2010 Big East Conference football season The 2010 Big East football season was the NCAA football season of the Big East Conference . Conference members began regular - season play on September 2 , but did not begin conference play until October 8 ; the regular season continued through December 4 . Following the regular season , six conference teams played in bowl games ; although the bowl season concluded with the BCS National Championship Game on January 10 , 2011 , the last date on which a Big East team played was January 8 , when Pittsburgh defeated Kentucky in the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham , Alabama . The conference consists of 8 football members : Cincinnati , Connecticut , Louisville , Pittsburgh , Rutgers , South Florida , Syracuse , and West Virginia . The Big East title race came down to the last minute of the final game of the season on December 4 between UConn and South Florida . West Virginia and Pitt had claimed shares of the conference title with wins earlier that day . A UConn win would leave the Huskies tied with WVU and Pitt for the title , but UConn would claim the automatic Big East BCS berth by virtue of victories over both schools . A field goal in the last minute gave the Huskies a 19 – 16 win and their first - ever trip to a BCS game . Previous season . Cincinnati ( 12 – 1 ) was the Big East champions and received the conference ' s automatic bid into the BCS and went to the Sugar Bowl , losing to SEC runner - up Florida , 51 – 24 . Five other Big East teams went to bowl games in 2010 , finishing bowl play with a record of 4 – 2 as a conference . Rutgers ( 9 – 4 ) beat Central Florida 45 – 24 in the St . Petersburg Bowl . Pittsburgh ( 10 – 3 ) defeated North Carolina 19 – 17 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl . West Virginia ( 9 – 4 ) lost to Florida State 33 – 21 in the Konica - Minolta Gator Bowl . South Florida ( 8 – 5 ) beat Northern Illinois 27 – 3 in the International Bowl . And , Connecticut ( 8 – 5 ) beat South Carolina 20 – 7 in the Papajohns . com Bowl . The only two teams not to go to a bowl game were Louisville ( 4 – 8 ) and Syracuse ( 4 – 8 ) . Preseason . Coaching changes . Three teams have new head coaches for the 2010 season . Charlie Strong replaces Steve Kragthorpe at Louisville , Butch Jones replaces Brian Kelly at Cincinnati , and Skip Holtz replaces Jim Leavitt at South Florida . Preseason poll . The 2010 Big East Preseason Poll was announced at the Big East Media Day in Newport , RI on August 3 . Pittsburgh was chosen as the favorite to win the conference . Award watch lists . The following Big East players listed below have been named to the preseason award watch lists . Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award : Lombardi Award : Outland Trophy : Rimington Trophy : Bednarik Award : Maxwell Award : Walter Camp Award : Davey O ' Brien Award : Biletnikoff Award : Butkus Award : Lou Groza Award : John Mackey Award : Doak Walker Award : Jim Thorpe Award : Regular season . All times Eastern time . Rankings reflect that of the AP poll for that week until week eight when the BCS rankings will be used . Week One . Players of the Week Week Two . Players of the Week Week Three . Week off : Pittsburgh , Rutgers , South Florida < br > < br > Players of the Week Week Four . Week off : Louisville < br > < br > Players of the Week Week Five . Week off : Cincinnati , Syracuse , West Virginia < br > < br > Players of the Week Week Six . Players of the Week Week Seven . Week off : Connecticut Players of the Week Week Eight . Players of the Week Week Nine . Week off : Rutgers , South Florida Players of the Week Week Ten . Week off : Cincinnati , Connecticut , Pittsburgh , West Virginia Players of the Week Week Eleven . Players of the Week Week Twelve . Players of the Week Week Thirteen . Players of the Week Week Fourteen . Last week ' s results set up a wild final week in the Big East , with three teams — UConn , WVU , and Pitt — still in contention for the league ' s BCS berth , and a possibility that as many as five teams ( the three aforementioned teams plus South Florida and Syracuse ) could claim a share of the conference title . The conference noted in a November 29 press release , " There could be an outright winner , three different two - way ties , a three - way tie , or even a five - way tie for the title . " Under Big East rules , the first tiebreaker is head - to - head results . In a multi - team tie , the first tiebreaker is record in games between the teams involved in the tie . Going into the final games , the scenarios were : With Pitt and WVU both winning , they assured themselves a share of the Big East title . The BCS berth came down to the UConn - South Florida game , which itself went down to the final minute . Dave Teggart ' s 52 - yard field goal , the longest of his career , with 17 seconds remaining gave the Huskies their first - ever BCS berth . Week off : Louisville , Syracuse Players of the Week Attendance . Played at Paul Brown Stadium Played at New Meadowlands Stadium Awards and honors . Big East Conference Awards . The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the Big East Conference football coaches . Todman , who became the second Connecticut running back to win the award in three years , was the unanimous choice for Offensive Player of the Year . He was the first unanimous winner of the award since Gino Torretta in 1992 . Sheard marked the third consecutive year , and fourth time in five years , that a Pittsburgh player has won the defensive player award .