Cincinnati moved one step closer to a BCS bowl with a huge win over Pittsburgh last night, and is now one win away from clinching the conference championship. Judging from the Bearcats post game celebration, however, you would have thought they had already ready won the Big East championship.

With one more game against last place Syracusre remaining on their schedule, it seems that Cincinnati has already packed their bags for Miami, site of the 2009 Orange Bowl.

While the Bearcats are packing, Syracuse is plotting an upset. After the Orange’s thrilling 1 point victory at Notre Dame last night, coach Greg Robinson said, “We are coming for Cincinnati next week” during a post game interview on NBC. The Bearcats would be wise not to sleep on the Orange who have nothing to lose and are riding a wave of momentum.

Ultimately, if Cincinnati plays as well against Syracuse as they did against Pitt, they will be heading to Miami.

Quarterback Tony Pike was phenomenal as he went 26-for-32 for 309 yards and 3 touchdowns. Two Bearcats ended the day with over 100 reception yards; Marshwan Gilyard (110) and Dominick Goodman (101).

The Bearcats defense did not shutdown LeSean McCoy (89 rushing yards, 2 TD’s), but was able to contain him enough to walk away with a 7 point, 28-21 victory.

Read more on the Pitt-Cincy game

WVU beat Louisville on the road today thanks to an incredible performance by Pat White. The senior play caller ran for 200 yards and three touchdowns, and also ran his way into the record books.

With 4,292 career rushing yards, White has run for more yards than any other college quarterback. Needing 197 yards to surpass Brad Smith in the record books, White was able to pick apart Louisvilles defense and brake the record on 21 carries.

White also broke Donovan McNabb’s Big East record for most touchdowns, thanks in part to two TD passes.

His incredible performance today keeps the Mountaineers alive for a BCS berth, but they must win the rest of their games (Pitt and USF) and Cincinnati must lose one of their remaining games (Pitt and Syracuse). Read more on White and the game

“You witnessed something we may never see again.” – Coach Bill Stewart on White’s historic accomplishment.

Head coach John Thompson III:

On the team’s play…

With this group, we have the ability to get into the paint and to get to the rim off of cuts, off of post ups, off of penetration, off of passes. That is a focal point for us. What we also have to focus on doing is getting into the paint more than once a possession. They have been passing the ball very well. They have been making the extra pass and looking for their teammates. We have to continue to keep doing that and get a few rebounds every now and then we will figure everything else out.”

On Greg Monroe…

“Greg is an unselfish player. He does a good job of making decisions on when it’s his turn and when it’s his teammates’ turn. He is going to continue to get better obviously relative to most incoming freshman he’s had two pretty good games. He learns, he understands what we’re doing. He understands what we are trying to accomplish. He understands the best way to facilitate that and make that happen relative to himself along with his teammates.”

“His instincts are great at both ends of the floor. Just his instincts, his understanding, instincts coupled with intelligence, coupled with the fact that—I said this a couple years ago relative to Jeff [Green] and he’s in a similar boat—you tell him something once and he understands what you’re saying, why you’re saying, when to apply it, how to apply it.” 

On DaJuan Summers…

“I think DaJuan’s playing ok. I’m looking at the body of work from the first day of practice and he’s playing as well as he’s played. He’s playing at an extremely high level right now. His shots haven’t gone in. I don’t think he’s been inconsistent at all. I think his maturation process has been tremendous.”

“He’s been letting [the game] come to him, while in years past he’s pressed a lot. I think he has a keen understanding that for the growth of this team…we need to make sure that a lot of other guys get experience get touches learn the flow of the game.” 

Senior guard Jessie Sapp:

On the play of sophomore guard Omar Wattad…

“Omar plays hard, and he’s going to continue to play hard every game. Whatever coach needs him to do, he’s going to give you 110%. Everybody is so surprised that he’s out there, but I’m not surprised. He deserves to be out there, he’s worked just as hard as anyone else in the gym.”

“He’s willing to sacrifice his body and sacrifice everything in order for us to win, and that’s the kind of mentality this team needs to have.”

Sophomore guard Chris Wright:

On the team’s progress…

“On the offensive end we were so anxious our first game, and I think that had a lot to do with the atmosphere, and the new faces, and all that stuff. I think today we stuck with our offense and didn’t take necessarily the first open shot, we stuck with it and finally got open shots. Now today it started clicking and everybody started to get in the rhythm and start knocking down some shots.”

