1. Is this the beginning of the end for the Big East?

	Brian Brohm and the Cardinals had a rough outing against South Florida, but that doesn't mean the Big East is doomed. Bob Rosato/SI
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We can agree that this is not exactly the Golden Age for the conference. There is one Big East team ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, and that's Louisville, which free-fell from No. 9 and now clings to the rankings by its bloody fingernails at No. 24. Unbeaten West Virginia and South Florida -- which crushed Louisville last Saturday -- are in the dreaded Also Receiving Votes (just like winless Idaho in the Harris Poll; whooo boy...). By this measure, the Big East is the weakest major conference in the country. In fact, the Big East isn't a major conference at all, rather a collection of mediocre Division I-A football teams masquerading as a major conference.

This humiliating circumstance comes one year after the Nation hurled bushels of spoiled fruit and vegetables at the Big East during the annual BCS stretch run. You'll recall that for much of November it appeared unbeaten Utah would be left out of the BCS mix because it plays in the Mountain West Conference, which did not have an automatic BCS bid. Meanwhile, the Big East champion was assured a BCS bid, though the conference -- having lost Miami and Virginia Tech to the ACC -- did not appear to have a team worthy of such placement. Then, just when Boston College seemed to be on the verge of proving itself deserving, quarterback Paul Peterson got hurt and the Eagles lost to Syracuse, which allowed an undeniably middling Pittsburgh team into the BCS. As if the critics needed more ammunition, Pittsburgh was paired against Utah in the Fiesta Bowl, where Urban Meyer, Alex Smith and company made the Panthers look bad.

Realignment continued this year, with Boston College leaving the Big East (in all sports) and Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida (all sports) joining, along with Marquette and DePaul (in basketball).

From a football perspective, Louisville was the potential savior. Coach Bobby Petrino has a sound offensive mind, a tireless work ethic and the type of ceaseless ambition that makes a man dangerous. The Cardinals, as I wrote last week, have institutional commitment (read: money for sports programs) and an aggressive AD in Tom Jurich. They started 2-0 this year, and with traction from last year's 10-1 season, climbed to No. 9. Then came the 45-14 loss at South Florida and the bottom dropped out of the conference.

Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese, one of the smartest and most sensible governors in college athletics, was sitting right behind me during the debacle in Tampa. I felt like offering condolences, except the commish has already been through worse.

2. So you agree, the once mighty Big East is headed for an ugly end?

I don't agree. There's a good chance that this year is not going to be pretty, but despite the mass tendency toward apocalyptic blogs and screaming pronouncements, this year could be rock bottom and it will gets better. Take a look:

Louisville: We've talked about these guys already. Petrino and Jurich are no fools, they just got ambushed on one night by a South Florida team with a lot of talent, playing with purpose (see question No. 3). It happens. The Cardinals have young personnel, like sophomore quarterback Brian Brohm and redshirt freshman wideout Mario Urrutia, both homegrown blue-chip players. They have a great offensive scheme, which attracts players who look at schemes, and they have first-rate facilities to attract players who look at bells and whistles. We already knew the Cardinals' defense -- even with players such as Elvis Dumervil -- lagged behind. South Florida demonstrated Louisville isn't world-class fast. The Cardinals have the resources to fix both problems.