Big East Breakdown: Cincinnati, West Virginia top rankings

Thanks to West Virginia’s win at Cincinnati last Saturday, the race for the Big East football… Thanks to West Virginia’s win at Cincinnati last Saturday, the race for the Big East football title isn’t over yet.

The Bearcats are still holding on to a half-game lead, but with half of the conference in a four-way tie for second place, there are five teams who still believe that they can earn an automatic BCS bowl bid.

With only three weeks of play remaining to determine the Big East champion, here is another installment of my weekly rankings:

1. Cincinnati — Despite the loss to the Mountaineers, the Bearcats (7-2, 3-1 Big East) are still the only team that controls its own destiny. But when quarterback Zach Collaros left Saturday’s game in the second quarter with a season-ending ankle injury, Cincinnati’s title hopes dropped dramatically. The Bearcats stay at the top for now, but a loss at Rutgers this week could change that.

2. West Virginia — The win at Cincinnati put the Mountaineers (7-3, 3-2 Big East) in perfect position to grab the conference title should the Bearcats slip up. West Virginia will host the Backyard Brawl against Pitt the day after Thanksgiving before finishing up its season at South Florida. With quarterback Geno Smith playing so well, Mountaineer fans have to be expecting a trip to a BCS bowl this season.

3. Rutgers — The Scarlet Knights (7-3, 3-2 Big East) responded well after their two-game losing streak by picking up a pair of wins against South Florida and Army. But their season will essentially come down to this week’s home game against Cincinnati. If Rutgers can pull out the victory, it would blow the Big East title race wide open and allow any one of the teams with two or fewer losses to scoop up the BCS berth.

4. Pittsburgh — Consistency has been a problem all season for first-year head coach Todd Graham and the Panthers (5-5, 3-2 Big East), but they played one of their best games and picked up their first road win last weekend with a 21-14 win at Louisville. The defense has been good all season, and with quarterback Tino Sunseri and the offense finally finding some rhythm, I’ll still give Pitt an outside chance of upsetting West Virginia and making a final push for the conference title.

5. Louisville — The Cardinals (5-5, 3-2 Big East) let their inexperience get the best of them in the loss to the Panthers. Coach Charlie Strong said he was worried that his team might have a letdown game after its big upset win at West Virginia two weeks ago, and he even claimed that the new Call of Duty video game distracted his players from their preparation for Pitt. I don’t think Louisville has what it takes to win the title this season, but with talented freshman quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and the young core building around him, the Cardinals might be contenders for years to come.

6. Connecticut — The Huskies also have plenty of young talent (4-5, 2-2 Big East). Connecticut technically isn’t eliminated from title contention, but I wouldn’t put any money on this team repeating last year’s heroics. But UConn’s hopes would get a huge boost if it could pull off back-to-back home wins against Louisville and Rutgers in the next two weeks. In this conference, anything is possible.

7. South Florida — The Bulls (5-4, 1-4 Big East) ended their four-game losing streak by beating the only team in the Big East in more of a free-fall than they are: Syracuse. South Florida now has the schedule on its side. It finishes up with three straight home games against Miami (Fla.), Louisville and West Virginia, and the Bulls will probably need to win two of those three matchups to make a bowl game.

8. Syracuse — Fans of the Orange (5-5, 1-4 Big East) must surely be shaking their heads in disbelief at their team’s collapse. Since blowing out West Virginia back in mid-October, Syracuse has dropped three straight and will now close the season with tough games against Cincinnati and Pitt. This team was once sitting pretty at 5-2 with hopes of winning the Big East, but now the Orange are potentially staring at a disappointing 5-7 season.

Offensive Player of the Week: Mohamed Sanu, wide receiver, Rutgers — With 13 catches for 129 yards in the Scarlet Knights’ win over Army last Saturday, Sanu broke former Pitt receiver Larry Fitzgerald’s single-season reception record of 92 with two games to spare. With one year of eligibility left, Sanu might break a few more records before his Rutgers days are over.

Defensive Player of the Week: Aaron Donald, defensive tackle, Pitt — The sophomore has been one of the Panthers’ standout players this season, and he recorded four tackles and two sacks Saturday as the Pitt defense swarmed Louisville for much of the afternoon. With nine sacks on the year — seven in the last four games — Donald is quickly becoming one of the best defensive players in the Big East.

Coach of the Week: Todd Graham, Pitt — The high-octane still hasn’t really kicked in, but at least the Panthers don’t look lost offensively anymore. The zero penalties and single turnover in the win at Louisville also shows that this team is buying into Graham’s discipline and ball-security philosophies. The growing pains have been worse than many Pitt fans expected, but the Panthers chances at winning the Big East aren’t gone yet.

What to watch for in week 12: Life without Collaros — As it’s far and away the most important game on the Big East schedule this weekend, my eyes will be on how Cincinnati plays at Rutgers without its star quarterback. This trip to Piscataway is the toughest game left for the Bearcats, so a win would go a long way toward helping them lock up the Big East title.