PITTSBURGH — Pitt doesn't want to leave this up to the other guys.

There are a variety of ways for as many as five teams to win or share the Big East Conference football championship, but the No. 20 Panthers understand that there is one quick and simple way to do so.

Beat No. 19 Cincinnati Saturday night. Beat rival West Virginia less than a week later on Nov. 28. Beat Connecticut on Dec. 6.

Sounds easy, but, of course, it won't be for a team that assured itself of its first winning season and bowl appearance since 2004 only 10 days ago. The Cincinnati and UConn games are on the road, and West Virginia has won two of its last three games in Pittsburgh.

If the Panthers (7-2, 3-1 in Big East) win out, they will finish 6-1 in the conference and alone in first place. Losing to Cincinnati (8-2, 4-1), however, might finish them off since the Bearcats have only Syracuse (2-8, 1-5) left to play in the conference after Saturday night.

West Virginia (6-3, 3-1) can win the conference and the automatic BCS bowl bid that goes with it, but only if the Bearcats lose at least once, since Cincinnati has beaten the Mountaineers. Rutgers (5-5, 4-2) and UConn (7-3, 3-2) also remain in contention.

If the Panthers have one advantage, it's a 4-0 road record that includes victories against Notre Dame and South Florida. Also, they've won three in a row against Cincinnati.

"We're just a lot more focused on the road," safety Eric Thatcher said Monday. "But we need to step up and play better there. In the past, we haven't done that."

Pitt was denied winning seasons by fading in each of the last two seasons, losing seven of nine before upsetting then-No. 2 West Virginia to end up 5-7 last year after dropping its final five in 2006 to go 6-6.

"We will not be overconfident going into this game," coach Dave Wannstedt said. "We're playing on the road. They are 8-2 and the conference leader. ... Our team knows the challenge we will have."