Pitt has used the open week productively but not necessarily as a way to get a head start on preparing for the Cincinnati Bearcats, who the Panthers play Nov. 22. The team has spent the bulk of its time working on fundamentals and healing some bumps and bruises.

"We have really taken this week and looked at ourselves from a self-scout standpoint," coach Dave Wannstedt said. "With our last three opponents all being potential Big East champion-caliber opponents, red-zone and two-minute drills are going to be a major factor in all of those games. So two out of the three days we've practiced so far, we went red zone against each other, red zone against Cincinnati and two-minute drills against each other."

Although the Panthers lead the country in red-zone conversions -- Pitt is 35 for 37 (95 percent) in scoring in red-zone opportunities -- Wannstedt said there are some new wrinkles specific to the kinds of defenses they will be seeing in the final three weeks of the season.

He also said that the two-minute drills are going to be important because the Panthers haven't had many opportunities to run them in recent games.

"I've told our players, one, two or even all three of these games are going to come down to us having to score or us having to keep them from scoring to win the game," Wannstedt said. "And I just believe that, and we haven't had a whole lot of opportunities to be in those situations one way or the other. We needed the work, we needed to clean some things up."

Big games ahead

Pitt's remaining games -- Cincinnati, West Virginia and Connecticut -- will be on national television and all three will hold significance to the Big East title. That's a fact that makes Wannstedt smile, because it means his plans of making Pitt a player within the Big East and nationally are slowly coming together.

It is something he sold to his players and something that he hopes will pay off in a big way in recruiting in the next few months.

"Before the Notre Dame game, I told the kids that when I came here I had two thoughts in mind about what I'd like to accomplish," Wannstedt said. "No. 1 was win a championship and No. 2 was field a team of players with ability and character, so that on any given Saturday that when we get off the bus and walk on the field, from a talent and character standpoint, if we play well, we have a chance to win the game.

"As simple as that may sound, that is what I thought about four years ago and what comes first -- getting the talented players with character or winning. Everybody would like to think you win then go out and get players, but we've taken the other approach. ... And now, hopefully, we will reap some of those benefits."

Road to the Big East title

Just to bring some clarity to the Panthers' road to the Big East title: The only way they can be guaranteed to win the conference is to win all of their remaining games. If they do that, they'll finish 6-1 in the conference and alone in first place, and they will get the BCS berth. The Big East is guaranteed a BCS berth, whether the champion is in the top 25 or not, provided the champion is bowl-eligible.

But there is no one game that constitutes the Big East championship -- there are too many scenarios that would allow other teams to win.

Pitt (7-2, 3-1) and Cincinnati (7-2, 3-1) are the only teams that control their own destinies. The winner of the Pitt-Cincinnati game must still win the rest of its games to be the champion. West Virginia (6-3, 3-1) is also tied with Pitt and Cincinnati, but because Cincinnati beat West Virginia last Saturday, the Mountaineers can't win the conference unless the Bearcats lose one more game.

And even though Rutgers (4-5, 3-2) and Connecticut (6-3, 2-2) need some help, neither is eliminated from the title race either.

There are ways in which Pitt can lose a game and still win the Big East, but the Panthers' best route to the title is to win out.