Just Win Baby

The loss today by the Cincinnati Bearcats has opened the door for a mess in the Big East Conference. The University of Louisville defeated a UCONN team that couldn’t catch a football today. What do these outcomes mean to WVU? There is now the potential for a three or four way tie for the Big East Championship and according to the tie-breaker scenerios, the Mountaineers last two games will be huge. We’ll break it down here.

The questions started last week after WVU defeated Cincinnati on the road. With several teams in the Big East with two losses, and UofL beating WVU head to head, most think UofL is in the drivers seat. No so fast my friend. Here’s how it works with a 3 way tie.

THREE-WAY TIE
A “MINI-CONFERENCE” IS CREATED AMONGST THE THREE TIED TEAMS

Scenario I:
All three teams have either a 6-1 or 5-2 record and have each won one game and lost one game against the other tied teams in the mini-conference. In this case, the highest ranked team amongst the three earns the bid. If two of the three teams are tied for the highest ranking, the bid is earned by the team winning the head-to-head match up.

Scenario II:
All three teams have 5-2 records, and within the mini-conference, Team A is 2-0, Team B is 1-1, and Team C is 0-2. Team A earns bid regardless of ranking.

FOUR-WAY TIE
A “MINI-CONFERENCE” IS CREATED AMONGST THE FOUR TIED TEAMS

Scenario I:
In the mini-conference, Teams A & B are 2-1, and Teams C & D are 1-2. The higher ranked of the 2-1 teams earns the bid. If the 2-1 teams tie for the highest ranking, the bid goes to the team that won the head-to-head match up.

Scenario II:
In the mini-conference, Team A is 3-0, Team B is 2-1, Team C is 1-2, and Team D is 0-3. Team A earns bid regardless of ranking.

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Cincinnati still has games remaining against Syracuse and UCONN.

Lousiville still has a game with South Florida.

WVU has Pittsburgh and South Florida remaining.

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Still confused? Like the late Al Davis said, “Just win baby.”

If WVU defeats both Pitt and USF, the Mountaineers are in control, and they need to be the highest ranked BCS team. Right now WVU is #27, and Louisville is #43. So unless the old Gold and Blue stumbles, a Orange Bowl match-up with Virginia Tech looks good.

Just for the sake of conversation, if there is a 4 way tie with WVU, Cincinnati, UofL, and Rutgers, WVU still gets the BCS bid.

And now, it’s time for the Backyard Brawl.