Even before taking the field Saturday afternoon, the Cincinnati Bearcats (10-2, 6-1) knew they were champs of the BIG EAST thanks to Pittsburgh knocking off West Virginia the day before. This is the first BIG EAST title for the Bearcats which will allow them to play in a BCS Bowl game. That bowl game will either be the Orange or Sugar Bowl.

Though their game against Syracuse (3-9, 1-6) didn't matter as far as the BIG EAST title went, the Bearcats still came out and played as though it did, winning 30-10. The defense played hard and swarmed to the ball, holding the Orange quarterback, Cam Dantley, to just five yards passing going into the fourth quarter. Dantley would finish the game goinng an abysmal 6-of-23 for 59 yards, one interception and three sacks.

The Bearcats' offense kept their foot on the gas as well as quarterback Tony Pike took advantage of a defense that left a lot of cushion. Pike hit his receivers with short passes and a lot of screens that went for big yards at times. He ended the game 28-of-44 for 272 yards.

After every score for the Bearcats, oranges were hurled onto the field. Everytime it happened the public address announcer would tell fans to not throw anything of the field because the Bearcats could get penalized. That didn't stop fans from doing it though, actually it just encouraged them to do it more, mostly coming from the student section. The Bearcats didn't need any help getting penalized, however. They were hit with 10 penalties for 107 yards, something that has become a common theme for this team.

Penalties aside, this team has played well all season. They've had to overcome an early season carousel of quarterbacks after Dustin Grutza broke his leg in the second game and then Pike broke his non-throwing arm in the fourth game. In total, the Bearcats used five different quarterbacks throughout the season with redshirt freshmen, Chazz Anderson and Zach Callaros getting playing time. Notre Dame transfer Demetrius Jones got in for one play in the Louisville game as well.

The passing offense has been the most prolific in the BIG EAST regardless of who was taking snaps. That speaks to the great receivers on the team, most notably Dominick Goodman and Mardy Gilyard. The defense has played well this season too, led by Conner Barwin who leads the BIG EAST in sacks.

One welcome sight from Saturday's game was kicker Jake Rogers connecting on all three of his field goal attempts. Prior to the Syracuse game, Rogers had missed five straight tries. He connected from 45, 38 and 45 again on Saturday. Earlier in the season Rogers was being considered as an All-American candidate at his position. The five straight misses may have hurt his chances at that, but seeing him hit his attempts on Saturday is a good sign going into the final game of the season and into whatever bowl game the Bearcats are invited to.

Its been an amazing season. The Bearcats, under second year head coach Brian Kelly, have now won 10 games in back-to-back season. Kelly has taken this team from obscurity and as a bottom feeder in the BIG EAST to champs of the conference. When asked if he's done all he can in Cincinnati, Kelly responded saying, "There's so much more to accomplish. We averaged around 31,000 fans; we need to see 35,000. We can show that not only do we play for BIG EAST championships, we now want to get into the conversation for the national championship." With the recruiting going on in Cincinnati, that idea is becoming more and more of a possibility.

The Bearcats have one game left on the schedule. They travel to play Hawaii Saturday night. They will learn their BCS bowl fate come Sunday evening. All indications are pointing to the Orange Bowl, but the Sugar Bowl is a possibility as well. They would end up taking on the winner of the ACC most likely, which would either be Boston College or Virginia Tech.

College Football cincinnati bearcats, syracuse orange, big east, bcs, orange bowl, sugar bowl, cam dantley, tony pike, dustin grutza, chazz anderson, zach callaros, demetrius jones, dominick goodman, mardy gilyard, jake rogers, brian kelly, boston college, virginia tech

The No. 16 Cincinnati Bearcats (9-2, 5-1) are on the verge of winning their first BIG EAST Conference title. They can do so with a win over the Syracuse Orange (3-8, 1-5) this Saturday or if Pittsburgh beats West Virginia Friday afternoon. Both the Bearcats and the Orange are coming off big wins with Cincinnati beating PITT for the first time ever and Syracuse upsetting Notre Dame in South Bend. On paper Syracuse shouldn't stand a chance this weekend, but crazier things have happened.

The series between these two teams is tied 4-4, with the Bearcats winning the last three including a 52-31 thrashing last year in Syracuse. No game in this series could end up being more important than the one this weekend. Cincinnati could very well be playing for the conference title should WVU beat PITT. Syracuse is playing for both pride and for their head coach, Greg Robinson, who will coach his final game for the Orange Saturday afternoon.

The Bearcats have been led by the strong quarterback play of Tony Pike over the last few games. Pike had a career day against PITT last weekend going 26-for-32 for 309 yards and three touchdowns. His solid play has made many forget the fact that he broke his non-throwing arm earlier in the season and missed a couple games. He leads an offense that ranks first in the BIG EAST in passing yards per game (258.9) and passing efficiency (142.4). Best of all, he showed in the PITT game that he's not afraid to take a hit on that broken arm that's being held together with a plate an six screws. He has also showed some mobility in the last couple games, scrambling out of the pocket to make plays either with his arm or his feet. Pike is mixing the ball around well, but his two favorite targets are still his big playmakers in Mardy Gilyard and Dominick Goodman, both of which were on the receiving end of a score this past week.

The Bearcats' defense has had a stretch of tough games in the last month or so, but they have risen to the challenge and shut down big name players like Pat White, Noel Divine, and even LeSean McCoy last week. The defense is led by defensive end, Connor Barwin, who leads the BIG EAST with 10 sacks and ranks seventh in the country in that category. Unfortunately the defense will be without their biggest playmaker, Mike Mickens, for a second straight game. He will be out the rest of the regular season after having knee surgery earlier this week.

Syracuse has had a really rough go of it this year. Their three wins have come against Notheastern, Louisville and Notre Dame, none of which are really anything to brag about considering the seasons those teams are having. Running back Curtis Brinkley leads the Orange offense. Without him, there really wouldn't be much offense. The team as a whole is only averaging 275.5 yards of offense and less than 19 points per game. Compare that to Cincinnati's 376.8 yards and almost 27 points per game, and you can see why Syracuse is having such a bad season. In addition to the offense not putting up very good numbers, the defense has struggled as well giving up almost 33 points per game. Unfortunately for coach Robinnson, all these numbers combined with a bad last few seasons led to his demise at the school.

It will be senior day down at Nippert Stadium this weekend. Look for senior quarterback Dustin Grutza to get some play time, possibly early on if Cincinnati can jump out to a big lead. Another way Grutza may get a lot of playing time this weekend is if PITT beats WVU Friday. If that happens, this game will be just a formality for the Bearcats.

The winner of the BIG EAST will likely go to the Orange Bowl, but there is a chance that they go to the Sugar Bowl as well. It would be fitting and ironic if the game this weekend ended up mattering and the Bearcats beat the Orange to go earn a trip to the Orange Bowl.

College Football cincinnati bearcats, syracuse orange, pittsburgh, west virginia, greg robinson, tony pike, mardy gilyard, dominick goodman, connor barwin, mike mickens, curtis brinkley, dustin grutza, big east, bcs, orange bowl