Big East Rewind: For Next 25 Days, Cincinnati Is Clear Beast of East

For at least the next 25 days, Cincinnati is the Beast of the East. Everyone in the Big East is now officially chasing the Bearcats following Monday's 47-15 seal clubbing of Rutgers.

The Bearcats and Scarlet Knights opened the Big East season Monday and now there is a 25-day break until the next conference game is played.

The way the Bearcats looked Monday, they may not only stay on top of the Big East standings for 25 days, but for the entire season. The Bearcats made a strong statement in defending last year's Big East title.

---

---

The Bearcats' win was so impressive, I think Cincinnati will emerge in the Top 25 on Tuesday (I know they'll be on my Associated Press Top 25 ballot -- I'll post it here on FanHouse on Tuesday).

Cincinnati's victory capped a decent -- if not predictable -- week for the league. The Big East went 5-1 in non-conference play, but its degree of difficulty wasn't that tough. UConn used its running game to get past Ohio 23-16, while Syracuse lost to Minnesota in Greg Paulus' debut on -- ironically -- a 3-pointer at the buzzer in overtime.

The bad news for the Big East last week is the Mountain West now has even more ammunition in its "we're better than the Big East" campaign/crusade after BYU's upset of Oklahoma.

The good news, however, for the Big East is the ACC cannot use that argument. The ACC now ranks as the nation's eighth- or ninth-best league sandwiched somewhere between the MAC and the Sun Belt after Duke and Virginia each suffered embarrassing losses to Division I-AA/Colonial Athletic Association members Richmond and William & Mary.

By the way, Richmond and William & Mary will meet on Nov. 21 for what could determine the Colonial and ACC championships.

And, be sure and get your tickets early, the Titanic Duke-Virginia contest will be played -- and I can't make this stuff up -- on Halloween.

The Big East also was spooked in the early going against I-AA clubs, but West Virginia, USF and Louisville managed to pull away in the second half. Only Pittsburgh, against Youngstown State, never appeared in danger of an upset.

There were certainly some anxious moments. West Virginia only led Liberty by 10 points until late in the third quarter; Louisville only led Indiana State by 10 until six minutes left in the third quarter and USF was tied with Wofford in the final minute of the second quarter until bad snaps on a pair of Wofford punts literally gave USF nine points for a 16-7 halftime lead.

Some things we may have actually figured out in the past week

1. Losing a star running back to the NFL might not matter that much to Pittsburgh or UConn: Pittsburgh true freshman Dion Lewis, replacing LeSean McCoy, rushed for 129 yards on 20 carries and scored three touchdowns, while UConn got 257 yards rushing from Jordan Todman (157) and Andre Dixon (100) in the Huskies' first game without Donald Brown. These obviously were games Pitt and UConn were supposed to win, but still an impressive performance by the trio.

2. One way or another USF wide receiver Carlton Mitchell might be the next Chad Ochocinco: Mitchell not only led the Bulls in receptions (six) against Wofford Saturday, but also in Tweets from the locker room. Less than an hour before USF's kickoff, Mitchell Tweeted "Lil weather delay sittin n the locker room still... so ready man I need 2 get out there. I understand the man upstairs run the show tho" Then about 15 minutes before kickoff, Mitchell Tweeted "ight not game time enough said!... Blessed" Mitchell was one of at least three USF players who Tweeted Saturday during team meetings, the pre-game meal, the bus ride from USF's campus to Raymond James Stadium or in the locker room. USF coach Jim Leavitt said he was not aware his players had Tweeted until reading it in Sunday's Tampa Tribune. He said it was "disappointing," but did not specify if any of the players would be disciplined.

3. Better days are ahead for Syracuse: The first play of Greg Paulus' college football career sailed over his head. The final pass of his first game was intercepted in the end zone. In between those two plays, Paulus proved he can do enough of the right things to give Syracuse a chance for improvement this season (it can't get any worse, right?) The results may not show anytime soon. The Orange appears locked into a 0-3 start (at Penn State this week, home vs. Northwestern on Sept. 19) before hosting Division I-AA Maine.

4. Who needs defense: The common theme for those who didn't pick Cincinnati to defend its title (yes, I'm guilty as charged) was having to replace 10 defensive starters. As long as the Bearcats can roll up (almost) half a hundred each week, they won't need much defense. Rutgers obviously has some offensive shortcomings, but the Bearcats clearly established themselves as the league's team to beat.

Re-Tweeting Week 1
Ranking the league from top to bottom and summarizing each team, in 140 characters or less.

1. Cincinnati: First impression: the Bearcats are Big East's best -- and even best football team in the Queen City (sorry NFL's Bungles)

2. Pitt: Oh No! Mr. Bill. Pitt fans boo its own QB Bill Stull -- No. 2 in Big East in pass efficiency

3. WVU: How often does this happen? A Big East team seeking revenge on a C-USA team after East Carolina's 24-3 thumping of WVU in 2008

4. USF: Jim Leavitt ranked his club 18th in preseason coaches' poll. How low will they go on his ballot this week?

5. UConn: No huddle offense? No problem. Jordan Todman + Andre Dixon > Donald Brown? At least for Week 1

6. Rutgers: Is Cincinnati really that good or -- gulp -- is it possible we're really this bad?

7. Syracuse: Unlike hoops, former PG Greg Paulus finds out in football that one turnover in OT is one too many

8. Louisville: At least Cards were balanced in opening win vs. Indiana State: 128 penalty yards, defense allowed 101 yards

You can follow Brett McMurphy on Twitter at twitter.com/BrettmcmurphY