The 2012 Big East football season was the 22nd NCAA Division I FBS football season of the conference that was known as the Big East Conference from its formation in 1979 until July 2013, and ultimately proved to be the last for the conference under the "Big East" name, as well as the last with a full round-robin schedule for conference play. The conference consisted of eight football members: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse and Temple. In February 2012, the Big East settled a lawsuit with West Virginia University that allowed them to move to the Big 12 Conference effective July 1, 2012.
Conference members began regular-season play on August 30 when Temple hosted Villanova; conference play started September 6 when Cincinnati hosted Pittsburgh. The regular season concluded on December 1. Four teams—Louisville, Rutgers, Cincinnati, and Syracuse—claimed shares of the conference championship. Louisville claimed the league's automatic BCS bowl berth via tiebreakers.
On February 28, 2013, ESPN reported that the conference's seven schools that do not play FBS football, which had announced plans to leave the conference as a bloc no later than July 2015, had reached an agreement to leave in July 2013, and would keep the "Big East" name when they formed a new conference at that time. As a result, the schools that retained the original Big East charter would operate under a new name in the 2013 football season. On April 3, 2013, the remaining schools announced they would operate as the American Athletic Conference (The American).
Previous season West Virginia, Cincinnati and Louisville were co-Big East Champions with a conference record of 5–2. West Virginia received the conference's automatic bid into the BCS bid by way of tie-breakers. The Mountaineers went to the Orange Bowl and defeated Clemson 70–33 in the game, West Virginia tied or broke eight separate team and individual bowl game records, while the combined 69 points West Virginia and Clemson scored in the first half set another new record.
Four other Big East teams went to bowl games in 2011, finishing bowl play with a record of 3–2 as a conference. Louisville (7–6) lost to NC State in the Belk Bowl. Rutgers (9–4) beat Iowa State 27–17 in New Era Pinstripe Bowl. Cincinnati (10–3) defeated Vanderbilt in the Autozone Liberty Bowl, and Pittsburgh lost to SMU 28–6 in the BBVA Compass Bowl. The three teams not to go to a bowl game were Connecticut (5–7), South Florida (5–7), and Syracuse (5–7).
Preseason
Coaching changes Two teams have new head coaches for the 2012 season. Paul Chryst replaces Todd Graham at Pittsburgh, Kyle Flood replaces Greg Schiano at Rutgers.
Preseason Poll The 2012 Big East Preseason Poll was announced at the Big East Media Day in Newport, RI on July 31, 2012
Louisville – 219 (24 first place votes) South Florida – 176 (4) Rutgers – 155 Cincinnati – 139 Pittsburgh – 131 Connecticut – 77 Syracuse – 70 Temple – 41
Schedule Index to colors and formattingBig East member wonBig East member lostBig East teams in bold
Week 1
Week off: Cincinnati
Week 2
Week 3
Week off: Temple
Week 4
Week off: Cincinnati
Week 5
Week off: Pittsburgh, Temple, Rutgers, Syracuse
Week 6
Week off: Louisville
Week 7
Week off: South Florida
Week 8
Week 9
Week off: Connecticut
Week 10
Week off: Rutgers
Week 11
Week off: South Florida
Week 12
Week off: Louisville, Pittsburgh
Week 13
Week 14
Going into the final week of the season, Rutgers had clinched at least a share of the Big East title, but it was possible that the season could end with a three-way or a four-way tie for the conference championship. The scenarios were: Rutgers would win the title and the Big East BCS berth outright with a win over Louisville on November 29. If Louisville won, it would create a three-way tie between the two schools and Syracuse. Cincinnati could then join the logjam atop the conference with a win over UConn on December 1.
The conference's BCS berth would then be decided by tiebreakers. Under Big East rules, the first tiebreaker among three or more teams is head-to-head record among the tied teams, followed by the BCS standings.
