Just as quickly as the Big East turned in an undefeated 8-0 start, the conference is now back to where most expected. This week, safe to say, was abysmal for the conference. West Virginia and South Florida kept up their part, but after that, it was bad. Real bad.
Pitt and Syracuse won narrowly over bad opponents, while UConn, Cincinnati, and Rutgers all lost to solid programs. Louisville jobbing to FIU? Yeah, I got nothin'.
So how did things shape out in the weekly SB Nation Power rankings? Pitt hung in third despite the close win against Maine, but votes varied to say the least.
Surprisingly, three blogs managed to not vote Louisville last despite that home loss to Florida International. UConn lost on the road to Vanderbilt, while Louisville lost at home to FIU. Is Vandy really that much worse than FIU? I guess so.
Rutgers blog On the Banks took their close loss to North Carolina into account and promptly voted the Scarlet Knights 3rd. That's too high in my opinion, but I understand the philosophy. Louisville blog Card Chronicle didn't play homer and voted their own team last, but they also put UConn third and Pitt sixth. Strange dealings, indeed.
As for my vote, I almost feel embarrassed to put Pitt third. But in reality, I didn't see anyone else that should be ahead of them. I get that Rutgers and Cincinnati had blowout wins in their first week and losses this week to solid teams (UNC and Tennessee, respectively) on the road, but I just thought third would be too high for either one. Plus, as cliched as it is, a win is a win. Pitt is 2-0 and regardless of how they got there, that counts for something.
In addition, as I said before, Pitt had a 20-point fourth quarter lead. I think the team did take the foot off the pedal just a bit.
That said, I've got no issue with anyone who moved Pitt down this week. Here's my ballot:
1. WVU
2. USF
3. Pitt
4. Syracuse
5. Cincinnati
6. Rutgers
7. UConn
8. Louisville