Big East Football 2012: 5 Games That Will Decide the Champion

Big East teams released their schedules today and there are some interesting games all over the league. Non-conference contests against Southern Cal, NC State, Virginia Tech and Arkansas are the big games to watch outside of the league. However, what this boils down to for the Big East is a team getting that all-empowering bid to the BCS bowl. 

With West Virginia gone, the Big East will have a new champion this year; Louisville, Cincinnati and Rutgers are the teams most likely to draw the bid. Throw in South Florida as a team that has talent but needs to get on the same page and Pitt working with a new coach, and the league is as wide open as ever. As it stands this spring here are the five biggest games for the conference championship race.

5. Pitt at South Florida, December 1st

The 12th game of the season for both teams, this game would need a lot to go right for Skip Holtz's team to be sitting on the verge of their first Big East Championship. Paul Chryst's team is going to be into their scheme and their offense should be moving behind Ray Graham at this late stage of the season. While both teams should be bowl-bound given the talent on their roster, it is tough to paint this as an outright conference title-deciding game. 

South Florida just has not been able to put the pieces together to win. It has been close in recent years, but bad losses have stopped the Bulls from getting to where their talent should take them. For Pitt, the new coaching situation—fourth since 2010—makes getting to a bowl game job No. 1. Putting together an eight- or nine-win season would get Pitt in the hunt, so getting to this game with a chance to win will say plenty about Chryst's performance.

4. Cincinnati at Louisville, October 26th

Last season, this game went a long way to keeping Louisville out of the Orange Bowl and giving Cincinnati a piece of the league title. This year, Louisville is the team that's hosting and it is the team that should enter the game expecting to win.

Zach Collaros is gone and Munchie Legaux is in for the Bearcats and that makes Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater the best quarterback in the game. As we saw towards the end of last season, Louisville's defense and offense really came alive after this game. The Cardinals finished 5-2 after losing to Cincinnati and if they can get a win here, then they will be in good position to get the BCS bid.

3. Louisville at Pitt, October 13th

Like the previously mentioned Cincinnati game, this game against Pitt is one that the Cardinals can circle as one that cost them an Orange Bowl bid a year ago. New coaches in Pittsburgh mean the game plan will change, but the goal will remain the same for Louisville: Win the Big East.

Chryst's offense is definitely going to try to push Louisville's players around as they look to run the football. This is the Cardinal's first Big East contest, which adds to the importance of starting their run for a title on the right foot. For Paul Chryst, this will be his third Big East contest; after a couple league games, he should have his team locked into what they must do to be successful.

2. Rutgers at Cincinnati, November 17th

Kyle Flood is now at the helm for the Scarlet Knights and they are a team that finished just outside of the logjam tie for a share of the conference championship. While Rutgers did not get into the three-way tie, it did keep Cincinnati from winning the conference outright.

Beating the Bearcats in November last year was the strike that kept Butch Jones' team out of the Orange Bowl. Munchie Legaux and the Bearcats have to get a win here to avoid that same fate from a season ago.

1. Rutgers at Louisville, November 29th

This is a Thursday night contest to end the season for both teams and has the potential to be quite the showdown. Provided both teams take care of business during the season, we could be staring at a big contest where all of the chips are on the table.

Teddy Bridgewater versus Chas Dodd for the Big East Championship. That is unless, of course, Gary Nova finds his way atop the depth chart for Rutgers. This will likely be the biggest game at the end of the year for the conference; getting it on Thursday night instead of Saturday against the ACC, SEC and Pac-12 Championships is a definite plus.

These are the top five games as they stand right now. Given the insanity that we have seen out of the Big East in recent years, odds are Syracuse-Temple on November 23rd will be the big game and a couple of the teams we expect to be at the top won't even be in contention.