Three weeks in the books, and your guess is as good as mine as to where to rank these teams after the top two.

1. West Virginia (3-0): Back on top after registering the league's only win over a BCS conference opponent in Saturday's 31-17 win against Maryland. The Mountaineers have the offensive personnel and defensive talent to beat everyone on their schedule, including LSU this week.

2. Pittsburgh (1-1): I still think Pitt is one of the best two teams in the Big East, but I'm basing that largely on hypothesis at the moment. Some proof will arrive when the Panthers welcome Miami to Heinz Field on Thursday night.

3. Rutgers (2-0): Honestly, I thought about ranking No.s 1 and 2 and then having everyone else tied for third (or eighth, depending on your point of view). The Scarlet Knights' squeaker at Florida International looks a little better after FIU took Texas A&M to the wire on the road. But this is still a team with major offensive deficiencies.

4. South Florida (1-1): We know the potential is there, based on how the Bulls played most of the game against Florida. They should win their next two -- against Western Kentucky and Florida Atlantic -- with relative ease before moving into conference play.

5. Connecticut (1-2): I really thought UConn was one of the four best teams in this league and that the Huskies would have a real shot of winning the Big East. It still could happen. But after last year's five losses came by a total of 15 points, UConn already has two defeats by a total of 34 points. That does not look like progress.

6. Syracuse (2-1): The Orange struggled for a half, but finally put away Maine convincingly enough on Saturday. At least they have one more FBS victory than ...

7. Cincinnati (1-2): The Bearcats have to be better than this. Don't they? Yet they just look like a wreck right now, and I don't see any way they avoid dropping to 1-3 after this week's Oklahoma game.

8. Louisville (1-2): A valiant effort at Oregon State almost had me move the Cardinals out of the basement. Not this week. But if they play like that all season, they will get their wins and will move up.