PITTSBURGH - Pittsburgh's upset victory at Notre Dame not only assures the Panthers of a fifth consecutive winning season, it probably will send them to a bowl game as long as they win one of their two final games.

The question, of course, is which bowl - and whether it will be one not previously affiliated with the Big East Conference.

Despite losing previously to Boston College and Syracuse, the Panthers (6-3, 3-2 in Big East) still have a mathematical chance - though not much else - of claiming the Big East's BCS berth in the Fiesta or Sugar Bowl.

For that to happen, the Panthers must upset No. 21 West Virginia (8-2, 4-1) on Thanksgiving night, beat South Florida on Dec. 4 and hope No. 19 Boston College (7-2, 3-1) loses to either Temple (2-8, 1-4) on Saturday or Syracuse (5-5, 3-2) on Nov. 27.

Pitt coach Walt Harris is aware of the scenarios, but said Monday he is thinking about little else except the West Virginia game despite a last-second 41-38 win Saturday at Notre Dame keyed by Tyler Palko's five touchdown passes.

"The chances are only based on winning," he said. "We've just got to do whatever we can to play great against West Virginia, because that's what it's going to take. It's always the hardest-hitting game we play in every year."

The last two seasons, Pitt has absorbed the hardest hits, too.

Last year, No. 16 Pitt wasted a nine-catch game by Heisman Trophy runner-up Larry Fitzgerald in surrendering 35 consecutive points during a 52-31 loss to the unranked Mountaineers in Morgantown. It was the third time in six seasons West Virginia piled up 52 points against Pitt.

In 2002, the No. 17 Panthers couldn't score on a late drive and were upset by the No. 24 Mountaineers 24-17 at Heinz Field.

"We've had two excruciating losses the last two times we played them," Harris said. "So, if we take care of our business, everything always works out."

Still, the number of bowl scenarios involving Big East teams is unusually high for so late in a season, in part because former conference powers Miami and Virginia Tech usually were settled into one or both of the conference's top two bowl slots by now.

If Boston College wins its final two games, the Eagles will get the BCS berth in their last year of Big East membership before joining Miami and Virginia Tech in the ACC. If that happens, Pitt could finish 8-3 with three consecutive wins and still wind up with no better than an Insight Bowl bid.

Even if Pitt beats West Virginia, the Mountaineers almost assuredly would be the Gator Bowl's choice over Pittsburgh. The Mountaineers have taken large crowds to bowl games in the last two seasons, while Pitt sold only about 2,000 tickets for its poorly played loss to Virginia in last season's Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte.

This season, Connecticut (5-4, 2-3) and its large traveling party likely will get the Continental Tire Bowl bid, even though the Huskies are involved in none of the current Big East championship scenarios.

Should Pitt lose to West Virginia but beat South Florida, the Panthers would be 7-4 but might have to settle for a non-Big East affiliated bowl such as the Emerald or Silicon Valley. Those bowls have tie-ins with conferences that may not have enough bowl-eligible teams to meet their quotas.