Syracuse may not be playing in a bowl game this year but they'll have a keen eye on their Big East brethren who will be. The conference will be trying to go undefeated in bowls for the second-straight season. While there's still a little football to be played, some of those bowl selections are already shaping up. #2 West Virginia (10-1) needs only confirm their ticket for the national title game with a win over Pitt. I'm sure Pitt would love nothing more than to derail the 'Neers and send them Orange Bowling instead, but Dave Wannstedt is involved so...yeah...
#25 South Florida (9-3) has gone ahead and punched their ticket to the Sun Bowl where they will take on the third-place team from the Pac-10 in El Paso. It's the first time a Big East team has played in the game, and their likely opponent will be the winner of the Oregon-Oregon State game this weekend. However, if UCLA manages to upset USC again, there's a chance the Bulls could see the Trojans instead. How's that for a program-making match-up?
The UConn Huskies (9-3) have also accepted a bowl bid and they'll be attending the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte. The Huskies will await the #5 finisher from the ACC (Wake Forest?).
That leaves the Cincy Bearcats (9-3) and Rutgers (7-4) to fight over the table scraps that are (most likely) the PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham where Southern Miss already waits and the vaunted International Bowl in Toronto. Rivals has already predicted Cincy will head south and Rutgers, once ranked in the top ten, will venture north to battle the mighty MAC (and not Notre Dame, as their website's choice of song may imply).
Keep that spot warm for us, Rutgers. We're gunning for it next year and nothing is gonna stand in our way, except for our schedule perhaps.
Update: Cincy is going to the Papajohns.com Bowl.
(AP Photo/Jeff Gentner)