Big East Rankings Week 3

Once again, it seemed to be a down week for the conference. WVU got upended by an ECU team that looks like they want to crash the BCS early on. USF, UConn and Pitt won, but I think each game was a tad closer than they hoped. Cincinnati played Oklahoma as close as you could expect for a while, but they lost their starting QB. Onto the rankings.

(Previous Ranking) Current Ranking Team Last Week, This Week

(2) 1. South Florida W 31-24 (OT) @ Central Florida, v. #13 Kansas: I said that the Knights would look better than they did in the 2007 edition of this rivalry, but I wasn't expecting a game that close. The UCF defense made some key plays, and an inexperienced offense took advantage of their opportunities. The Bulls can't have a repeat performance on Friday night, or they're going to leave Raymond James with a loss.

(1) 2. West Virginia L 24-3 @ East Carolina, Bye: Maybe they should drop further after coughing up a non-conference game, but I think the Pirates have shown they're a pretty good team. The offense did not look good in this one, and now they'll have a week to think about what went wrong. I still think the Mountaineers are favorites to win the conference, but for at least a week, they won't be in the #1 spot.

(3) 3. Connecticut W 12-9 (OT) @ Temple, v. Virginia: I said that the Owls would present a challenge, and they did. The weather neutralized the game, and UConn probably played a bit better than the score would indicate. Donald Brown ran through the Temple defense, and the Huskies defense themselves played great. Maybe their 2-0 record should be worth more than WVU's 1-1, but I'd still like to see them prove themselves a little more.

(4) 4. Cincinnati L 52-26 @ Oklahoma, Bye: The Bearcats played about as well as you could expect them to against a superior opponent but losing Grutza hurts in a big way. They have a week off to look at their options and figure out what they were going to do, but losing one of your best players will definitely knock you down a peg until he comes back.

(6) 5. Pittsburgh W 27-16 v. Buffalo, Bye: For the first three quarters, this game was probably a bit too close for comfort. The Panthers wanted to come out firing and prove last week's loss was a fluke, but I don't think anyone's mind is at ease about this team. Buffalo is not a good team, but they managed to hang with Pitt until a late second half run put the game away. Maybe it's a good thing Joe Paterno never agrees to schedule these guys.

(5) 6. Rutgers: Bye, v. North Carolina: The Scarlet Knights get knocked down one spot just because they didn't play. UNC is on the rise, but Rutgers should still be able to come away with a win and get back on the right track. The conference is wide open, so despite the week one loss, they still have a shot.

(7) 7. Louisville W 51-10 v. Tennessee Tech, Bye: It's great that they could score so many points on Tennessee Tech, but they have to prove themselves against 1A competition. However, they are off this week, so they will likely remain 7th in the rankings, unless the next team pulls off a pretty big upset.

(8) 8. Syracuse L 42-28 v. Akron, v. #17 Penn State: The Nittany Lions have cruised to two easy wins against teams of varying difficulty, and their offense looks like a strong force to be reckoned with. The Orange lost at home against a MAC team, which has really been a thorn in the side of the Big East so far. They are really going to struggle this season, and I don't know what it'll take to turn the program around.