A three-way tie would go to the BCS standings, since Louisville, Rutgers, and Syracuse finished 1–1 against one another. In a four-way tie, Cincinnati and Syracuse would be eliminated with 1–2 records against the other three teams, with the BCS berth then going to the higher-ranked team between Louisville and Rutgers. The conference said that Louisville would most likely receive the BCS berth if it defeated Rutgers, and that proved to be the case, with the Cardinals claiming the league's BCS berth.
Week off: Temple, Syracuse
Records against other conferences
Big East vs. BCS matchups Date Visitor Home Winning team OpponentConferenceSeptember 1 Northwestern Syracuse Northwestern Big TenSeptember 2 Kentucky #25 Louisville Louisville SECSeptember 8 Maryland Temple Maryland ACCSeptember 8 NC State Connecticut NC State ACCSeptember 8 USC Syracuse USC Pac-12September 15 Virginia Tech Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ACCSeptember 15 Connecticut Maryland Connecticut ACCSeptember 15 North Carolina Louisville Louisville ACCSeptember 22 Rutgers Arkansas Rutgers SECSeptember 22 Temple Penn State Penn State Big TenSeptember 22 Syracuse Minnesota Minnesota Big TenSeptember 29 Virginia Tech Cincinnati Cincinnati ACCSeptember 29 Florida State South Florida Florida State ACCNovember 3 Pittsburgh Notre Dame Notre Dame IndependentNovember 17 Syracuse Missouri Syracuse SEC
Bowl Games
Players of the week Following each week of games, Big East conference officials select the players of the week from the conference's teams. Week Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Position Team Player Position Team Player Position Team 9/3/12 Ryan Nassib QB Syracuse Yawin Smallwood LB Connecticut Brandon McManus K/P Temple 9/10/12 Andre Davis WR South Florida Walter Stewart DE Cincinnati Brandon Jones CB Rutgers 9/17/12 Tino Sunseri QB Pittsburgh Yawin Smallwood LB Connecticut Nick Williams WR Connecticut 9/24/12 Gary Nova QB Rutgers Adrian Bushell CB Louisville Brandon McManus K/P Temple 10/1/12 Munchie Legaux QB Cincinnati Maalik Bomar LB Cincinnati Pat O'Donnell P Cincinnati 10/8/12 Montel Harris RB Temple Brandon Sharpe DE Syracuse Tony Miliano K Cincinnati 10/15/12 Senorise Perry RB Louisville Khaseem Greene LB Rutgers Brandon McManus K/P Temple 10/22/12 Gary Nova QB Rutgers Lorenzo Mauldin DE Louisville Ross Krautman K Syracuse 10/29/12 Teddy Bridgewater QB Louisville Preston Brown LB Louisville Maikon Bonani K South Florida 11/5/12 George Winn RB Cincinnati Keith Brown LB Louisville Matt Brown RB Temple 11/11/12 Alec Lemon WR Syracuse Khaseem Greene LB Rutgers Nick Williams RB Connecticut
Rankings + Legend Increase in ranking Decrease in ranking Not ranked previous week RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
Pre Sept.4 Sept.9 Sept.16 Sept.23 Sept.30 Oct.7 Oct.14 Oct.21 Oct.28 Nov.4 Nov.11 Nov.18 Nov.25 Dec.2 FinalCincinnati APRVRVRVRVRV2121RVCRVRVRVRVRV232018RV Harris Not released2018 RV BCSNot released21Connecticut APC Harris Not released BCSNot releasedLouisville AP252319201919181616CRV2420181716161414 Harris Not released181614 BCSNot released1616Pittsburgh APC Harris Not released BCSNot releasedRutgers APRV2322201918CRVRVRVRV25 т21191715 Harris Not released191715 BCSNot released1515South Florida AP RV RV RVC RV RV RV Harris Not released BCSNot releasedSyracuse APC Harris Not released BCSNot releasedTemple APC Harris Not released BCSNot released
Home attendance TeamStadiumCapacityGame 1Game 2Game 3Game 4Game 5Game 6Game 7TotalAverage% of CapacityCincinnatiNippert Stadium35,09733,56227,11235,09726,31726,18034,52621,171203,96529,13883%ConnecticutRentschler Field40,00035,27034,20234,66637,27933,50333,112208,03234,67287%LouisvillePapa John's Cardinal Stadium55,00055,38647,55353,33450,16753,27144,60945,618349,93849,99191%PittsburghHeinz Field65,05040,83748,03236,45242,43242,24538,786248,96441,49464%RutgersHigh Point Solutions Stadium52,45450,85550,87048,01149,34543,25052,798295,12949,18894%South FloridaRaymond James Stadium65,89741,28544,21969,38338,56236,19035,141264,78044,13067%SyracuseCarrier Dome49,26237,83034,51240,39436,71540,312189,76337,95377%TempleLincoln Financial Field68,53232,70923,32225,79635,14520,19222,317159,48126,58039%
Neutral Site Games
TeamStadiumCapacityGameAverage% of CapacityCincinnatiFedExField vs Virginia Tech91,70446,02646,02650%SyracuseMetLife Stadium vs USC82,56639,50739,50747%
Big East Conference Awards
The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the Big East Conference football coaches.
