WVU-USF Pick Dec. 1

Thursday, December 1
No. 23 West Virginia at South Florida
A lot of people thought preseason that the Big East championship would come down to this final game between these two teams. Well, they were close. This game will be part of determining the Big East title. If West Virginia wins and Cincinnati beats Connecticut, West Virginia will likely win the Big East by virtue of a tiebreaker decided by the BCS Standings.
However, with a West Virginia loss tonight, CIncinnati has a chance to clinch the Big East with a win Saturday, while South Florida will become bowl eligible.
West Virginia has not beaten USF in Tampa since 2005, but this time there's no BJ Daniels as he's still hurt and Bobby Eveld (0-2 as starter this year) will start for the Bulls.
South Florida's pass defense is 83rd in the nation while West Virginia's new passing offense under Dana Holgorsen is 6th in the nation with 351 yards per game with a star cast of receivers led by Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey.
The matchup The matchup that favors South Florida is its defense against West Virginia's offensive line that has struggled to protect quarterback Geno Smith all season. USF is No. 2 in the nation in both sacks and tackles for loss while West Virginia allows almost three sacks per game and ranks 85th in that category.
South Florida coach Skip Holtz's name is surfacing for some other jobs around the country, notably North Carolina, but with a bowl game on the line, this could be it for his seniors and they should play hard. However, I expect a big game from Geno Smith against the USF secondary and for West Virginia to win a close one.
West Virginia's defense will be able to get pressure on Eveld who has one touchdown and four interceptions this season.
Pick: West Virginia 27, South Florida 20


Bowl Scenarios:
-If West Virginia AND Cincinnati win, West Virginia will win the Big East and likely go to the Orange Bowl.
-If Cincinnati loses, Louisville will win the Big East and likely go to the Orange Bowl
-If Cincinnati wins AND West Virginia loses, Cincinnati wins the Big East and will likely go to the Orange Bowl.
-If UCLA beats Oregon, UCLA will go to the Rose Bowl and Oregon will likely miss out on the BCS completely and head to the Alamo Bowl.
-If Houston wins, the Cougars will go to a BCS bowl game, likely the Sugar Bowl.
-If Georgia wins, LSU will likely drop to No. 2 in the BCS Standings with Alabama moving up to No. 1, which means LSU and Alabama will still play for the national title AND Georgia will play in the Sugar Bowl. The SEC will have three teams in the BCS. If LSU drops to No. 3, then it will be left out of the BCS Completely and likely head to the Capital One Bowl.
-If Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State, Oklahoma will go to the FIesta Bowl while Oklahoma State will likely be left out of the BCS (unless Michigan fails to make the Top 14) and go to the Cotton Bowl.
-If Virginia Tech wins, it will go to the Orange Bowl and Clemson will likely go to the Champs Sports Bowl.
-If Clemson wins, it will go to the Orange Bowl and Virginia Tech will likely go to the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
-If Wisconsin wins, it will go to the Rose Bowl and Michigan State will likely go to the Outback Bowl.
-If Michigan State wins, it will go to the Rose Bowl and Wisconsin will likely go to the Capital One Bowl.
-If Pittsburgh beats Syracuse, the Panthers will become bowl eligible and be a candidate for the BBVA Compass Bowl.
-If Kansas State wins and Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma, Kansas State will likely go to the Cotton Bowl. If Kansas State loses, the Wildcats will likely go to the Alamo Bowl.
-If No. 18 TCU beats UNLV and moves into the Top 16 of the BCS Standings AND ahead of the Big East Champion, it will receive an automatic BCS-bowl bid.
-If Texas beats Baylor, Texas will likely go to the Insight Bowl and Baylor will likely go to the Holiday Bowl.
-If Baylor beats Texas, Baylor will likely go to the Insight Bowl and Texas will likely go to the Holiday Bowl or Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas.
-If Hawaii beats BYU, Hawaii will go to the Hawaii Bowl. If Hawaii loses, it will not be bowl eligible.