Never before had the Big East football championship come down to a two-team showdown as it did this season. And never before had the league seen such a thrilling finish to its race.

Cincinnati won its second straight Big East title by defeating Pittsburgh 45-44 in the Steel City before 63,387 at Heinz Field.

Perhaps appropriately, UC had to play catch-up at Heinz. But senior Bearcat quarterback Tony Pike, who threw three interceptions, did so by hitting Armon Binns for a 29-yard scoring pass with 33 seconds remaining to knock off the Panthers.

“It’s funny,” Pike said afterward. “You go 11-0 and play for so long the whole season and it comes down to the last 1:36.”

Now UC, which won its 18th straight regular-season game, will face Florida in the Sugar Bowl.

Pitt, meanwhile, fell to the Car Care Bowl in Charlotte after season-ending losses to West Virginia and UC.

“It was a tough, heartbreaking loss to say the least,” said Panthers coach Dave Wannstedt.

Scoreboard

Cincinnati 45, Pittsburgh 44
West Virginia 24, Rutgers 21
Connecticut 29, South Florida 27

Offensive player of the year: Cincinnati’s Mardy Gilyard

The Big East was all about offense this season. Offense and offensive stars. Pittsburgh freshman Dion Lewis made a cannonball-like splash by finishing the regular season as the nation’s No. 3 rusher, averaging 136.7 yards per game. West Virginia’s Noel Devine was a Top 20 rusher, averaging 108.1. Cincinnati boasted quarterback Tony Pike, the nation’s No. 9 leader in passing efficiency. Pitt’s Bill Stull was right behind him at No. 11. Stull’s receiver, Jonathan Baldwin, opened eyes. But the man most valuable to his team was Gilyard. Take him away and Pike and Zach Collaros don’t lead the Bearcats to the No. 3 slot in the final BCS rankings. Gilyard averaged 203.5 all-purpose yards per game, 51 more than Lewis. The Bearcat led the league in receiving (1,150 yards), kick return yards (1,074) and was second in punt return yardage (202). Nationally, Gilyard was second in all-purpose yards.

Defensive player of the year: Pittsburgh’s Mick Williams

Tough call here because the Big East wasn’t known for defense. After the regular season, Rutgers was the highest rated team in regard to total defense at No. 19. Connecticut linebacker Lawrence Wilson led the Big East in tackles. Teammate Lindsey Witten was the league’s sack leader with 11.5. If you’re an NFL scout, you might be looking at South Florida standouts Jason Pierre-Paul, Nate Allen and George Selvie. Scarlet Knights cornerback Devin McCourty had a nice season. But if you talk to Big East offensive coaches, you’ll hear the one player that caused the most problems was Williams, the senior defensive lineman. Simply put, the 280-pound standout wreaked havoc with 15 tackles for loss, 13 solo. He and peer Greg Romeus helped lift the Panthers to a showdown with Cincy for a BCS berth.

Coach of the year: Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly

There were a few very nice coaching performances within the Big East. Pittsburgh’s Dave Wannstedt shaped his Panthers into a Top 15 team. West Virginia’s Bill Stewart helped his team bounce back to defeat Pitt and finish in a tie for second. Connecticut fans will probably argue Husky coach Randy Edsall deserves the award, based on his strength and class during the Jasper Howard tragedy. Also, UConn finished strong, landing a PapaJohns.com Bowl berth. But Kelly wins the award for replacing 10 of 11 defensive starters and guiding his Bearcats to within a whisper of a national championship appearance. UC finished the regular season No. 3 in the BCS rankings and likely would have played Alabama for the title had Texas not defeated Nebraska on a last-second field goal.

Going bowling

Sugar Bowl
Cincinnati vs. Florida

UC’s Bearcats, 12-0, will make their second straight appearance in a BCS game, this time against Heisman Trophy finalist Tim Tebow and the Gators, which lost to Alabama in the SEC title game.

Cincy lost to Virginia Tech, 20-7, last season in the Orange Bowl. The Bearcats are averaging 39.8 points and 464.2 yards of offense. Quarterback Tony Pike missed three games because of injury, but still threw for 2,350 yards and 26 touchdowns with six interceptions for UC.

Florida was ranked No. 1 before losing to the Crimson Tide, 32-13. The Gators have won two of the last three national titles.

Gator Bowl
West Virginia vs. Florida State

Call this the Saint Bobby Bowl. Florida State coaching legend Bobby Bowden will wind up his career. And he’ll do so against WVU, a team he coached before being chased out of Morgantown.

The Mountaineers will try to spoil Bowden’s going away party by exploiting the Seminole defense, which is ranked 110th of 120 teams nationally. FSU is giving up an average of 443.5 yards; WVU is averaging 381.6 yards of offense.

West Virginia, 9-3, will make its sixth appearance in the Gator Bowl and fourth in the last seven years.

Meineke Car Care Bowl
Pittsburgh vs. North Carolina

Pitt is looking to snap a couple of losing streaks in Charlotte. First, after zooming to a Big East showdown against Cincinnati, the Panthers will now try to halt a two-game losing streak. Also, Pittsburgh, 9-3, is looking to snap a three-game losing streak in bowl games, including last season’s 3-0 stinker to Oregon State in the Sun Bowl.

“We have unfinished business,” said Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt.

North Carolina, 8-4, boasts the nation’s No. 6 total defense.

St. Petersburg Bowl
Rutgers vs. UCF

The 8-4 Scarlet Knights will kick off the Big East’s bowl season on Dec. 19 after earning their fifth straight bowl berth.

RU finished in a three-way tie for fourth in the Big East. It is led by true freshman quarterback Tom Savage, who threw for 1,917 yards and 12 touchdowns with six interceptions. Savage, however, could be without his biggest weapon, receiver Tim Brown, who is struggling with a left ankle injury.

If Rutgers has to go to the ground, it might be tough against UCF, which has allowed only 2.58 yards per carry and 82.5 rushing yards per game.

PapaJohns.com Bowl
Connecticut vs. South Carolina

In one of the Big East’s more intriguing bowl matchups, Connecticut, 7-5, will face Steve Spurrier and a Gamecocks team that beat Clemson, 34-17, in its last outing. The task may be tall, but UConn coach Randy Edsall is just happy to have the opportunity after a season marred by the tragedy of Jasper Howard.

“I think this team so richly deserves (this) after being 7-5 and having gone through all the things that we went through this year,” Edsall said.

Connecticut will try to establish its 1-2 running punch of Jordan Todman and Andre Dixon against the nation’s No. 15 total defense.

International Bowl
South Florida vs. Northern Illinois

USF coach Jim Leavitt will rely on quarterback B.J. Daniels, who has thrown for 1,766 yards and 12 touchdowns and rushed for 798 yards. Northern Illinois, also 7-5, will be making its first appearance in the game, but has been to four bowls since 2004.

USF is coming off a 29-27 loss to Connecticut and finished 3-4 in Big East play. Northern Illinois of the Mid-American Conference, lost 45-31 to Central Michigan in its last outing. NIU did, however, win at Purdue and lost close games on the road to Wisconsin and Toledo.

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