The 2010 Big East football season was the NCAA football season of the Big East Conference. Conference members began regular-season play on September 2, but did not begin conference play until October 8; the regular season continued through December 4. Following the regular season, six conference teams played in bowl games; although the bowl season concluded with the BCS National Championship Game on January 10, 2011, the last date on which a Big East team played was January 8, when Pittsburgh defeated Kentucky in the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Alabama. The conference consists of 8 football members: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse, and West Virginia. The Big East title race came down to the last minute of the final game of the season on December 4 between UConn and South Florida. West Virginia and Pitt had claimed shares of the conference title with wins earlier that day. A UConn win would leave the Huskies tied with WVU and Pitt for the title, but UConn would claim the automatic Big East BCS berth by virtue of victories over both schools. A field goal in the last minute gave the Huskies a 19–16 win and their first-ever trip to a BCS game. Previous season Cincinnati (12–1) was the Big East champions and received the conference's automatic bid into the BCS and went to the Sugar Bowl, losing to SEC runner-up Florida, 51–24. Five other Big East teams went to bowl games in 2010, finishing bowl play with a record of 4–2 as a conference. Rutgers (9–4) beat Central Florida 45–24 in the St. Petersburg Bowl. Pittsburgh (10–3) defeated North Carolina 19–17 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. West Virginia (9–4) lost to Florida State 33–21 in the Konica-Minolta Gator Bowl. South Florida (8–5) beat Northern Illinois 27–3 in the International Bowl. And, Connecticut (8–5) beat South Carolina 20–7 in the Papajohns.com Bowl. The only two teams not to go to a bowl game were Louisville (4–8) and Syracuse (4–8). Preseason Coaching changes Three teams have new head coaches for the 2010 season. Charlie Strong replaces Steve Kragthorpe at Louisville, Butch Jones replaces Brian Kelly at Cincinnati, and Skip Holtz replaces Jim Leavitt at South Florida. Preseason poll The 2010 Big East preseason poll was announced at the Big East Media Day in Newport, RI on August 3. Pittsburgh was chosen as the favorite to win the conference. Big