As is usually the case, the Big East Conference is a jumbled mess heading
into the season’s final few weeks and, also as is usually the case, the Backyard
Brawl between Pittsburgh and West Virginia will have an impact on who represents
the conference in a BCS bowl game. WVU has opened as a 7-point favorite on
Bodog’s NCAA football odds for Friday night’s game, with live betting
available.
Five teams — Pitt, WVU, Rutgers, Cincinnati and
Louisville -- have two conference losses. If Pitt wins out against WVU and
Syracuse next week, it earns a share of the Big East title. If Connecticut beats
Rutgers and Cincinnati loses to either UConn or Syracuse, the Panthers are the
Big East's BCS representative. WVU would need to win out – it is at South
Florida next Thursday – and Louisville must lose its only remaining game, Friday
at South Florida, OR, if Louisville wins, then Cincinnati must also win out at
Syracuse this week and at home against Connecticut Dec. 3.
Pitt (5-5,
3-2) hasn’t won three in a row all season so winning out might be unlikely. The
Panthers enter this one off a 21-14 win at Louisville on Nov. 12. QB Tino
Sunseri threw for 196 yards and passed and ran for a score for the Panthers’
first road win under new coach Todd Graham. Keep on eye on Panthers defensive
end Aaron Donald. He has seven sacks in the past four games and is No. 7
nationally in sacks per game with 0.9.
West Virginia (7-3, 3-2), the
preseason Big East favorite, got back into the conference race with a 24-21 win
at Cincinnati on Nov. 12. Geno Smith passed for 372 yards and a TD and
engineered a late game-winning drive. A loss would have knocked West Virginia
out of the title chase. Smith leads the Big East in almost every statistical QB
category and is seventh in the nation in passing yards. Over its last five
contests, Pitt's improved pass defense has given up an average of only 176.4
yards through the air.
This is the 104th meeting between these
neighbors. The teams have split the past four games with West Virginia winning
the last two -- three of those four games have been decided by four points or
fewer.
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