PITTSBURGH — For No. 8 Louisville, it is a second chance. For can't-win-for-losing Pittsburgh, it is a last chance.

While Louisville can remain in the BCS bowl chase by winning Saturday's Big East game, Pitt is in desperate need of a victory to finish off a season gone bad. The Panthers have lost four in a row, and another loss would conclude their worst such slide since they dropped their final seven in 1998.

That wasn't the kind of finish Pitt envisioned when it jettisoned former coach Walt Harris in 2004 to bring in Dave Wannstedt, whose two-year record is 11-11. The Panthers (6-5) also might not go to a bowl game for a second season in a row if they don't win — after all, what bowl wants a team on a five-game losing streak?

"The sense of urgency is trying to find the way to finish up the season with a win," Wannstedt said. "Whatever happens with the bowl game stuff will happen. That hasn't been brought up with our team and it won't be. The focus needs to be on us being ready."

That shouldn't be a problem for the Cardinals (9-1, 4-1 Big East), who appeared to forfeit any chance for a major bowl by losing to Rutgers two weeks ago. But Rutgers turned around and lost to Cincinnati to again open up the Big East race.

If the Cardinals handle Pittsburgh (6-5, 2-4) and Connecticut on Dec. 2, they will tie No. 7 West Virginia (9-1, 4-1) for the conference title if the Mountaineers beat South Florida and No. 15 Rutgers. Louisville would own the tiebreaker, and thus the bowl bid, because of its 44-34 win over West Virginia on Nov. 2.