Every week the SB Nation Big East Football Blogs cast their vote in an attempt to measure the current state of the Big East. The results are below.
Typically I'd start off this party by talking about how West Virginia retained the top spot. However, it is Rutgers Hate Week around these parts, so instead I'll start with this: BWAHAHAHAHAHA Rutgers lost to Tulane. At home. On Homecoming. In a completely justified move, almost everyone (we'll get to that in a minute) dropped Rutgers down to last on their ballots. This allowed Louisville to finally sneak out of the basement, though I expect it won't last for long. Despite the fact that I fully expect UConn to beat Rutgers next week, I'm sure the Cardinals have it in them to find a hilariously bad way to lose to Memphis and reclaim their rightful spot on the bottom of this list.
Anyway, as I said, not everyone put Rutgers last. Not surprisingly, the exception was Rutgers blog On The Banks. Now, if there is one thing I admire in this poll, it is a voter who is consistent. Perhaps you can knock On The Banks for being a homer, but you can't knock his consistency, as each and every week he has dutifully voted South Florida last. This has been brought up before, and I for one speculated that perhaps Skip Holtz ran over his dog, but just in case I was wrong, I asked Jon from over at OtB to supply his reasoning:
I think USF is particularly bad this year, and they're continuously the most overrated conference team every year. It's all nitpicking; every team is probably some degree of bad, so there's not really that much substance to any of these votes until conference play starts.
While I do not agree with him (I personally had USF third, we slotted them second on our ballot), I can't say he's wrong and only time will tell. Actually, strike that. This is hate week. He's wrong. TULANE!
Other than that, the poll seems a little less crazy than last week. West Virginia is still holding strong up top, and UConn seems to have solidified itself since new QB Cody Endres took over.
The one issue I do disagree on with most of the voters is the placement of Pittsburgh. I suspect many of them were impressed by the final score of 44-17 in their game with FIU, but I'm held back by the fact that Pitt needed four touchdowns in the fourth quarter to get there. Plus, I simply refuse to trust the Wannstache. Ray Graham sure seems talented though.
Looking forward, the game I'm most interested in next week (besides UConn's of course), is Syracuse's matchup with South Florida. The Orange slipped a few spots during their bye week, so I'm excited to see how they do against Big East competition. I suspect South Florida will put together a convincing win, but I like what Marrone is doing up in Syracuse.
1. West Virginia (6) (3-1): 48 points -- BYE -- Last Week:1
2 (tie). UConn (3-2): 35 points -- vs. Vanderbilt W 40-21 -- Last Week: 3
2 (tie). Pittsburgh (2-2): 35 points -- vs. Florida International W 44-17 -- Last Week: T-4
4. South Florida (3-1): 27 points -- vs. Florida Atlantic W 31-3 -- Last Week: 6
5. Syracuse (3-1): 25 points -- BYE -- Last Week: 2
6. Cincinnati (1-3): 23 points -- vs. BYE -- Last Week: 7
7. Louisville (2-2): 13 points -- @ Arkansas St. W 34-24 -- Last Week:8
8. Rutgers (2-2): 10 points -- vs. Tulane L 17-14 -- Last Week: T-4
Past rankings: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4
As always, individual ballots are after the jump.
Card Chronicle1. West Virginia
2. Pittsburgh
3. UConn
4. Cincinnati
5. Syracuse
6. South Florida
7. Louisville
8. Rutgers
Cardiac Hill:
1. West Virginia
2. South Florida
3. Pittsburgh
4. UConn
5. Syracuse
6. Louisville
7. Cincinnati
8. Rutgers
On The Banks:
1. West Virginia
2. UConn
3. Cincy
4. Pittsburgh
5. Rutgers
6. Syracuse
7. Louisville
8. South Florida
Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician:
1. West Virginia
2. Pittsburgh
3. UConn
4. Syracuse
5. Cincinnati
6. South Florida
7. Louisville
8. Rutgers
TheUConnBlog:
1. West Virginia
2. South Florida
3. UConn
4. Syracuse
5. Pittsburgh
6. Cincinnati
7. Louisville
8. Rutgers
Voodoo Five:
1. West Virginia
2. South Florida
3. Pittsburgh
4. UConn
5. Syracuse
6. Cincinnati
7. Louisville
8. Rutgers