston college untill last year had never finished higher than third in the big east..NEVER FINISHED HIGHER THAN THIRD..
losing va tech and boston college doesn't hurt they can be replaced...losing miami is another story
posted on November 1, 2005 9:06 PM — link — abuse?Jeff Quinton said:
Portis,
A WVU fan bringing up the sheep jokes? That's ironic considering all the WV jokes out there.isabellle said:
posted on November 2, 2005 5:18 AM — 4.155.69.50 — link — abuse?
OK,EERS; it time to feed the dogs some owen s.slaton and white,and in case their real hungry well throw in that Wvu offense line. how about that and to think there are fans out there, who don:t think we treat our visitors right.Hey I think well just throw in that nasty D fence to.we don"t want then to leave them hungery. go eers
isabelle said:
posted on November 4, 2005 9:06 AM — 4.155.60.69 — link — abuse?
Well,Professor Sharp:I am sorry for, __Your lack of humor.How ever if the way I wrote my little post,offended you,just maybe and your ashamed to be one of us. You should move on to another state.You need to check your own punctuation.Born a WVU boy,Die a Wvu fan. Hey go root for USC.
Sharp said:
posted on November 4, 2005 8:39 PM — 157.182.147.152 — link — abuse?
I'm West Virginia born, bred, and fed. And I am a WVU fan. What I was trying to get across is that your post will carry more weight if correctly typed. Remember, WVU isn't exactly the most liked team in college football, and we have bad sterotypes to overcome, so if you're trying to drive home a point, at least take the time to check your spelling and punctuation.
Jake said:
posted on November 5, 2005 2:41 PM — 208.48.238.22 — link — abuse?
Does South Florida win the Big East if they Win out? I think they would by virtue of beating WV. If they can feed Louisville their lunch like that, then they may be abel to give WV a game if USF is at home.
The problem with the Big Eazst is that there are 4 or 5 teams that would be doormats in any major conference, including my alma mater Cincinnati. If Louisville can rise to a position of yearly consistency and Syracuse can somehow manage to resurrect the program, then I would say that the Bigh East deserves BCS status.
mteer 4 ever said:
posted on November 5, 2005 8:55 PM — 67.136.59.149 — link — abuse?
Jake,
Looking and the current Big East standings and the games remaining (along with MY interpretation of the rules), I think that if WVU and USF win the rest of their games leading up to the Dec 3 meeting, that game will be for the Big East championship (WVU wins - outright champ; USF wins, both teams have 1 loss and USF wins head-to-head tie breaker). Correct me if I'm wrong (I hope I am in that WVU's potential BCS bid DOESN'T come down to the final game of the season. We have been there before....)
mtneer_grl said:
posted on November 6, 2005 11:11 PM — 68.232.181.33 — link — abuse?
Let's hope that it doesn't come down to WVU-USF on Dec 3 for the BCS bid. (Man, was I pulling for Rutgers on Saturday!!!) However, if it does, even if USF wins, I am pretty sure that WVU will still get the bid if they are ranked more than 5 spots ahead of USF. If USF wins out, with 3 losses, it is a possibility that WVU would get the bid based on that criterion.
EER14 said:
posted on November 7, 2005 2:55 PM — 129.71.238.253 — link — abuse?
#4 Leftovers: Do your research ! You say that the 3 teams that left combined for 10-14 BE titles...total fabrication. Virginia Tech only had ONE (1) BE title won outright. The same for WVU. Syracuse had (2), smart guy, and Miami (4) Do the math. By the way Boston College had an average finish in the Big East of 5TH !!!
and never got close to winning one outright.
Do your research before you spit out unfounded facts. The rest of the titles were shared.mtneer 4 ever said:
posted on November 8, 2005 8:51 AM — 165.170.128.66 — link — abuse?
mtneer_girl: I hope you are right. I seem to remember something about "bumping" a team if you finish "x" number of positions ahead in the BCS rankings. I can't find that rule anywhere now. I have checked bigeast.org as well as the BCS homepage.
Diggs the Mountie said:
posted on November 12, 2005 9:31 PM — 68.32.21.120 — link — abuse?
WVU needs to keep Pat White as starting QB even if Bednarik is healthy. He brings so much more to the table you know, he's a much better scrambler, and his awareness and accuracy are getting better with each game. oh and Steve Slaton is the man! Lets go Mountaineers!!!!!!
tego03 said:
posted on November 13, 2005 10:43 PM — 67.34.3.233 — link — abuse?
I believe that if USF beats WVU and both have the same conference record, they win the tiebreaker and win the Big East. USF shouldn't be penalized by their out of conference schedule (2 of the 3 losses are to Miami and Penn St. on the road, both of which USF played just as well if not better than some ranked teams). BCS ranking shouldn't factor into it. Having the best conference record and beating the other top team head to head should mean you are conference champ. Go Bulls!
nzbulls said:
posted on November 14, 2005 3:11 PM — 168.254.225.254 — link — abuse?
There is no question that if the bulls win out and beat west virgina they should go to the bcs game. Just because the voters in both the writers and coaches poll are ignorant and can't realize that two of the bulls losses were to penn state and miami, two top ten teams, on the road, that doesn't mean they don't deserve to go. The voters are so stupid that UCF received more votes for this weeks top 25 poll than USF. I mean come on the bulls destroyed that team. The bulls can't be blamed for west virginia running away from a midseason game that caused the bulls to go 5 weeks without a game.
posted on November 14, 2005 4:44 PM — link — abuse?
USF controls it's own destiny - win & their in. Period.
Robert McDowell said:
posted on November 24, 2005 8:29 AM — 12.210.226.69 — link — abuse?
Louisville should be going to the Sugar bowl, not WVU. If the cheateneers did not cheat on an onside kick (referees totally blew the call, and admitted it) UofL would have won the game!!! Before the onside kick, UofL was up by 10 points. The referees should have called a 15 yard personal penalty for hitting the receiver. UofL would have had the ball at the 35 yard line (almost in field goal position). We could have run a few more minutes off the clock and probably put up at least another 3 points. I agree, could have still won the game if the hadn't forgotten how to play defense, however; the referees cost them the game and a BCS birth. WVU fans, if you go to the BCS, you should all send those referees a huge Christmas present saying 'thanks for your help, payment is on the way!!'
CCTKE455 said:
posted on October 30, 2005 9:24 PM — 129.71.136.246 — link — abuse?The Big East is still the worst of the BCS conferences, but they are the 6th best conference in the Country. WVU, Louisville, Pittsburgh, UCONN, and Rutgers and possibly USF could win any mid major conference. Give Syracuse a few years and they will be back. I am a season ticket holder of the Mountaineers. They are getting better with each game. If they can get a win against UConn wednesday night I think they will win out and get a top 10 BCS ranking by seasons end. 3 years from now the newspapers will be saying, "The Big East is Back", and we will be accepting the Orlando times apology. They are just tryin to make the Big East look bad because UCF can't out recruit 4 BCS schools in their own state, including up and coming Big East Member University of South Florida. LET'S GO MOUNTAINEERS!!!