If there was one Big East team that seemed in a position to be motivated by USF coach Jim Leavitt's top 25 ballot last week, it was West Virginia, which wasn't among four Big East schools in Leavitt's rankings.

But on the Big East coaches' teleconference Monday, West Virginia coach Bill Stewart went out of his way to thank Leavitt for his outspoken defending of the league. Leavitt, told in July that the Big East lacked significant bowl wins, pointed to West Virginia's win against North Carolina in last year's Meineke Car Care Bowl.

"I don't know why we get hammered," Stewart said of the league not being ranked in the preseason top 25. "I guess everyone thinks we're a basketball league. They're full of baloney. I like what Jimmy Leavitt said about (how) we didn't win any bowl games last year. I didn't have to brag because Jim Leavitt took that for us and said 'Hey, that daggone West Virginia win against North Carolina was pretty good.' We all hang together. We're just going to take it. All I can say is when we go out to play, I wish not only for West Virginia but every Big East team, when we play outside competition, I'm pulling for them. I don't care who likes it."