ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Matthew from Acworth, Ga., writes: If I remember correctly, the Orange Bowl has the last selection of at-aarge teams this year, correct? All of the bowl projections are putting the at-large teams in the Sugar and Fiesta Bowls. Why would they pass up the Big East champion for a non-BCS team?

Brian Bennett: Here is the order of selection for 2009: Fiesta, Sugar, Orange. (The Rose will get replacement picks as well if it loses the Big 10 or Pac-10 champions). Most people figure the ACC and Big East champs will meet in the Orange, and it makes sense. Simply put, those two leagues are down this year and draw less interest than the other four BCS conferences. And even a team like Utah, if it earns a bid, would be a more interesting story by being undefeated. Since the Big 12 and SEC are likely to get at-large bids, those games will almost certainly snatch them up first. The one way I could see this changing is if West Virginia wins the Big East, because the Mountaineers large fan base, recent success and Pat White could be attractive.

Will from Morgantown, W. Va, writes: West Virginia is riding high right now, but what would you say are their odds of running the table? What games do you see as the biggest traps or let down opportunities?

Brian Bennett: I don't think the Mountaineers will win out. They have games left with Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Louisville and South Florida, and it wouldn't take a letdown for them to lose any of those. If there's such thing as a "trap" game, it may be at Louisville. That's become a pretty good rivalry, and the Cardinals may be playing for their bowl lives.

Jason from Cincinnati: November just started, so there is a lot of football to be played, but how does Notre Dame project to the Gator Bowl? Their signature win is over a 4-4 Stanford team. I really don't think they are better than the top four teams in the Big East, but they take the Big East No. 2 slot for the Gator Bowl? I don't get it. Shouldn't these spots be based on record and standings within the BCS and computer polls? Not how much money they make for NBC every week? I get it, people like Notre Dame and will go anywhere to see them play, but why can't anywhere be in Texas at the Brut Sun bowl.

Brian Bennett: It's always about the money, Jason. Always. Notre Dame has the name recognition and fan base to be attractive for any bowl. But, according to Big East officials, the Irish have to finish within two games of the second-place league finisher to leapfrog them for the Gator Bowl. Pitt's win Saturday helps, because the Irish are now 5-3 with tough road games at Boston College, Navy and USC, so they might struggle to get to 7-5. Still, the Gator Bowl could take a Big 12 team instead of one from the Big East, and then the Sun Bowl could take Notre Dame without restrictions. So the Big East would still lose its No. 2 spot that way. Don't forget about the Cotton Bowl, either, which would love to take the Irish and has a contract that allows it to do so.

Brad from Pittsburgh writes: After thinking about it, I've come to a conclusion and I want to hear what you have to say about it. My conclusion is: The Big East needs WVU and Pitt to be playing for the Big East title on the day after Thanksgiving. I'm sorry to Cincy UConn and all other fans that may be upset by that, but how is it not true? For these reasons: No. 1: The conference will be decided by the two biggest rivals in the conference. No. 2 and most important: it's on national TV. The prospect of having Pitt and WVU, two programs who downright hate each other, playing for the Big East title, a right to a BCS bid, all play out on national TV -- try and compare that to any situation.

Brian Bennett: I see where you're coming from. The Big East has definitely fallen off the national radar a bit. It would be good if both Pitt and West Virginia won out until Nov. 28, setting up a de facto conference title game between two 8-2, ranked teams. That would certainly draw some national attention. But to me, I think the best thing that could happen to the Big East is for a strong bowl season and another BCS win, no matter who the league champion is.

Kyle from Storrs, Conn.: I'm curious what you thought of the atmosphere at the Rent on Saturday, and your day there. Now that you've visited everywhere in the Big East, how does the crowd experience rate at the Rent versus everywhere else?

Brian Bennett: I thought it was a very good atmosphere; good tailgating, sold-out crowd and pretty loud. More impressively, it was a noon game. I'd like to see one there at night. I wouldn't rank the Rent at the top, because I think that level belongs to West Virginia (and South Florida when it's a big game). But it's right there behind those places.

Brian from Boston writes: So maybe this is not that important, but how can you put Cincy over UConn after last week UConn trounced Cincy. It wasn't even close. I know West Virginia gave UConn a whooping, and they are obviously deserving of the top spot, followed by Pitt. Yeah, UConn is 2-2 in Big East play, but I still think UConn is the third best team. I hope they can win out and get to a decent bowl although West Virginia put UConn back in its place that's for sure.

Brian Bennett: That's a fair point, and the power rankings are certainly not a science. My reasoning was that Cincinnati is 2-1 in the Big East as opposed to UConn's 2-2, and the Bearcats still control their own destiny when it comes to the league title, while the Huskies need an awful lot of help. We'll know more when we see how Cincinnati fares in Morgantown this weekend.