2012 Big East Football Individual Awards Award Recipient(s)Offensive Player of the Year Teddy Bridgewater, QB, LouisvilleDefensive Player of the Year Khaseem Greene, LB, RutgersSpecial Teams Player of the Year Matt Brown, RB/KR, TempleRookie of the Year Tyler Matakevich, LB, TempleCoach of the Year Kyle Flood, Rutgers Charlie Strong, LOUISVILLE
2012 All-Big East Conference Football Teams First Team Second Team Offense Defense Offense DefenseWR – Alec Lemon,† Syracuse WR – DeVante Parker, Louisville OT – Eric Lefeld, Cincinnati OT – Justin Pugh, Syracuse OG – Austen Bujnoch, Cincinnati OG – Antwan Lowery, Rutgers C – Mario Benavides, Louisville TE – Travis Kelce, Cincinnati QB – Teddy Bridgewater, Louisville RB – Ray Graham, Pittsburgh RB – Montel Harris, Temple K – Maikon Bonani, USF RS – Matt Brown, TempleDL – Dan Giordano, Cincinnati DL – Trevardo Williams,† Connecticut DL – Aaron Donald, Pittsburgh DL – Scott Vallone, Rutgers LB – Greg Blair, Cincinnati LB – Sio Moore, Connecticut LB – Yawin Smallwood, Connecticut LB – Khaseem Greene,† Rutgers CB – Adrian Bushell, Louisville CB – Logan Ryan, Rutgers S – Duron Harmon, Rutgers S – Shamarko Thomas, Syracuse P – Brandon McManus, TempleWR – Mike Shanahan, Pittsburgh WR – Devin Street, Pittsburgh WR – Brandon Coleman, Rutgers OT – Alex Kupper, Louisville OT – Kaleb Johnson, Rutgers OT – Martin Wallace, Temple OG – Adam Masters, Connecticut OG – Mark Popek, USF C – Ryan Turnley, Pittsburgh QB – Ryan Nassib, Syracuse TE – Ryan Griffin, Connecticut RB – George Winn, Cincinnati RB – Jawan Jamison, Rutgers K – Brandon McManus, Temple RS – Nick Williams, ConnecticutDL – Walter Stewart, Cincinnati DL – Cory Grissom, USF DL – Brandon Sharpe, Syracuse DL – John Youboty, Temple LB – Preston Brown, Louisville LB – Sam Barrington, USF LB – Tyler Matakevich, Temple CB – Dwayne Gratz, Connecticut CB – Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Connecticut S – Calvin Pryor, Louisville S – Hakeem Smith, Louisville S – Jason Hendricks, Pittsburgh P – Pat O'Donnell, Cincinnati P – Justin Brockhaus-Kann, USF † - denotes unanimous selection Additional players added to the All-Big East teams due to ties in the voting
References