The Big East is 2-1 with two bowls to go . . .

The Big East is now 2-1 in the bowl season, heading into Wednesday’s Orange Bowl. I think most Big East fans would be happy with that;however, it’s the BCS bowls that make or break the Big East’s bowl season each year.

In case you missed them:

NC State beat Louisville 31-24 in the Belk Bowl. NC State quarterback Mark Glennon threw for 264 yards, 3 TD, and 1 INT. Louisville finished 7-6.

Cincinnati came from behind to beat Vanderbilt in the Liberty Bowl, 31-24. Senior Isaiah Pead, who got to celebrate his first bowl win, rushed for 149 yards and a touchdown. The Bearcats finished the year 10-3.

Rutgers beat Iowa State, 27-13, in the Pinstripe Bowl, which the Big East is now 2-0 in. I guess a “homefield advantage” in bowl games does pay off. Rutgers has now won five straight bowl games. Unfortunately, none of those bowls has been named the “Orange Bowl” or “Sugar Bowl.” The Rutgers defense forced three turnovers in the win.

Big East is 0-for-1…

Last night, the Big East dropped its first bowl game of the season, when Louisville lost 31-24 to NC State. Unfortunately, the Belk Bowl was one of the Big East’s most winnable games, so it’s not looking real good. Up next is Rutgers vs. Iowa State in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl, which will be played Friday, at 3:20 p.m., on ESPN. Rutgers is the only Big East team that is favored to win its bowl game. In truth, there is no excuse for Rutgers to lose. Iowa State isn’t very good and Rutgers is essentially playing a home game.

Big East not letting WVU out “no matter what . . .”

The Big East is claiming that no amount of money will get West Virginia out of the Big East and into the Big 12 in time for the 2012 football season.

Pitt’s got its guy. . .

When things are not looking good, sometimes you need to hire a savior to resurrect your program. Pitt has turned to Chryst. It appears that Pitt will eminently hire Wisconsin’s offensive coordinator Paul Chryst as its next head coach.

Update: Done and done.

I’ve never heard of Chryst before as I have not watched a Wisconsin game all year (save a few minutes of the Big Ten championship game).

Lots and lots of contracts . . .

Just sign on the dotted line . . . and don't bother reading it. The contract already states that you did read it.

Contracts give me a woody.

A very interesting story about the contract memorandum of understanding between Dana Holgorsen and West Virginia. In essence, if Holgorsen leaves WVU, he will have to pay the school $1 million or $1.5 million, depending on when he leaves. WVU, on the other hand, will have to pay Holgorsen his entire salary, should it choose to fire him, which would be over $5 million if he’s fired with two years left on his contract. Contracts should be all about bargaining leverage (which past instances have shown that bargaining leverage is not always used very wisely) and “happy accidents.” I’m not sure that RichRod knew that he’d leave WVU (and pay $4 million dollars) when he did. On the bargaining leverage idea, Bill Stewart signed a contract extension within a week of getting blown out by East Carolina during his first year (a year where WVU was a preseason top 10 team and returned most of the talent from the prior year’s Fiesta Bowl-winning team).

The Big East Bowl lines . . . one week till the Belk Bowl!

After the jump. . .

We can either talk about litigation or recruiting . . .

And, luckily, those two haven’t mixed… yet.

The Big East filed for a Preliminary Injunction, which is a filing you make in order to maintain the status quo during the pendency of a lawsuit. Typically, you must show “irreperable harm” for it to be granted. It should be easy for the Big East to show that it would be harmed if WVU leaves for the Big 12, since the Big East would only have seven teams (assuming it can’t get any of the new teams to join immediately). This would screw up scheduling, probably affect the television contract with ESPN, etc.