News and notes from the football and basketball divisions of the Big East conference.
RESERVED LANES
The Big East had three teams finish the regular season 9-3 last weekend. All accepted bowl bids this week.
South Florida – The Bulls will play in the Brut Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, against an opponent from the Pac-10. The game will be Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. ET on CBS.
Connecticut – The Huskies will battle an opponent from the Atlantic Coast Conference in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, N.C. The game is Dec. 29 at 1 p.m. on ESPN2.
Cincinnati – The Bearcats are headed to the PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Ala. UC will meet Southern Mississippi Dec. 22 at 1 p.m. on ESPN2.
Rutgers – The Scarlet Knights will travel to the International Bowl in Toronto, Canada on Jan. 5. The game will be televised at noon on ESPN2.
West Virginia will be the league’s BCS representative.
FIRST-YEAR PROMINENCE
Pittsburgh’s LeSean McCoy needs just 80 rushing yards against West Virginia to tie the Big East single-season freshman rushing record of 1,261 yards, held by Rutgers’ Terrell Willis since 1993.
STREAKING
The Notre Dame men’s basketball team has won 23 consecutive games at home – just one win away from the Joyce Athletic and Convocation Center’s all time mark of 24.
YARDAGE KING
Syracuse freshman Max Suter has an NCAA-record 1,299 yards on kickoff returns this year. That number was certainly assisted by all the scores the Orange gave up this season.
RANK IMPORTANCE
Nine of the sixteen men’s basketball teams in the Big East are either ranked or receiving votes in the two major polls. Eight of the sixteen women’s teams are in the same category. The Big East is the only conference with four men’s teams ranked in the top 14 in the ESPN/USA Today and Associated Press polls this week. Georgetown is fifth in both polls. In ESPN/USA Today, Louisville is 10th with Pittsburgh 11th and Marquette 14th. In AP, Louisville, Marquette and Pitt are 12th through 14th.
SHOWING UP
Even with two more games to play, Big East football attendance has surpassed last season’s total. This year, a total of 2,097,424 fans have passed through the turnstiles. Six of the eight schools have played before sellout crowds on multiple occasions this fall. USF’s average attendance jumped from 30,222 to 53,161, making for the largest increase of the 119 Bowl Subdivision schools. Cincinnati’s attendance increased from 20,373 to 30,246. West Virginia and Rutgers have averaged over 100 percent capacity for the year.