2012 Big East Conference football 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.^[5]

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).

Two teams have new head coaches for the 2012 season. Paul Chryst replaces Todd Graham at Pittsburgh, Kyle Flood replaces Greg Schiano at Rutgers.

The 2012 Big East Preseason Poll^[6] was announced at the Big East Media Day in Newport, RI on July 31, 2012

1. Louisville – 219 (24 first place votes)
2. South Florida – 176 (4)
3. Rutgers – 155
4. Cincinnati – 139
5. Pittsburgh – 131
6. Connecticut – 77
7. Syracuse – 70
8. Temple – 41

Summarize Timeline Top Qs Fact Check

Index to colors and formatting
Big East member won
Big East member lost
Big East teams in bold

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
August 30	7:30 pm	UMass	Connecticut	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	SNY	W 37–0	35,270
August 31	7:00 pm	Villanova	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPN3	W 31–10	32,709
September 1	12:00 pm	Northwestern	Syracuse	Carrier Dome • Syracuse, NY	ESPN2	L 42–41	37,830
September 1	6:00 pm	Youngstown State	Pittsburgh	Heinz Field • Pittsburgh, PA	ESPN3	L 31–17	40,837
September 1	7:00 pm	Chattanooga	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN3	W 34–13	41,285
September 1	8:00 pm	Rutgers	Tulane	Mercedes-Benz Superdome • New Orleans, LA	CBSSN	W 24–12	26,059
September 2	3:30 pm	Kentucky	No. 25 Louisville	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY (Governor's Cup)	ESPN	W 32–14	55,386
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week off: Cincinnati

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 6	8:00 pm	Pittsburgh	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH (River City Rivalry)	ESPN	CIN 34–10	33,562
September 8	12:00 pm	Maryland	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPNU	L 36–27	23,322
September 8	12:00 pm	NC State	Connecticut	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	Big East Network	L 10–7	34,202
September 8	3:30 pm	South Florida	Nevada	Mackay Stadium • Reno, NV	CBSSN	W 32–31	22,804
September 8	3:30 pm	No. 2 USC	Syracuse	MetLife Stadium • East Rutherford, NJ	ABC/ESPN2	L 42–29	39,507
September 8	3:30 pm	Missouri State	No. 23 Louisville	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY	WHAS	W 35–7	47,553
September 8	3:30 pm	Howard	Rutgers	High Point Solutions Stadium • Piscataway, NJ	SNY	W 26–0	50,855
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 13	7:30 p.m.	Rutgers	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN	RUT 23–13	44,219
September 15	12:00 p.m.	No. 13 Virginia Tech	Pittsburgh	Heinz Field • Pittsburgh, PA	ESPNU	W 35–17	48,032
September 15	12:30 p.m.	Connecticut	Maryland	Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium • College Park, MD	ACC Network	W 24–21	35,491
September 15	3:30 p.m.	North Carolina	No. 20 Louisville	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY	ABC/ESPN2	W 39–34	53,334
September 15	4:00 p.m.	Stony Brook	Syracuse	Carrier Dome • Syracuse, NY	TWCS/SNY	W 28–17	34,512
September 15	7:00 p.m.	Delaware State	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN3	W 23–7	27,112
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week off: Temple

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 22	7:00 p.m.	Rutgers	Arkansas	Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, AR	ESPN	W 35–26	72,543
September 22	2:00 p.m.	Connecticut	Western Michigan	Waldo Stadium • Kalamazoo, MI	ESPN3	L 30–24	10,328
September 22	3:30 p.m.	Temple	Penn State	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	ABC/ESPN2	L 24–17	93,680
September 22	3:30 p.m.	Gardner–Webb	Pittsburgh	Heinz Field • Pittsburgh, PA	ESPN3	W 55–10	36,452
September 22	4:30 p.m.	South Florida	Ball State	Scheumann Stadium • Muncie, IN	ESPN3	L 31–27	16,397
September 22	7:00 p.m.	No. 20 Louisville	FIU	FIU Stadium • Miami, FL	ESPN3	W 28–21	12,318
September 22	8:00 p.m.	Syracuse	Minnesota	TCF Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN	BTN	L 17–10	50,805
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week off: Cincinnati

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 29	12:00 p.m.	Buffalo	Connecticut	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	Big East Network	L 24–17	34,666
September 29	3:30 p.m.	Virginia Tech	Cincinnati	FedExField • Landover, MD	ESPNU	W 27–24	46,026
September 29	6:00 p.m.	No. 4 Florida State	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN	L 30–17	69,383
September 29	8:00 p.m.	No. 19 Louisville	Southern Miss	M. M. Roberts Stadium • Hattiesburg, MS	CBSSN	W 24–21	23,492
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week off: Pittsburgh, Temple, Rutgers, Syracuse