A quick look at No. 16 Marquette (2-0) against Wisconsin-Milwaukee (3-1) in Milwaukee today:

Probable Starters (season stats in parenthesis):
Marquette:
G Dominic James (6.5 ppg, seven steals)
G Jerel McNeal (18.5 ppg, 11 assists)
G Wesley Matthews (26.5 ppg, 7.0 apg)
F Lazar Hayward (20.0 ppg, 10.5 rpg)
F Dwight Burke (1.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg)

UW-Milwaukee:
G Tone Boyle (14.5 ppg, 6 steals)
G Ricky Franklin (11.8 ppg, 3.8 apg)
G Deonte Roberts (6.0 ppg, 1.8 apg)
F Tony Meier (9.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg)
F Anthony Hill (9.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg)

The Golden Eagles hold a 35-0 record all-time against Wisconsin-Milwaukee, so this cross-town “rivalry” is such in name only. In reality, Marquette and UW-Milwaukee are rivals like blades of grass and a lawn mower are rivals. Or how Barack Obama and Ron Paul are rivals.

Still, senior guard Wesley Matthews acknowledged the perceived importance of being called “the best team in Milwaukee” this week.

“It’s just the next game on the schedule,” Matthews said. “But we still don’t forget about those bragging rights.”

Right. UW-Milwaukee lost Torre Johnson, Paige Paulson and Marcus Skinner from last season – when Marquette won a 100-65 decision. That trio accounted for 38.6 points and 20.3 rebounds per game last year. The Panthers now rely on juco transfer Tone Boyle.

It should be business as usual for the size-challenged Golden Eagles, with Matthews and fellow guards Jerel McNeal and Dominic James leading the way. Matthews has 27 and 26 points in his first two games of the year, respectively, and McNeal is off to a quietly stellar start. Junior forward Lazar Hayward is averaging a double-double, and should have a chance for a good showing considering UW-Milwaukee is equally size-starved.

More on this one after it finishes.

Now that’s more like it.

Page two of the Greg Monroe Doctrine looked even better than the first, as the 6′ 11″ center went 7-9 with 20 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks in the 81-53 win. Sophomore guard Austin Freeman had 16 points of his own.

Post game quotes to follow…

With a 44-yard catch at the end of the first quarter, Rutgers wide receiver Kenny Britt became the first receiver in Rutgers history to record two 1,000 yard seasons.

The Knights finished that drive with a 32-yard field goal to put Rutgers up 10-0 over Army.

Army head coach Stan Brock said that the Black Knights would beat the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers if they didn’t turn the ball over.

The Rutgers safety tandem of Zaire Kitchen and Joe Lefeged must have taken that statement to heart as Kitchen forced a fumble on the opening drive and Lefeged returned it for a 58-yard score to put RU up 7-0 midway through the first quarter.

Rutgers starting lineup:

Offense

QB: Mike Teel (R-Sr.)*

HB: Kordell Young (R-Soph.)

FB: Jack Corcoran (Jr.)

WR: Tiquan Underwood (Sr.)*

WR: Kenny Britt (Jr.)

TE: Shamar Graves (Jr.)

LT: Anthony Davis (Soph.)

LG: Caleb Ruch (R-Fr.)

C: Ryan Blaszczyk (R-Jr.)

RG: Art Forst (Fr.)

RT: Kevin Haslam (R.-Jr.)

Mike Teel and Kenny Britt are the two to watch today. Teel is just 225 passing yards and four touchdowns away from becoming Rutgers’ all-time leader in the two categories. Britt needs just six receiving yards to become the only receiver in Rutgers history to record two consecutive 1,000-yard seasons.

Defense

LE: George Johnson (Jr.)

DT: Pete Tverdov (Sr.)*

DT: Alex Silvestro (Soph.)

RE: Jamaal Westerman (R-Sr.)

SLB: Kevin Malast (Sr.)*

MLB: Ryan D’Imperio (Jr.)

WLB: Damaso Munoz (Jr.)

 CB: Devin McCourty (R-Jr.)

CB: Jason McCourty (Sr.)*

FS: Courtney Greene (Sr.)*

SS: Zaire Kitchen (Jr.)

Last time the Rutgers defense faced a triple option style offense, Navy running back Eric Kettani rattled RU for 133 yards and a touchdown in the Midshipmen’s 23-21 win. Army has a similar threat in fullback Collin Mooney who was described by Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano as a hard downhill runner that always falls forward.

* denotes team captain

The 22nd-ranked Hoyas are looking for their 22nd-straight win at the Verizon Center today at 1 pm against Drexel.

Georgetown should have the Dragons outmatched, but then again, they’re no Jacksonville. Senior guards Tramayne Hawthorne and Scott Rodgers combined for 29 points and 11 rebounds against Penn last week. 

Here are some previews to get you caught off before tip-off:

     The Post

     The Voice

     The Hoya

Former Georgetown great Alonzo Mourning will be at the game signing copies of his book, “Resilience: Faith, Focus, Triumph” at halftime of the game.