So my guess is that there are a lot of upset Pitt fans this Monday morning. The BCS Rankings came out yesterday and, even with all of the upsets this weekend, Pitt only moved up one spot to 12th. The Panthers did, however, move up a bit more in the AP Poll and ESPN/USA Today Poll. They are 8th and 9th, respectively, in those polls.

Before you Pitt Blog fans get too upset, remember that the BCS Rankings mean nothing to Pitt at this point. There are three things for upset fans to consider right now. First off, there’s no way that Pitt is getting into a National Championship game this year with the NC State loss on the record. Second, if Pitt wins the Big East, they’ll get the automatic BCS Bowl bid anyway. And finally, if the Panthers finish second or third in the Big East, there’s virtually no chance that they’ll get an at-large bid. Right now, all that should concern Panther fans is the possibility of winning the Big East.

That brings us to an interesting scenario. Pitt has a good chance at the Big East title this year. The Panthers have three games left: Notre Dame, WVU, and Cincinnati. The Notre Dame game could have implications when it comes to the Gator Bowl. Notre Dame’s contract with the Gator Bowl requires the Irish to finish within 2 wins of the second place Big East team to get invited. If Pitt finishes in second place in the Big East and wants to avoid going to the Meineke Car Care Bowl, they need to beat both Notre Dame and WVU, as well as have Notre Dame drop at least one more game (to either UConn or Stanford). That would put Pitt at 10-2 and Notre Dame at 7-5. Pitt would then get an invite to the Gator Bowl.

But that doesn’t mean that Pitt must win against Notre Dame. In fact, Pitt could lose both the Notre Dame game and the WVU game and still win the Big East, thereby getting an automatic bid to a BCS Bowl Game. As long as Cincinnati beats WVU, the Cincinnati vs. Pitt game on December 5th will decide the Big East Champion.

It gets a bit more confusing when you try to map out all of the possible scenarios, but the bottom line is clear: Pitt needs to beat Cincinnati. That’s what Panther fans should be most concerned with right now. A win against Notre Dame will help Pitt, but only if Pitt loses to Cincy and Notre Dame drops another game after Pitt. Even then, it only helps the Panthers get into the Gator Bowl in an unlikely scenario. Pitt’s best shot at an exciting bowl game lies in winning the Big East.