Big East Breakdown: Cincinnati tops rankings

The unpredictability of Big East football continues to amaze me.

Cincinnati defeated Pitt and… The unpredictability of Big East football continues to amaze me.

Cincinnati defeated Pitt and Louisville knocked off West Virginia in two crucial games last weekend. The Bearcats — thanks to their earlier win over Louisville — have built what should seem like a comfortable two-game lead in the conference standings.

But last year, Pitt had a two-game lead at about this point in the season and lost it, proving that nothing is ever a lock in this football conference.

Here is my weekly ranking of the Big East football teams:

1. Cincinnati — The obvious choice for the top spot, the Bearcats (7-1, 3-0 Big East), pulled off a 10-point comeback against Pitt to remain the only undefeated team in the conference. Cincinnati has proved all season that it can deal with adversity and win close games. In fact, the Bearcats have trailed by at least nine points in all three of their conference wins. If the Bearcats win their home game against West Virginia on Saturday, this team will essentially clinch the Big East’s BCS bid.

2. Louisville — A few weeks ago, I had the Cardinals (5-4, 3-1 Big East) dead last in my standings and gave them little hope of improving. But after upsetting West Virginia on the road last Saturday for its third straight win, Louisville now sits in second place in the standings as the only one-loss team in the conference. The Cardinals’ defense has been awesome all season, and they’ll look to stay hot when they host struggling Pitt this weekend.

3. West Virginia — The Mountaineers (6-3, 2-2 Big East) just haven’t lived up to the hype, even though they’ve performed better than many of the lackluster teams of the Big East. As the preseason favorite and most talented team in the conference, West Virginia was expected to run away with the title this season, but it just hasn’t happened. Quarterback Geno Smith continues to impress, but the defensive performances against Syracuse and then Louisville this past weekend have held this team back. The Mountaineers now face an absolute must-win game Saturday at Cincinnati if they still want to be a contender for the conference title this year.

4. Rutgers — With their overtime victory against South Florida last Saturday, the Scarlet Knights (6-3, 3-2) ended their two-game losing streak and clinched bowl eligibility. Despite low expectations and an early-season quarterback controversy, Rutgers has managed to be pretty solid all season. With Army on the schedule this weekend in a nonconference game, the Scarlet Knights should pick up another win before their showdown with Cincinnati in two weeks.

5. Pittsburgh — It might be an indication of how weak the Big East is that Pittsburgh (4-5, 2-2 Big East) still ranks fifth in my standings. The Panthers blew a 10-point lead and a great opportunity to take over the conference when they lost to Cincinnati last week. Injuries have knocked out several of Pitt’s best players on both sides of the ball, and the Panthers will need to win at Louisville this Saturday if they hope to salvage any type of a successful season.

6. Connecticut — The Huskies (4-5, 2-2 Big East) sure have a knack for winning close games at home. Down by seven entering the fourth quarter against Syracuse, UConn turned the tables on the Orange to pull off a seven-point victory. Quarterback Scott McCummings didn’t throw a pass, but his two rushing touchdowns made the difference for the Huskies last Saturday. The Huskies now get a bye week before Louisville comes to town.

7. Syracuse — It’s incredible that the Orange’s (5-4, 1-3 Big East) only conference win was in dominating fashion against West Virginia a few weeks back. Since then, this team just hasn’t been able to beat the teams it should, especially on the road. Luckily for Syracuse, it returns home this week for a Friday night showdown with the only team in the conference with fewer Big East wins: South Florida.

8. South Florida — From 4-0 to 4-4, the Bulls (4-4, 0-4 Big East) are in complete free fall. They did, however, show some fight last weekend by taking Rutgers to overtime on the road, and this team still possesses enough talent to salvage its season. The Bulls probably need to win out to earn a bowl bid, so a loss at Syracuse on Friday would essentially end this team’s season prematurely.

Offensive Player of the Week: Lyle McCombs, Running Back, Connecticut — The freshman ball carrier has been impressive all season, but he played one of his best games last Saturday in the victory against Syracuse. Tallying 152 yards and a touchdown, McCombs was one of the main reasons the Huskies were able to come back and defeat the Orange.

Defensive Player of the Week: Khaseem Greene, Linebacker, Rutgers — Ray Graham’s brother gets the nod this week and deservedly so. The junior linebacker recorded a career-high 17 tackles in the Scarlet Knights’ win over USF and he leads the Big East with 92 tackles this season. With more performances like this, he might just win the season award for Defensive Player of the Year in the conference.

Coach of the Week: Charlie Strong, Louisville — After a 2-4 start, things looked grim for Strong and his young team. But the Cardinals have played like an experienced team in conference play to put together a three-game winning streak that has them at second place in the Big East. Winning the conference might be beyond the Cardinals, but Strong still deserves a lot of credit for his work this season.

What to watch for in Week 11: Bearcats host the Mountaineers — The only game with true title implications this weekend will take place in Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon. Coach Butch Jones’ Bearcats will look to all but lock up the conference title with a victory over WVU.