Great game by Cincinnati tonight. Made sure I watched most of it despite the temptation to watch LSU-Florida or the MLB playoffs (I still got a flavor of both.)
That Cincinnati was able to rally tonight bodes well for the rest of the season for them. The defense was very good and opportunistic. A little worried with Mauck's penchant for throwing the ball up for grabs but I guess it works for them. Clearly No. 3 in the Big East behind USF and West Virginia. Bearcats defense can bring it. Undersized a bit, but fast and confident. They play with such swagger.
After that? While Louisville is the most disappointing team so far this season, Rutgers is next in line. I expect Rutgers to turn it around but they haven't really run the ball well in the past two weeks. Major disappointment in Piscataway tonight. They had 8 home games and only one "tough road" game of the 4. The schedule was set up for a major run this season. Two straight home losses is tough to take. Offense was just mediocre tonight. Rice had a lot of carries, but he just didn't get a lot of room. Mike Teel was hot early, but he was mistake prone in the second half. I don't feel confident that he can win me the game late. It's skewed because of the last two weeks. Brutal interception to end the game there.
The truth of the matter is that the middle of the Big East is better than it has been the last two years. I have always maintained that I feel UConn is much better than a year ago - much better.
But, that doesn't translate to wins. USF is better than a year ago as is Cincinnati. The conference is better top to bottom, though not as top heavy as it was last year.
The story of the Big East isn't Louisville's collapse (stunning) or Rutgers a touch overrated (clearly not a top 10 team, probably between 20-30), it's the improvement of USF and Cincinnati and even throw UConn in there to a lesser degree.
I don't know if the Huskies are going to get two more wins with a tough second half of the schedule. I can't tell you definitively who they are going to beat or should beat, but I think they are improved enough to pick off three more games.
Who they do it against? I don't know. But they are good enough to win as a home underdog at some point this season.
Side note: Did you hear the announcer say Connecticut at the top of the Big East standings? It was like he was surprised and saw it for the first time. Kind of funny.
I don't want to hear about UVA's scare against Middle Tennessee. As UConn's dismantling of Pitt post-Temple showed, games like that have no carryover. Just ignore the score, look at the W and then go to yardage etc. That can tell you more about the game than the score. You got to look at Virginia and UConn in all their games. They aren't as good as their best day and not as bad as their worst.
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