For the first time in the Bowl Championship Series era, a charter BCS conference has finished bowl season undefeated.

Cincinnati's 27-24 win over Western Michigan in the inaugural International Bowl made it a perfect 5-0 for the much maligned Big East Conference, which should finish the season with three teams ranked in the top 15.

Kevin Lovell's 33-yard field goal with 8:49 left proved to be the difference for the Bearcats, who led 24-0 early in the second quarter before getting a little careless with the ball in the first bowl game played outside the United States since 1937's Bacardi Bowl in Cuba.

The league which was at the center of a heated debate over whether or not it should be dropped from the BCS just a couple of years ago finished the regular season with a 32-8 mark against non-conference opponents (the best of any league), and is currently the top-rated conference in the RPI.

The New Big East's winning percentage versus non-conference opponents (.800) was already the best in the history of the league, and with five more wins coming in bowl games, the league has improved its non-conference record this season to 37-8 (.822).