Josh from Gainesville writes: Brian, again, thanks for the blog. Now that it seems that the offense at Rutgers is starting to take shape (we'll find out how durable this change is in the next couple of weeks) how realistic do you think their chances are of making it to a bowl? Even if they did win out and managed a 7-5 record, do you see any bowls selecting them? I'd love to believe that they will go bowling, but the beginning of the season has made me a cynical man.

Brian Bennett: It is kind of hard to believe we're talking about Rutgers in a bowl, huh? It comes down to this: the Scarlet Knights have games at home against Syracuse and Army that they should win. So basically they have to get a split between their other two games, at South Florida and home against Louisville to end the year, to get bowl eligible. That seems doable to me. If they finish 7-5, as you suggested, they should definitely make a bowl because that would make them 5-2 in conference play. A 6-6 record is more problematic because there are going to be too many Big East bowl-eligible teams for the number of league postseason slots.

Ken from Philadelphia writes: Hey Brian, which is the real UConn football team -- the one who played a week ago against Cincy or the one that looked awful in the second half against WVU? Why do you think Donald Brown only got five carries in the 2nd half?

Brian Bennett: I think what the Huskies have proven this season is that they're not good enough to overcome sloppy play. Think about it. At North Carolina, they had three interceptions and two blocked punts and lost. At Rutgers, they missed three field goals. And against West Virginia, they had six turnovers. That's not Randy Edsall football. I thought Brown should have gotten more carries, but UConn found itself trailing and needed to pass to make up ground. Yet, I think Brown handoffs would have been a lot more effective than some of the short passing routes they chose to run.

Paul from Ohio writes: Brian, I am a WVU fan through and through, BUT I was really impressed wit
h Cincy's pass offense against an athletic USF defense. Which leads me to my question: UConn was really efficient in the first half against WVU through the air. Do you see Tony Pike moving the ball in the air against what has been a stingy Mountaineer D as of late?

Brian Bennett: That's going to be an interesting matchup. Think about the teams that West Virginia has played for a minute. Auburn, UConn, Syracuse, Marshall ... these are not high-powered passing attacks. The Mountaineers did a good job against Colorado's spread, but the Buffs have struggled most of the year. So this will be the biggest test yet for West Virginia's pass defense.

Kace from Morgantown, W. Va: What are your sentiments are on whether most fans throughout our unique conference tend to actively support the other teams in out-of-conference contests? I think the answer is yes, and I think this makes the Big East unique. I know that WVU fans tend to support the other 7 squads, even if only for self-serving purposes. (yes, we even sometimes root for Pitt). Anyway, is my intuition on this subject correct in your opinion, or do the fanbases outside of Morgantown not tend to support the other teams to a greater degree than usually seen in other conferences (most notable the cuthroat but always awesome SEC)? Thanks.

Brian Bennett: This is a unique league, both in geography and newness. Sometimes I have a hard time getting a read on whether, say, South Florida fans care what's going on at Syracuse. But I do get the sense that fans of Big East schools do root for their conference brethren in non-league games. I think the reason for this is because the conference has such an underdog mentality, and that bands each school together. I don't know if this is exceptional, however. For example, I have a couple of friends who are big Michigan fans who surprised me by rooting for Ohio State in last year's BCS title game, simply because of Big Ten loyalty.

Rob from Pittsburgh writes: Brian, I want to address the Bill Stewart critics among all of your faithful readers (of which I am one). One of the most important statistics in evaluating whether a coach is doing a good job: the scoring ratio in the third quarter specifically. This stat is directly related to the adjustments made at halftime and how they're translated to the athletes who play the game. The Mountaineers have outscored their opponents 65-7 in the third quarter and have only allowed 4 touchdowns in the 2nd half all year. 65-7...and that lone touchdown was in the East Carolina loss. To all of you Stew haters out there, I feel your pain with some of the plays called, but think about that statistic.

Brian Bennett: Thanks for the email, Rob. I think Coach Stew would also like some faster starts so he doesn't have to make so many adjustments.

Keith from Indianapolis writes: Hey - after your article claiming Louisville might be the team to beat last week - any public acknowledgment of egg on your face after the loss to Syracuse?

Brian Bennett: Well, I guess I would agree to that -- if I ever said Louisville might be the team to beat. Read that story again and tell me where it says that. The strongest things I wrote were that the Cardinals "are looking like one of the Big East's most pleasant surprises" and that they were "as good a spot as anybody in this wacky Big East race." The latter of which was true, since Louisville basically controlled its own destiny and got West Virginia at home. Amazing how perception works.