BIG EAST Play Begins Tonight With Pittsburgh At Cincinnati

Either Pittsburgh or Cincinnati will have an early head start in the race for the 2012 BIG EAST title as the River City Rivalry takes center stage on ESPN tonight (8 p.m. ET). The visiting team has won the last three matchups in the series as Pitt was a 26-10 winner in 2010, the last meeting at Nippert Stadium. Cincinnati took the 2009 and 2011 games at Heinz Field by a combined three points. The 2009 game – when Cincinnati rallied for a 45-44 win – drew the highest BIG EAST rating on network television in more than seven years. Between them, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati have won or shared four BIG EAST titles in the past four seasons.

Temple’s, Louisville’s Cups Runneth Over

Temple and Louisville opened their respective seasons with wins against local rivals to keep possession of coveted trophies. The Owls, making their return to BIG EAST football, handled Villanova 41-10 in front of 32,709 at Lincoln Financial Field to hold on to the Mayor’s Cup. The Cardinals, meanwhile, scored a 32-14 win against Kentucky, with a Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium-record crowd of 55,386 looking on, to win the annual Governor’s Cup matchup.

BIG EAST Quarterbacks Well-Armed

Seven of the eight BIG EAST teams are going with quarterbacks who have previous starting experience – which was evident in some of the Week 1 performances. Syracuse’s Ryan Nassib was the most impressive, despite a 42-41 loss to Northwestern. Nassib rallied the Orange from a 22-point deficit in the third quarter with four second-half touchdown passes on his way to a record-setting day. Nassib completed 45 of 66 passes for 482 yards – all school records – and had 512 yards of total offense. Nassib enters Saturday’s game against USC as the national leader in passing yards and total offense. Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater, meanwhile, was nearly flawless against Kentucky as he completed 19 of 21 passes (a school-record 90.4 percent) for 232 yards. USF’s B.J. Daniels threw three touchdown passes and rushed for a TD in the Bulls’ win against Chattanooga.

It’s Easy To Follow BIG EAST Football

The BIG EAST’s official website, www.bigeast.org, is the home for wall-to-wall coverage of BIG EAST football, with updates published to the site daily during the 2012 season. The site also serves as a launching point for the conference’s social media platforms. Here’s a look at the day-by-day coverage during the 2012 season.