Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett
We know that Cincinnati will represent the Big East in the BCS. We don't know yet who the Bearcats will play. The question I pose today is, who should Cincinnati want to play?
The best thing that can happen both for the Big East and for the Bearcats is a win over a well-regarded opponent. Cincinnati remains a long-shot option for the Sugar Bowl, where it could potentially play the Florida-Alabama loser for a chance at a major upset like West Virginia pulled off in 2005 (Georgia) and 2007 (Oklahoma).
But that's probably not going to happen. The Sugar Bowl had a representative at the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game two weeks ago but did not attend last week's win over Syracuse. The Orange Bowl sent two committee members to each game and appears the far more likely destination for the Bearcats.
A Miami trip means Cincinnati would face the ACC champion, which will be decided this weekend when Virginia Tech plays Boston College in the ACC title game. It's a shame that the 13th-ranked Bearcats can't play the ACC's highest-rated team, No. 15 Georgia Tech.
Orange Bowl officials are deathly afraid of a Boston College-Cincinnati matchup. BC has one of the worst reputations among BCS schools for not bringing fans to bowl games, which is why the Eagles usually get shipped off to less-than-desirable locales. Even though Boston College is ranked 17th and the game would pit two big-city teams against one another, I doubt that matchup would create much of a buzz anywhere.
The best that Cincinnati can reasonably hope for, then, is for Virginia Tech to win the ACC title. Though the Hokies are just 8-4 and ranked No. 25, they have a much bigger fan following and a more respected brand in college football. Like with BC, this game could be marketed as the new school Big East versus a team that bolted the Big East. It would probably also be billed as the high-flying offense of Cincinnati against Virginia Tech's strong defense, though that's not really true. Beating Virginia Tech would register more than beating Boston College for both the Bearcats and the Big East.
Ask Louisville how the opponent matters. The Cardinals played in the 2006 Orange Bowl against ACC champ Wake Forest. Though the Cardinals won the game 24-13, they actually fell a spot in both major polls, becoming the first BCS bowl winner to do so. A lot of that had to do with the lack of national respect for Wake Forest.
Winning the game matters the most. But for Cincinnati, the opponent is important, too.
Bennett joined ESPN.com in August 2008 after nine years at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., where he covered college sports and the University of Louisville beat. He lives in Louisville.
