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This time last year, the Big East was getting bashed more than Drew Bledsoe. It had only one ranked team -- No. 19 Louisville -- and seemed to have no prospects of sending a worthy representative to a BCS bowl game.

You know the story from there. Things changed as rapidly as a Steve Slaton sprint to the end zone. Slaton's West Virginia Mountaineers started the Big East rebound with their rousing Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia.

Big East Team Reports
From overviews to midseason MVPs to what's next, the team-by-team breakdowns have it all covered. Story

Today, the Mountaineers are ranked fifth in the country, one of three ranked conference teams with No. 7 Louisville and No. 24 Rutgers.

"It could legitimately be four, with Pitt's record and what they've done," said WVU coach Rich Rodriguez, referring to the 5-1 Panthers. "I think it's a very good start to the season."

The bashers have become noticeably bashful. Their ammunition is running low. The only other conference with two teams ranked as highly as West Virginia and Louisville is the Big Ten, with No. 1 Ohio State and No. 4 Michigan.

Can Rodriguez still hear the critics?

"There'll still be people out there bashing," he said, laughing. "But the reality is the Big East has more than held its own so far."

He's right -- but let's not get carried away. Just as the Big East wasn't as bad as some made it out to be last season, it's probably not as good as some are making it out to be this season. When everything shakes out, it'll probably merit mention with the Atlantic Coast Conference in any discussion about which conference is fifth-best in the country.

On the surface, the Big East's nonconference record of 28-8 looks incredibly impressive. It represents an all-time, conference-best winning percentage of 77.8, but the veneer tarnishes a bit when you look at the numbers closely.

Consider:

• Six of the 28 wins came against Division I-AA competition, so that reduces the mark to 22-8.

• Of those 22 victories, only three were against winning teams -- and you won't find any of the three (Maryland, Kansas State, Miami) competing for a national championship or even in the Top 25. Louisville's 31-7 victory over then-No. 17 Miami was the conference's top win so far.

• The Big East is 1-3 against Top 25 teams.

Of course, at this point last year the Big East was only 12-12 against Division I-A competition and 0-5 against ranked teams. It'll be interesting to see how the league fares when the first BCS rankings come out next week - and how its champion might fare when it comes to time to set the national championship matchup.

As things stand, Louisville or West Virginia could run the table and not get a chance to play for the national title. Those two play the conference game of the year Nov. 2 at Louisville.

"The polls don't mean anything at all until the end of the season," Rodriguez said. "It usually all works out in the end."

Unless, of course, it doesn't -- but there is no disputing that the Big East, at the very least, is better than it was last season.

Biggest Surprise
Nobody expected USF quarterback Matt Grothe to emerge as a dynamic two-way threat this soon. The redshirt freshman wasn't even the starter for the opener against McNeese State, but he replaced Pat Julmiste in that game and sparked the first of three straight comeback victories. Grothe ranks ninth in the country in total offense (275.3 yards per game). He has passed for 1,230 yards and eight touchdowns and run for 422 yards and seven touchdowns, accounting for more than 70 percent of the Bulls' offense. USF (4-2, 1-1) is only a few plays away from being unbeaten. Other surprises include the stellar performances of the Louisville and Rutgers defenses.

Biggest Disappointment
Two years ago, UConn seemed as if it would take the Big East by storm even though it arrived in the conference a year earlier than expected. The Huskies have been moving backward ever since, unable to recover from the loss of star quarterback Dan Orlovsky -- and others -- after the 2004 season. At the moment, this looks like a team that might be lucky to match last year's 2-5 conference record. The 41-17 home loss to Navy two weeks ago has been compounded with off-field issues, which included the dismissal of five players this week. Coach Randy Edsall has yet to stop the quarterback merry-go-round that began last season. The embarrassing loss to Navy, combined with a 38-16 loss to USF, were major setbacks for a program that beat Pitt two years ago and nearly upset West Virginia.

Midseason MVP
Rutgers launched a preseason Heisman Trophy campaign for fullback Brian Leonard, but quickly had to switch gears and focus on the other guy in the backfield -- sophomore tailback Ray Rice, who has picked up right where he left off last season. Rice is first in the Big East and second in the country in rushing with at 161.2 yards per game. Should he continue his rampage against the likes of Louisville and West Virginia, voters won't be able to ignore him. He is coming off a 202-yard game against USF and has tied a school record with seven straight 100-yard games.

Midseason Coach of The Year
Bobby Petrino's Louisville Cardinals scored the league's most impressive victory this season when they dismantled then-No. 17 Miami, 31-7, despite playing without star tailback Michael Bush and star quarterback Brian Brohm. The Cardinals haven't exactly faced a Who's Who of college football powerhouses, but what team in this conference has? Petrino's teams continue to put up huge offensive numbers no matter who's passing, running and catching the ball. It looks as if he might have a defense to match this season. We'll find out Nov. 2, when West Virginia pays a visit.

Bowl Bound
Louisville, West Virginia, Rutgers, Pitt, USF

Joe Starkey covers the Big East for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.