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 5	7:00 p.m.	Pittsburgh	Syracuse	Carrier Dome • Syracuse, NY	ESPN	SYR 14–13	40,394
October 6	12:00 p.m.	Connecticut	No. 22 Rutgers	High Point Solutions Stadium • Piscataway, NJ	ESPNU	RU 19–3	50,870
October 6	12:00 p.m.	South Florida	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	Big East Network	TEMP 37–28	25,796
October 6	7:00 p.m.	Miami (OH)	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH (Victory Bell)	FS Ohio	W 52–14	35,097
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week off: Louisville

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 13	11:00 a.m.	No. 18 Louisville	Pittsburgh	Heinz Field • Pittsburgh, PA	ESPNU	LOU 45–35	42,432
October 13	12:00 p.m.	Syracuse	No. 20 Rutgers	High Point Solutions Stadium • Piscataway, NJ	Big East Network	RUT 23–15	48,011
October 13	1:00 p.m.	Temple	Connecticut	Rentschler • East Hartford, CT	ESPN3	TEMP 17–14	37,279
October 13	7:00 p.m.	Fordham	No. 21 Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN3	W 49–17	26,317
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week off: South Florida

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 19	8:00 p.m.	Connecticut	Syracuse	Carrier Dome • Syracuse, NY	ESPN	SYR 40–10	36,715
October 20	12:00 p.m.	No. 19 Rutgers	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	Big East Network	RUT 35–10	35,145
October 20	3:30 p.m.	South Florida	No. 17 Louisville	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY	ABC	LOU 27–25	50,167
October 20	3:30 p.m.	Pittsburgh	Buffalo	UB Stadium • Amherst, NY	Big East Network/ESPN Plus	W 20–6	17,021
October 20	7:00 p.m.	No. 21 Cincinnati	Toledo	Glass Bowl • Toledo, OH	ESPN3	L 23–29	24,124
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 26	8:00 p.m.	Cincinnati	Louisville	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY (The Keg of Nails)	ESPN	LOU 31–34 OT	53,271
October 27	12:00 p.m.	Temple	Pittsburgh	Heinz Field • Pittsburgh, PA	Big East Network	PITT 47–17	42,425
October 27	3:30 p.m.	Kent State	Rutgers	High Point Solutions Stadium • Piscataway, NJ	Big East Network/ESPN Plus	L 33–25	49,345
October 27	7:00 p.m.	Syracuse	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN3	SYR 37–36	38,562
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week off: Connecticut

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 3	12:00 p.m.	Syracuse	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	Big East Network	CIN 35–24	26,180
November 3	12:00 p.m.	Temple	Louisville	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY	ABC	LOU 45–17	44,609
November 3	3:30 p.m.	Pittsburgh	Notre Dame	Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN	NBC	L 26–29 3OT	80,795
November 3	7:00 p.m.	Connecticut	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium •	ESPNU	USF 13–6	36,190
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week off: Rutgers

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 9	8:00 p.m.	Pittsburgh	Connecticut	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	ESPN2	UCONN 24–17	33,503
November 10	12:00 p.m.	Cincinnati	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	Big East Network	CIN 34–10	20,192
November 10	12:00 p.m.	Louisville	Syracuse	Carrier Dome • Syracuse, NY	ABC	SYR 45–26	40,312
November 10	12:00 p.m.	Army	Rutgers	High Point Solutions Stadium • Piscataway, NJ	ESPNU	W 28–7	43,250
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week off: South Florida

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 17	12:00 p.m.	#22 Rutgers	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	Big East Network	RUT 10–3	34,526
November 17	12:00 p.m.	Temple	Army	Michie Stadium • West Point, NY	CBSSN	W 63–32	27,019
November 17	3:00 p.m.	South Florida	Miami	Sun Life Stadium • Miami Gardens, FL	ACC Network	L 9–40	38,869
November 17	7:00 p.m.	Syracuse	Missouri	Faurot Field • Columbia, MO	ESPNU	W 31–27	63,045
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week off: Louisville, Pittsburgh

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 23	11:00 a.m.	Syracuse	Temple	Lincoln Financial Field • Philadelphia, PA	ESPN2	SYR 38–20	22,317
November 23	7:00 p.m.	South Florida	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	ESPN	CIN 27–10	21,171
November 24	12:00 p.m.	Connecticut	#20 Louisville	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY	Big East Network	UCONN 23–20 3OT	45,618
November 24	12:00 p.m.	#18 Rutgers	Pittsburgh	Heinz Field • Pittsburgh, PA	TBA	PIT 27–6	38,786
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

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:^[7]

• 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.^[7]

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,^[7] and that proved to be the case, with the Cardinals claiming the league's BCS berth.

