Football: Bearcats, Mountaineers still at the top

No one is who they seem in Big East football this season.

As Syracuse demonstrated this… No one is who they seem in Big East football this season.

As Syracuse demonstrated this weekend by losing miserably at Louisville a week after dominating West Virginia, Big East teams are easily the most inconsistent in the country.

The race for the conference title remains as ambiguous as ever. And with all eight teams in action against Big East opponents this Saturday, this could be the weekend that separates the contenders from the pretenders.

Here are my rankings heading into this crucial weekend of Big East football:

Cincinnati — Coming off a bye, the Bearcats (6-1, 2-0 Big East) will face what is probably their biggest test in conference play up until now when they travel to Pitt Saturday night. Cincinnati sits as the last undefeated team in the conference, but the Big East’s history has shown it isn’t always good to have that distinction. Experience might help the Bearcats break the trend with senior quarterback Zach Collaros and senior running back Isaiah Pead leading their high-powered offense.

West Virginia — The Mountaineers (6-2, 2-1 Big East) responded well after their embarrassing defeat against Syracuse as they recorded a vital comeback win in the snow at Rutgers on Saturday. With Cincinnati still on the schedule, West Virginia controls its own destiny again, and that could be a scary thought for the rest of the Big East teams. But the Mountaineers can’t look too far ahead with upset-minded Louisville coming to town this weekend.

Rutgers — Despite back-to-back close defeats, the Scarlet Knights (5-3, 2-2 Big East) maintain a place in the top half of my standings. The top two teams in the Big East seem to be well ahead of everyone else, so consider Rutgers the best of the worst in this conference. Greg Schiano’s team played its worst half of the season and got outscored 20-0 in the second half by WVU Saturday. The Scarlet Knights will need to rebound Saturday when they host South Florida in what is a must-win game for both teams.

Pittsburgh — The news of Ray Graham’s season-ending knee injury doesn’t bode well for the Panthers (4-4, 2-1 Big East) heading into the remainder of the season. The onus is now on inconsistent quarterback Tino Sunseri to lead the Pitt offense down the stretch for Todd Graham’s team, which — strangely enough — still controls its own destiny. This Saturday’s home test against Cincinnati will say a lot about what is in store for the Panthers during the rest of the 2011 campaign.

Louisville — The Cardinals (4-4, 2-1 Big East) protected home field for the second straight week as they upset previously high-flying Syracuse on Saturday. This team has looked awful at times this season, but its defense has been phenomenal the past two weeks, and now Louisville surprisingly has a winning record in conference play. A difficult road test at West Virginia this Saturday will show just how serious Charlie Strong’s young and talented team is about possibly competing for a Big East title this season.

Syracuse — They might be leaving for the ACC soon, but right now Syracuse (5-3, 1-2 Big East) exemplifies what it means to be a typical Big East football team. From really average to incredibly impressive to shockingly bad, the Orange have done it all this season, and Saturday’s game at Louisville couldn’t have gone much worse for Syracuse fans. On the bright side, the game at Connecticut on Saturday is the perfect opportunity for this team to right the ship and pick up its sixth win to become bowl eligible.

South Florida — The Bulls (4-3, 0-3 Big East) manage to move up during a bye week thanks to how bad UConn looked against the Panthers on Wednesday. As the only winless team in the conference, South Florida’s title hopes are finished. Fortunately for them, they sit only two wins away from being likely to earn a bowl bid. I don’t know if the Bulls can beat Rutgers this Saturday, but I’ll still be surprised if they completely collapse and find a way to finish with a losing record.

Connecticut — Judging by their performance at Pitt last week, the Huskies (3-5, 1-2 Big East) might just be the least-talented team in the conference. With zero star players and a putrid defensive secondary that even managed to make Tino Sunseri and Pitt’s receivers look good, this team is going nowhere fast. If UConn doesn’t find a way to beat Syracuse this week, consider their season over.

Offensive Player of the Week: Tino Sunseri, Quarterback, Pitt — I’ll give some kudos to Sunseri for his performance last week. UConn is awful, but Sunseri’s 419 yards passing, 40 yards rushing and three total touchdowns are still very impressive considering he had to carry the team after star running back Ray Graham was injured during the first series of the game.

Defensive Player of the Week: Preston Brown, Linebacker, Louisville — This sophomore defender recorded seven tackles and two sacks as he helped the Cardinals defense hold Syracuse to a season-low in yardage (246) and points (10). If Brown and his defense can continue to play like this, Louisville will be a dangerous team coming down the stretch.

Coach of the Week: Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia — Coming off bad losses is never easy — and it’s even more difficult when you fall behind in your next game like the Mountaineers did at Rutgers this past weekend. Whatever adjustments Holgorsen made at halftime worked. West Virginia picked up an extremely important win to put the team back in the title race.

What to watch for in week 10: Big games in the Backyard — All eight Big East teams play this weekend, but the two biggest matchups take place at the homes of rivals Pittsburgh and West Virginia: The Panthers host conference-leading Cincinnati and the Mountaineers play Louisville. Both games will go a long way toward shaping the Big East standings at the end of the year.