04-02-2010, 05:05 PM
Big East football madness: Game 6
April, 2, 2010
By Brian Bennett
The Final Four kicks off Saturday, but our Big East football madness Final Four comes to a conclusion right now with our second semifinal. Let's check the results:
No. 3 Cincinnati (2009) vs. No. 2 Louisville (2006)
Score: No. 3 Cincinnati (2009) 35, No. 2 Louisville (2006) 33
Very, very difficult call here. Louisville won the Big East in probably the league's toughest year since the realignment. Those Cardinals suffered just one loss, on a last-second field goal against a Top 15 team (Rutgers) on the road. They had NFL players like Amobi Okoye, Brian Brohm, Harry Douglas, Eric Wood and Will Gay on a well-rounded offensive and defensive squad. And they won the Orange Bowl.
So why go with Cincinnati? There was just something about these Bearcats, at least during the regular season, that said they weren't going to lose. They had a champion's mentality, developed from the previous season, and always managed to find a way to pull out a victory. That's what it takes to go 12-0, and Cincinnati makes one more play (a Mardy Gilyard kickoff return, perhaps?) to eke this one out.
So now we are down to our championship game, to be decided Monday just like the basketball tournament. Here's the matchup:
No. 3 Cincinnati (2009) vs. No. 4 West Virginia (2007)
April, 2, 2010
By Brian Bennett
The Final Four kicks off Saturday, but our Big East football madness Final Four comes to a conclusion right now with our second semifinal. Let's check the results:
No. 3 Cincinnati (2009) vs. No. 2 Louisville (2006)
Score: No. 3 Cincinnati (2009) 35, No. 2 Louisville (2006) 33
Very, very difficult call here. Louisville won the Big East in probably the league's toughest year since the realignment. Those Cardinals suffered just one loss, on a last-second field goal against a Top 15 team (Rutgers) on the road. They had NFL players like Amobi Okoye, Brian Brohm, Harry Douglas, Eric Wood and Will Gay on a well-rounded offensive and defensive squad. And they won the Orange Bowl.
So why go with Cincinnati? There was just something about these Bearcats, at least during the regular season, that said they weren't going to lose. They had a champion's mentality, developed from the previous season, and always managed to find a way to pull out a victory. That's what it takes to go 12-0, and Cincinnati makes one more play (a Mardy Gilyard kickoff return, perhaps?) to eke this one out.
So now we are down to our championship game, to be decided Monday just like the basketball tournament. Here's the matchup:
No. 3 Cincinnati (2009) vs. No. 4 West Virginia (2007)