Pitt--26, #10 South Florida--21

The score of this game raises some important questions in my mind. Number one is: Why was USF ranked this high?

Let's look at it like this. Counting Pitt, the Bulls have played 1 team of any merit this year: Kansas. South Florida's other opponents are an intimidating roster that includes UT-Martin, Central Florida, Florida International, and NC State. Going back to that one good team: Kansas consists of a good QB, a coach who could consume most of the bacon in America for breakfast, and a 3-1 record. Those 3 wins? Florida International, Louisiana Tech, and Sam Houston State. In short, South Florida got to be honored as one of the top 10 teams in the country solely based on their ability to beat another team with a questionably high ranking. This leads us to another point:

Should any Big East teams be ranked?
Answer: I'm not sure. Preseason rankings are all-but pointless as the last 2 seasons have shown rather dramatically. (Seriously, Michigan #5? Clemson #9? I could go on.) The preseason rankings had 3 Big East teams in the top 25. Of those 3, all of them now have one loss, and the "best of the Big East" West Virginia has fallen out of the top 25. WVU didn't even get any votes the last 2 weeks. Now let's be honest with one another: the ACC and PAC-10 are just as awful as the Big East. The Big 10(+1) is only marginally better. On any given day the WAC could hold its own against these conferences. Honestly, ranking teams before week 7 of the season is a joke, and it robs schools that are under the radar. In conclusion, I am all for UConn being ranked, since their toughest opponent thus far has been Temple. Also, Ohio State should be in the National Title game against undefeated Ball State.

And now, a self-conversational moment:

The optimist part of me: Pitt's won 4 straight! That's good!
The pessimist: Yes, but they lost their opener to Bowling Green, and their "quality" win came against an untested and quite possibly overrated team. They will, however, be ranked next week. Because BCS conferences have to have 2 ranked teams. It's somewhere in the Constitution.

Until next time, have a lovely day!