Tony Pike's 29-yard touchdown pass to Armon Binns with 33 seconds left finished No. 5 Cincinnati's comeback from a 21-point deficit, and the Bearcats beat No. 14 Pittsburgh 45-44 on Saturday to secure a BCS berth and their second straight Big East title.

The first de facto Big East championship game since the conference began playing football in 1991 was a high-scoring classic. Freshman Dion Lewis' three touchdowns and 194 yards rushing on 47 carries in a Tony Dorsett-like performance carried Pitt (9-3, 5-2) to leads of 31-10, 38-24 and 44-38, only to have the Mardy Gilyard-led Bearcats (12-0, 7-0) rally each time.

Gilyard gave the Bearcats a much-needed jolt with a 99-yard kickoff return only 70 seconds before halftime after Pitt had opened its 21-point lead, and he made it 31-24 in the third quarter with a 68-yard scoring catch.

Gilyard's 49-yard kickoff return also led to Pike's 8-yard scoring pass to D.J. Woods that cut Pitt's lead to 38-30 early in the fourth quarter.

Cincinnati heads off to a BCS bowl for the second season in a row with its first 12-0 record in school history, while Pitt's second consecutive loss likely dooms the Panthers to a minor bowl only two weeks after the Panthers were 9-1 and ranked in the top 10.

Lewis, breaking Craig "Ironhead" Heyward's 1987 school record of 42 carries in a game and inching close to Dorsett's school rushing record for a freshman, put Pitt ahead 44-38 with 1:36 remaining on a 5-yard run. But holder Andrew Janocko mishandled a perfect snap from center and Pitt never got off the extra point, a costly mistake.

Cincinnati, which also failed to convert an extra point but made up for it with a 2-pointer, needed only four plays to drive for its only lead of the game. Pike, who completed 8 of his first 33 passes, was 4 of 4 on the 61-yard march. He finished 22 of 44 for 302 yards, despite throwing three interceptions.

Lewis sliced through Cincinnati's defense with speed and power, running three times for 17 yards ahead of his 15-yard scoring run that restored Pitt's two-touchdown lead with 12:26 remaining. Woods' score got the Bearcats close again, and they tied it at 38 with 5:46 left on Isaiah Pead's 1-yard run and Pike's conversion pass to _ who else? _ Gilyard.

He made five catches for 118 yards and also had 256 yards on seven kickoff returns.

Pitt, which lost 19-16 to rival West Virginia last week, had everything going in the first half _ the running game, the occasional deep pass and, for a change, special teams. Nate Nix's blocked punt led to Bill Stull's 3-yard TD run on a bootleg.