Big East football schedules: Week 4- “Showtime”

Maybe it really is all about “The U”…




The final weekend in September is the premier weekend for college football for the Big East. This week presents the conference with a chance to prove itself against the biggest guns of college football, and once again prove that the Big East is definitely worthy of its automatic BCS bowl bid.

The Big East’s best teams play marquee opponents from the ACC, SEC and Big 12 in four matchups during the final weekend of the season’s opening month. Without further delay, here’s a peek at “Showtime Week.” Note that Louisville has the weekend off.

Week 4 Big East Schedule
Thurs., Sept 23- Pittsburgh vs Miami (FL)
Sat., Sept 25-Connecticut vs Buffalo
Sept 25-Cincinnati vs Oklahoma
Sept 25-USF vs Western Kentucky
Sept 25-Rutgers vs North Carolina
Sept 25-West Virginia at LSU
Sept 25-Syracuse vs Colgate

AN: Jake, the Panthers start with the most recent Big East conference team to play for a national title, “The U”, Miami of Florida, in primetime on Thursday night.

JM: Miami leads the all-time series between these two former Big East foes 21-9-1, with the last meeting a Hurricanes victory in 2003. The last time Pitt beat Miami was in 1997, when Miami was reeling from NCAA sanctions received for the program’s conduct during the Dennis Erickson era.

While this Miami team is not as talented nor as intimidating, they are still a good football team, and were the preseason favorite to win the ACC and considered a dark horse national title contender. Miami is in the heart of a tough non-conference schedule, highlighted by its last game in Columbus against Ohio State. But the Hurricanes lost that game and now sit at 1-1 and are looking to bounce back.

Meanwhile, Pitt finds itself in a similar situation. High preseason expectations had Pitt fans thinking Big East title or maybe even a national title shot. While the Big East title is still very much in reach, that long-shot national championship dream is gone following an opening night, overtime loss. The Panthers’ record now sits at 1-1 as well following a week two win over FCS New Hampshire.

Needless to say, this is a huge game for both teams as each tries to get its season back on track. A win for either team would go a long way toward building momentum heading into the conference slate. This should be a very hard-fought and entertaining football game.

Another big opportunity for the Big East to net a marquee win takes place two days later down the Ohio River in Cincinnati.

AN: Bob Stoops brings his Sooners to Cincinnati, and all I can hear is, “Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain.” This is a return game for the 2008 trip that saw Oklahoma lay a 52-26 whipping on the Cincinnati Bearcats in Norman. Thankfully Sam Bradford and Jermaine Gresham have left the Sooner squad, but Landry Jones and DeMarco Murray are still around wearing the crimson and cream.

It’s practically impossible to pick against the Sooners, and through one half in Norman two seasons ago the Bearcats hung with Oklahoma. But in the end, Oklahoma is Oklahoma and they’re pretty darn good. It’ll take a nearly perfect game from the UC Bearcats to defeat one of the nation’s premier programs. And even then, the chances of winning aren’t horribly high.

Ah, "Ginormatron", what a sight. That thing is big folks...real big

That being said, this Oklahoma team has struggled at home against Air Force and Utah State. So if the “right” Oklahoma team shows up, UC could keep it close for a little while. Even though everyone chalks this game up as a loss, the “any given Saturday” rule says Butch Jones could get his biggest win this weekend by defeating the Sooners.

Jake, the ACC isn’t done with the Big East after your Thursday night game. Rutgers invites North Carolina to Piscataway, and West Virginia travels to Baton Rouge to play the LSU Tigers in “Death Valley.” So, which game is more intriguing to you? The ACC/Big East battle or the chance to prove the Big East is a big boy against an SEC power?

JM: I’m really looking forward to that West Virginia matchup. As the only undefeated team in the Big East to have beaten another BCS conference team (last week’s win vs. Maryland), West Virginia has to be considered the favorite to win the Big East. While West Virginia will not be favored to win, they do have the talent to pull off the upset—a win the Big East desperately needed.

This is also a big game for LSU, which had a sub-par year last season and head coach Les Miles may be on the hot seat if he can’t return the “Bayou Bengals” to the top-10. I like LSU in this one, but WVU will give them a game.

AN: Six weeks ago we could have argued that the Rutgers/North Carolina tilt would have been interesting on paper, but thanks to the NCAA, that game might not be as exciting. It’s tough to disagree with the West Virginia/LSU matchup though, and I agree with you Jake, the Big East needs this win.

West Virginia beat Georgia in the 2006 Sugar Bowl, and not to brag or anything, but Butch Jones was coaching for the Mountaineers in that game. Maybe West Virginia will come out in “Death Valley” and play like they did last week in the first half against Maryland. That’d make it a fun game, and a competitive game if you ask me.

Also of note, former UC offensive line coach Jeff Quinn, who is now head man in Buffalo, leads the Bulls into the place where Quinn last lost a regular season game—Hartford, Connecticut to play the UConn Huskies. Quinn and numerous other former UC assistant coaches will be the focus of our next Big East weekly schedule preview.

Beautiful Hartford, Connecticut

Week four has the potential to be a big week for the Big East, but it also has the potential to be embarrassing for a league that needs to still prove itself to the outside world.

Check back for week five of the Big East schedule preview a little later next week. Thanks for reading as always.