Big East Week Two: Cupcakes, Appetizers, and All You Can Eat

As an ongoing service to those hungry Big East fans out there, we present this week's array of cupcakes, appetizers and all-you-can-east entrees for your football comsumption.

Syracuse (0-1) at Penn State (1-0): Now Greg Paulus and the rest of the 'Cuse players get their total baptism under fire. The Orange put up a great effort against Minnesota last week before Paulus went numb with the overtime interception into traffic.

The Nittany Lions warmed up with a 31-7 win over the Zips. The noon game in Happy Valley should be nothing more than a light appetizer for Joe Pa and his guys.

Huge edge:  Penn State

North Carolina (1-0) at UConn (1-0): Randy Edsell gets to look across the field at Butch Davis. Davis has his recruits firmly in place and the talent level at North Carolina is way ahead of where it used to be.

The Tar Heels consumed a nice cupcake in the form of the Citadel (Lords of Discipline), 40-7 while UConn made a successful road trip to Ohio. Sorry Huskies, but you're nothing more than a light appetizer for the Tar Heels.

Huge edge: North Carolina

Pittsburgh (1-0) at Buffalo (1-0): Look for Buffalo coach Turner Gill to have his team ready for the Panthers. This game will be a better measuring stick for Pitt, going on the road against a well-coached team. Pitt had a sweet cupcake in Youngstown State last week (38-3) while the Bulls (not the USF variety) got past UTEP (23-17). This should prove to be an entree for Pitt.

Slight edge:  Pittsburgh

East Carolina (1-0) at West Virginia (1-0): Mountaineer fan hates Greenville, hates the Pirates and for good reason. ECU under Skip Holtz is a rising star of a team. ECU started fast against Appalachian State last week, led 24-7 after three quarters then barely held on to win, 29-24. West Virginia gave up 20 points to Liberty (30-22).

Look for a tough game for both teams, the West Virginia faithful will be riled up. This is a full, all-you-can-eat entree for both teams. Could go down to the wire.

Advantage:  Neither, total tossup, great matchup, slight home field edge to West Virginia and revenge factor. 

Howard (0-0) at Rutgers (0-1): Wow, does Rutgers owe its fans a "makeup" game after getting trashed by Cincinnati? Howard from the MEAC is just what the football doctor ordered. This game should help Greg Schiano's team recover from the Bearcat hangover, that and the starting debut of freshman sensation Tom Savage, who looked pretty good against Cincinnati. This is a much needed tasty cupcake for the Scarlet Knights.

HUGE EDGE: Rutgers.

Southeast Missouri State (1-0) at Cincinnati (1-0): Okay, SE Mizzu went out and wailed on some poor team from Quincy University last week rolling up a school record points in a 72-3 massacre. Shame on the Redhawks, beating a team called the Hawks like that.

Quincy's web site shows it as a NAIA school, remember those? Well, the bad news for the Redhawks is that Cincinnati is at home and ready to put on a show for its fans and it will! Bring out a tray of cupcakes for Brian Kelly and his men.

HUGE EDGE:  Cincinnati.

South Florida (1-0) at Western Kentucky (0-1): South Florida fancies itself as a team to compete with Florida State, Miami, Florida, etc. but should first try and win the Big East. The Bulls can compare themselves to Tennessee this week. The Vols dismantled and toyed with the Hilltoppers, 63-7.

USF will be playing in front of 22,000 rapid Hilltopper fans (don't let the crowd noise overwhelm you, Jim Leavitt). Just put this down as a cupcake for USF, the second of three.

HUGE EDGE:  South Florida

There you have it Big East fans, your weekly tailgate feast, some all-you-can-eat, some of those necessary appetizers and of course, some tasty cupcakes!