| 2012 Big East Conference football season | |
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| League: | NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) |
| Sport: | football |
| Pixels: | 175px |
| Duration: | September 2012 – January 2013 |
| No Of Teams: | 8 |
| Tv: | ESPN-Big East Network |
| Draft: | 2013 NFL Draft |
| Draft Link: | 2013 NFL Draft |
| Top Pick: | Justin Pugh (Syracuse) |
| Picked By: | New York Giants, 19th overall |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Season Champs: | Cincinnati, Louisville, Rutgers & Syracuse |
| Season Champ Name: | Champions |
| Seasonslistnames: | Football |
| Prevseason Year: | 2011 |
| Nextseason Year: | 2013 (American) |
The 2012 Big East football season was the 22nd NCAA Division I FBS football season of the conference that was known as the Big East Conference from its formation in 1979 until July 2013, and ultimately proved to be the last for the conference under the "Big East" name, as well as the last with a full round-robin schedule for conference play. The conference consisted of eight football members: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse and Temple.[1] In February 2012, the Big East settled a lawsuit with West Virginia University that allowed them to move to the Big 12 Conference effective July 1, 2012.[2]
Conference members began regular-season play on August 30 when Temple hosted Villanova; conference play started September 6 when Cincinnati hosted Pittsburgh. The regular season concluded on December 1. Four teams—Louisville, Rutgers, Cincinnati, and Syracuse—claimed shares of the conference championship. Louisville claimed the league's automatic BCS bowl berth via tiebreakers.
On February 28, 2013, ESPN reported that the conference's seven schools that do not play FBS football, which had announced plans to leave the conference as a bloc no later than July 2015, had reached an agreement to leave in July 2013, and would keep the "Big East" name when they formed a new conference at that time. As a result, the schools that retained the original Big East charter would operate under a new name in the 2013 football season.[3] On April 3, 2013, the remaining schools announced they would operate as the American Athletic Conference (The American).[4]
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
| Index to colors and formatting | |
|---|---|
| Big East member won | |
| Big East member lost | |
| Big East teams in bold |
Week off: Cincinnati
Week off: Temple
Week off: Cincinnati
Week off: Pittsburgh, Temple, Rutgers, Syracuse
Week off: Louisville
Week off: South Florida
Week off: Connecticut
Week off: Rutgers
Week off: South Florida
Week off: Louisville, Pittsburgh
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]
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.
Week off: Temple, Syracuse
| Date | Visitor | Home | Winning Team | Opponent Conference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1 | Northwestern | Syracuse | Northwestern | Big Ten | |
| September 2 | Kentucky |
| 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 |
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 | |
| Increase in ranking | ||||
| Decrease in ranking | ||||
| Not ranked previous week | ||||
| align=center style="width:20px; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; background:white;" | RV | Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll |
See main article: 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings.
| 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 | ||||||||||||||||
| Team | Stadium | Capacity | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 | Total | Average | % of Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati | Nippert Stadium | 35,097 | 33,562 | 27,112 | 35,097 | 26,317 | 26,180 | 34,526 | 21,171 | 203,965 | 29,138 | 83% | |
| Connecticut | Rentschler Field | 40,000 | 35,270 | 34,202 | 34,666 | 37,279 | 33,503 | 33,112 | 208,032 | 34,672 | 87% | ||
| Louisville | Papa John's Cardinal Stadium | 55,000 | 55,386 | 47,553 | 53,334 | 50,167 | 53,271 | 44,609 | 45,618 | 349,938 | 49,991 | 91% | |
| Pittsburgh | Heinz Field | 65,050 | 40,837 | 48,032 | 36,452 | 42,432 | 42,245 | 38,786 | 248,964 | 41,494 | 64% | ||
| Rutgers | High Point Solutions Stadium | 52,454 | 50,855 | 50,870 | 48,011 | 49,345 | 43,250 | 52,798 | 295,129 | 49,188 | 94% | ||
| South Florida | Raymond James Stadium | 65,897 | 41,285 | 44,219 | 69,383 | 38,562 | 36,190 | 35,141 | 264,780 | 44,130 | 67% | ||
| Syracuse | Carrier Dome | 49,262 | 37,830 | 34,512 | 40,394 | 36,715 | 40,312 | 189,763 | 37,953 | 77% | |||
| Temple | Lincoln Financial Field | 68,532 | 32,709 | 23,322 | 25,796 | 35,145 | 20,192 | 22,317 | 159,481 | 26,580 | 39% |
| Team | Stadium | Capacity | Game | Average | % of Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati | FedExField vs Virginia Tech | 91,704 | 46,026 | 46,026 | 50% | |
| Syracuse | MetLife Stadium vs USC | 82,566 | 39,507 | 39,507 | 47% |
The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the Big East Conference football coaches.[17]
| 2012 Big East Football Individual Awards | ||||||
| Award | Recipient(s) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offensive Player of the Year | Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville | |||||
| Defensive Player of the Year | Khaseem Greene, LB, Rutgers | |||||
| Special Teams Player of the Year | Matt Brown, RB/KR, Temple | |||||
| Rookie of the Year | Tyler Matakevich, LB, Temple | |||||
| Coach of the Year | Kyle Flood, Rutgers Charlie Strong, LOUISVILLE | |||||
| 2012 All-Big East Conference Football Teams | ||||
| First Team | Second Team | |||
| Offense | Defense | Offense | Defense | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WR – Alec Lemon,† Syracuse WR – DeVante Parker, Louisville OT – Eric Lefeld, Cincinnati OT – Justin Pugh, Syracuse OG – Austen Bujnoch, Cincinnati OG – Antwan Lowery, Rutgers C – Mario Benavides, Louisville TE – Travis Kelce, Cincinnati QB – Teddy Bridgewater, Louisville RB – Ray Graham, Pittsburgh RB – Montel Harris, Temple K – Maikon Bonani, USF RS – Matt Brown, Temple | DL – Dan Giordano, Cincinnati DL – Trevardo Williams,† Connecticut DL – Aaron Donald, Pittsburgh DL – Scott Vallone, Rutgers LB – Greg Blair, Cincinnati LB – Sio Moore, Connecticut LB – Yawin Smallwood, Connecticut LB – Khaseem Greene,† Rutgers CB – Adrian Bushell, Louisville CB – Logan Ryan, Rutgers S – Duron Harmon, Rutgers S – Shamarko Thomas, Syracuse P – Brandon McManus, Temple | WR – Mike Shanahan, Pittsburgh WR – Devin Street, Pittsburgh WR – Brandon Coleman, Rutgers OT – Alex Kupper, Louisville OT – Kaleb Johnson, Rutgers OT – Martin Wallace, Temple OG – Adam Masters, Connecticut OG – Mark Popek, USF C – Ryan Turnley, Pittsburgh QB – Ryan Nassib, Syracuse TE – Ryan Griffin, Connecticut RB – George Winn, Cincinnati RB – Jawan Jamison, Rutgers K – Brandon McManus, Temple RS – Nick Williams, Connecticut | DL – Walter Stewart, Cincinnati DL – Cory Grissom, USF DL – Brandon Sharpe, Syracuse DL – John Youboty, Temple LB – Preston Brown, Louisville LB – Sam Barrington, USF LB – Tyler Matakevich, Temple CB – Dwayne Gratz, Connecticut CB – Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Connecticut S – Calvin Pryor, Louisville S – Hakeem Smith, Louisville S – Jason Hendricks, Pittsburgh P – Pat O'Donnell, Cincinnati P – Justin Brockhaus-Kann, USF | |
| † - denotes unanimous selection Additional players added to the All-Big East teams due to ties in the voting | ||||