An article handicapping each BCS conference bid.

Big East
In control: West Virginia. The Backyard Brawl with Pitt is in Morgantown, but that Dec. 3 game at South Florida, rescheduled because of Hurricane Wilma, could be a trap.
Ready to pounce: The critics who question why this motley crew is still worthy of an automatic BCS bid.
Lurking: Pittsburgh. The Big East’s worst nightmare: The team that lost to Ohio wins the conference.
Forecast: West Virginia loses at South Florida, but wins the league and tries not to get embarrassed in the BCS.

The piling on the BE should reach screeching levels sometime around Thanksgiving.

Now, yesterday when I was pointing out what BE teams need to do and have happen to win the conference, I mentioned that no matter what, you could count on columnists to rag on the BE.

Today’s example:

A deserving team is going to be left out of a BCS game because the champ in the watered-down Big East gets an automatic berth. Leader West Virginia (6-1, 3-0), ranked No. 18, is in firm control, with remaining games against Connecticut, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. The Mountaineers have only one win worth noting, and that came against Louisville.

This league is so poor that Rutgers and Pittsburgh are tied for second. Rutgers, which became bowl-eligible by defeating Navy, lost to Big Ten doormat Illinois. One of its wins came against Division I-AA Villanova. Pittsburgh needed a three-game winning streak to get to 4-4.

But those teams would make for a great conference tournament. In basketball.

This will be an ongoing theme from here on out as the BCS bids start looming larger.