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The Big East title game will be a little lacklustre this coming Thursday as both the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and Louisville Cardinals are backing in after embarrassing losses.
The Cardinals were upset 23-20 in triple overtime by the Connecticut Huskies on Saturday. The Huskies came into the game ranked just 4-6 and with only one conference victory. Connecticut’s offense had been awful all year as they rank 199th in rushing (87.0) and 121st in points per game (17.3) in the country. Meanwhile, the Cardinals started the season at 9-0 and were even ranked in the top ten for a few weeks, but have since lost two straight games. To make matters worse for Louisville, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suffered a broken wrist and his status for next week is unclear. Luckily for the Cardinals it’s on his non-throwing wrist, but how much that will affect him throughout the week remains to be seen.
Louisville’s opponent next week is the Scarlet Knights, who also suffered a tough loss. Rutgers was defeated 27-6 by a Pittsburgh Panthers team who looked anything but inconsistent on Saturday. The Panthers have alternated by losing two games, and then winning two in a row all season long.
Since both conference heavyweights fell today, the chase for the Big East title has become a little muddled. Rutgers can win the conference championship outright with a win against Louisville on Thursday because in that scenario they would have just a single loss in the Big East. If Louisville and the Cincinnati Bearcats win, then there would be a four-way tie for first in the conference. The BCS spot would go to the team with the highest ranking, which in that case would likely be the Cardinals.
Confused yet?
One thing is for sure; both the Scarlet Knights and the Cardinals will be playing with a something to prove next Thursday. Each will be trying to save face for themselves, and the Big East.
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