Lieberman: My final Big East football breakdown

Let’s get one thing straight: Losers do not exist when six teams from the Big East make a bowl… Let’s get one thing straight: Losers do not exist when six teams from the Big East make a bowl game.

Sure, Pitt fans felt disappointed when the Panthers lost a heartbreaking 45-44 game to Cincinnati last weekend.

After the initial agony of losing to the Bearcats ended, Pitt fans probably pondered over the lost revenue and recognition Pitt lost with one fumbled extra point.

This assumption is not true.

But hold on a second, Mr. Lieberman. Wikipedia says the payout for the Sugar Bowl is $17 million, compared to $1 million for the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

The Big East pools the revenues brought in from all teams during the bowl season.

Because six teams will go to bowls, the Big East will give those teams a pseudo “bonus.” But this also means Louisville and Syracuse, two teams that didn’t qualify for bowls, get a payout, as well.

In other words, the BCS, along with the Big East’s other bowl partners — Gator Bowl, Meineke Car Care Bowl, PapaJohns.com Bowl, International Bowl and St. Petersburg Bowl — pay the Big East a set amount. That total this year is nearly $25 million.

That money is in a common pool to pay each team’s expenses for its bowl destination.

The rest of the money goes to each team, based on a number of factors, such as how far a team must travel and how many days a team must be at the site.

With that said, all the bowl games have been announced, so let’s check on how I did last week.

Randy’s Predictions:

Sugar Bowl — Cincinnati

Gator Bowl — West Virginia

Meineke Car Care Bowl — Rutgers

Papajohns.com Bowl — Pitt

St. Petersburg Bowl — Connecticut

International Bowl — South Florida

Actual:

Sugar Bowl — Cincinnati vs. Florida

Gator Bowl — West Virginia vs. Florida State

Meineke Car Care Bowl — Pitt vs. North Carolina

Papajohns.com Bowl — Connecticut vs. South Carolina

St. Petersburg Bowl — Rutgers vs. UCF

International Bowl — South Florida vs. Northern Illinois

All right, 50 percent isn’t bad, but it isn’t good, either.

I missed on Pitt because I thought the Meineke committee would pick against Pitt’s immobile fan base and take Rutgers fans, who would bring in more money.

But when Pitt received North Carolina for an early Christmas gift in the bowl game, the committee could afford to take Pitt.

Oh, well.

The Big East already announced its regular-season awards, but what do they know? Here are my winners:

Big East player of the year (offensive):

Dion Lewis, Pitt

Cincinnati survived without Tony Pike at quarterback this year. Mardy Gilyard wasn’t as consistent, and neither was West Virginia’s Jarrett Brown.

So this award goes to the fantastic freshman.

Lewis amassed 1,640 yards, good for third in the nation, had 16 touchdowns in his first season and eclipsed 100 yards nine times all year.

Big East player of the year (defensive):

Mick Williams, Pitt

Williams finished the year with 39 tackles, despite drawing double teams from opposing offensive lines most of the time. Williams also had 15 tackles for a loss and three forced fumbles, which is simply outstanding for a defensive tackle.

Big East coach of the year

Randy Edsall, Connecticut

There’s a reason Notre Dame considered Edsall over Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly and his undefeated record.

Edsall is a master motivator, and it was none more apparent than this year.

After the death of Jasper Howard, three straight losses put the Huskies at 4-5 and needing at least two wins for a bowl berth.

Edsall rallied the Huskies to an overtime win at Notre Dame, blowout over Syracuse and two-point victory over South Florida to play in the Papajohns.com Bowl.

Plus, against the top Big East competition (Cincinnati, Pitt and West Virginia), Connecticut lost by a combined nine points.

Final rankings of power

1. Cincinnati (12-0, 7-0 Big East): The Big East champs remained perfect on the year with its win over Pitt, but it wasn’t without a fight all year after close wins against Connecticut (by two points), West Virginia (three) and Pitt (one).

2. West Virginia (9-3, 5-2): Yeah, it’s lower in the rankings, but the Mountaineers beat Pitt and played a tougher non-conference schedule. Pitt could be here, with its win over South Florida and West Virginia’s blowout loss to the Bulls, but I’m not buying it.

3. Pitt (9-3, 5-2): It seemed the Panthers found some way to beat themselves in all three of their losses. Defensive mishaps blew a lead against NC State, turnovers and missed red-zone chances cost them against West Virginia, and, of all things, a botched extra point proved costly against Cincinnati. Otherwise, the Panthers would be in great shape this year.

4. Connecticut (7-5, 3-4): Edsall deserves a lot of credit for keeping this team on track, and several close losses puts this team in the top four and a favorite for next year’s title.

5. Rutgers (8-4, 3-4): After opening against Cincinnati — and getting destroyed — the Scarlet Knights played nobody else relevant until they went through the upper tier of the Big East. But they’re bowling in sunny St. Petersburg.

6. South Florida (7-5, 3-4): Another late-season collapse for the Bulls, who can’t seem to close out seasons full of promise. Throw in Matt Grothe this year and maybe this team would have been ranked much higher.

7. Louisville (4-8, 1-6): New head coach Charlie Strong, the former Florida defensive coordinator, should drastically improve the recruiting talent to the Cardinals in upcoming years.

8. Syracuse (4-8, 1-6): Syracuse showed improvement under new coach Doug Marrone this season but still needs much more talent to compete next year.