Paw Prints – Gridiron News

The polls are out and the UConn Huskies have fallen out of all three polls. They were the third team receiving votes in both the AP and USA Today polls. The BCS standings only have the top 25 teams so there’s no telling what UConn is ranked there.

Currently the Big East has five teams that are bowl eligible (West Virginia, UConn, USF, Cincinnati and Rutgers). Louisville can become bowl-eligible if they can beat Rutgers on Thursday night. West Virginia still has a game with Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl and is your 2007 Big East Champions no matter what happens in the game.

Most of the media outlets in Connecticut are thinking that UConn will end up in the International Bowl in Toronto despite finishing second in the Big East. The Brut Sun Bowl has said it would take the highest ranked team in the Big East and that is South Florida in the BCS standings. Oddly enough Cincinnati is ranked higher than USF in both the AP and USA Today polls. With that happening, the Meineke Car Care Bowl could take USF or Cincinnati (depending on who the Sun Bowl takes) ahead of UConn. Strange thinking that seeing how UConn beat USF.

The Big East also has ties with the Gator Bowl but it is very unlikely that a Big East team will chosen. If they were chosen for the PapaJohns.com Bowl, they would face a team from Conference USA. The Texas Bowl would bring them a Big 12 opponent while the International Bowl would bring them a MAC opponent. The Brut Sun Bowl opponent would be a Pac-10 team and the Meineke Car Care Bowl opponent would be an ACC team.

If the Huskies weren’t chosen for the latter two bowls, I’d much rather see them go to the Texas Bowl where they would have a chance to go against a Big 12 school. It would be the same thing that happened to Rutgers last year when they had their Cinderella season.

ESPN’s highlights of the game and a look at the polls after the jump.

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