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 29	7:30 pm	Louisville	Rutgers	High Point Solutions Stadium • Piscataway, NJ	ESPN	LOU 20–17	52,798
December 1	3:30 p.m.	Cincinnati	Connecticut	Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT	ABC	CIN 34–17	33,112
December 1	7:00 p.m.	Pittsburgh	South Florida	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL	ESPN2	PITT 20–7	35,141
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Week off: Temple, Syracuse

Date	Visitor	Home	Winning team	Opponent Conference
September 1	Northwestern	Syracuse	Northwestern	Big Ten
September 2	Kentucky	#25 Louisville	Louisville	SEC
September 8	Maryland	Temple	Maryland	ACC
September 8	NC State	Connecticut	NC State	ACC
September 8	USC	Syracuse	USC	Pac-12
September 15	Virginia Tech	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	ACC
September 15	Connecticut	Maryland	Connecticut	ACC
September 15	North Carolina	Louisville	Louisville	ACC
September 22	Rutgers	Arkansas	Rutgers	SEC
September 22	Temple	Penn State	Penn State	Big Ten
September 22	Syracuse	Minnesota	Minnesota	Big Ten
September 29	Virginia Tech	Cincinnati	Cincinnati	ACC
September 29	Florida State	South Florida	Florida State	ACC
November 3	Pittsburgh	Notre Dame	Notre Dame	Independent
November 17	Syracuse	Missouri	Syracuse	SEC

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Ref.
December 27*	6:30 p.m.	Cincinnati	Duke	Bank of America Stadium • Charlotte, NC (Belk Bowl)	ESPN	W 48–34	48,128
December 28*	5:30 p.m.	Rutgers	Virginia Tech	Citrus Bowl • Orlando, FL (Russell Athletic Bowl)	ESPN	L 10–13	48,127
December 29*	3:15 p.m.	West Virginia	Syracuse	Yankee Stadium • Bronx, NY (Pinstripe Bowl)	ESPN	W 38–14	39,098
January 2*	8:30 p.m.	No. 21 Louisville	No. 3 Florida	Mercedes-Benz Superdome • New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	ESPN	W 33–23	54,178
January 5*	1:00 p.m.	Pittsburgh	Ole Miss	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL (BBVA Compass Bowl)	ESPN	L 17–38	59,135
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

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[8]	Ryan Nassib	QB	Syracuse	Yawin Smallwood	LB	Connecticut	Brandon McManus	K/P	Temple
9/10/12[9]	Andre Davis	WR	South Florida	Walter Stewart	DE	Cincinnati	Brandon Jones	CB	Rutgers
9/17/12[10]	Tino Sunseri	QB	Pittsburgh	Yawin Smallwood	LB	Connecticut	Nick Williams	WR	Connecticut
9/24/12[11]	Gary Nova	QB	Rutgers	Adrian Bushell	CB	Louisville	Brandon McManus	K/P	Temple
10/1/12[12]	Munchie Legaux	QB	Cincinnati	Maalik Bomar	LB	Cincinnati	Pat O'Donnell	P	Cincinnati
10/8/12[13]	Montel Harris	RB	Temple	Brandon Sharpe	DE	Syracuse	Tony Miliano	K	Cincinnati
10/15/12[14]	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[15]	Alec Lemon	WR	Syracuse	Khaseem Greene	LB	Rutgers	Nick Williams	RB	Connecticut

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	Final
Cincinnati	AP	RV	RV		RV	RV	RV	21	21	RV
	C	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	23	20	18	RV
	Harris	Not released						20	18	RV
	BCS	Not released							21
Connecticut	AP
	C
	Harris	Not released
	BCS	Not released
Louisville	AP	25	23	19	20	19	19	18	16	16
	C	RV	24	20	18	17	16	16	14	14
	Harris	Not released						18	16	14
	BCS	Not released							16	16
Pittsburgh	AP
	C
	Harris	Not released
	BCS	Not released
Rutgers	AP				RV	23	22	20	19	18
	C	RV	RV	RV	RV	25 т	21	19	17	15
	Harris	Not released						19	17	15
	BCS	Not released							15	15
South Florida	AP	RV	RV	RV
	C	RV	RV	RV
	Harris	Not released
	BCS	Not released
Syracuse	AP
	C
	Harris	Not released
	BCS	Not released
Temple	AP
	C
	Harris	Not released
	BCS	Not released