A strange thing happened during the Sugar Bowl.

From the kickoff to the final whistle, I was… A strange thing happened during the Sugar Bowl.

From the kickoff to the final whistle, I was a Mountaineers fan. Pitt and the rest of the Big East Conference desperately needed a West Virginia victory.

The Mountaineers didn’t disappoint, defeating Georgia 38-35 on Jan. 2 in the second of four BCS bowl games.

Since prior to the 2004 season, when the Atlantic Coast Conference pillaged the Big East for the good Samaritans that are Miami and Virginia Tech, respect for the quality of Big East football has declined. The conference had lost the two teams that had a hand in the last five conference championships. A year later, Boston College defected as well.

When Pitt earned the Big East’s automatic BCS bid, questions regarding the conference’s merit grew louder. Pitt’s performance versus Utah in the Fiesta Bowl went a long way to answering the questions, and it wasn’t the answer the Big East was hoping for. Respect for the conference declined further.

This year’s bowl season didn’t start much better. Rutgers, in its first bowl appearance since 1978, fell to Arizona State in the Insight Bowl. South Florida was shut out by N.C. State in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. And Virginia Tech stomped injury-depleted Big East newcomer Louisville in the Gator Bowl.

The Big East wasn’t exactly proving its critics wrong.

Enter the Mountaineers – exit my couch.

West Virginia didn’t just win, they impressed. Because of Hurricane Katrina, the Sugar Bowl was moved to the Georgia Dome, giving the Bulldogs a virtual home game. However, led by freshmen at the quarterback and tailback positions, the Mountaineers jumped out to a 28-0 lead.

Georgia battled back to within three in the second half as pennies danced off my TV screen. But in the end, the Mountaineers held on. The Big East had a bowl win – a BCS bowl win. More importantly, they had respect.

A loss by the Mountaineers, and calls for the Big East to lose its automatic bid, would have grown louder. If their loss had been similar to Pitt’s 35-7 Fiesta Bowl debacle a year prior, the calls would have grown deafening.

Nationally, West Virginia has shown itself to be the standard for Big East football. In the 2002, 2003 and 2005 seasons, West Virginia went undefeated against current Big East schools. In 2004, the Mountaineers had what now looks like a rebuilding year. They went 4-3 in the conference, including a Thanksgiving loss at the hands of the Panthers at Heinz Field.

The Big East needs to show that its standard can compete with the national powers, and the Mountaineers’ Sugar Bowl victory did just that.

Playing in a conference perceived inferior would be damaging to Pitt. Top recruits want to play where they will have a chance to get noticed. If Big East football fell off the radar, it would be more difficult to land top players. Recruits from the north would favor geriatric-led Penn State and the rest of the Big Ten more than they already do.

Top players from the south would take second and third thoughts before traveling north to Pitt. Why would they go to the Big East? The ACC and SEC get plenty of national respect.

And Pitt needs recruits. West Virginia looks poised to be a power for years to come. Star quarterback Pat White and tailback Steve Slaton will be sophomores next year. Good for the Big East; bad for Pitt.

So, a salute to the West Virginia football team for carrying the flag for the Big East conference. Hopefully, the Panthers can return the favor soon.

Keith Wehmeyer is a staff writer for The Pitt News. E-mail him at [email protected].