In less than 48 hours last week, the future of the Pitt football team turned upside down. Starting with West Virginia's win Thursday night against Auburn and ending with Pitt's loss Saturday against Rutgers, the Panthers went from having a decent chance of winning all their remaining games to having a decent chance of losing all their remaining games.

They went from being a probable Top-15 team to falling out of the Top 25. They went from having a decent chance of playing in a major bowl game to having a decent chance of not playing in any bowl game -- for the fourth consecutive season.

What happened is this:

Hugely disappointing West Virginia, a future Pitt opponent, showed the kind of offensive force that had earned it the preseason No. 8 ranking in Division I-A by easily handling Auburn and its well-regarded defense. This performance, considering the talent on the team, could be a harbinger of much better things to come and has made the Mountaineers, once again, the team to beat in the Big East Conference.

And this:

Pitt, on a roll with five consecutive wins and ranked 17th, allowed Rutgers, a team that had been averaging 13 points in conference play, to score 54 and win by 20.

All of a sudden, those remaining games against Notre Dame, Louisville, Cincinnati, West Virginia and Connecticut, which all had the look of possible wins, now have the look of possible losses.

Pitt has been down this road before. Just two years ago, the Panthers were 6-1 and looking oh, so promising. They lost their remaining five games -- a losing streak that began with Rutgers.

Pitt plays Saturday at Notre Dame, possibly without starting quarterback Bill Stull, who left the field on a stretcher against Rutgers with what was later diagnosed as a concussion and stinger. With Stull, Pitt has a chance to beat the Irish, who are 5-2 but without a significant victory. Without Stull, the Panthers have little chance.

There's no figuring the Panthers. They won at South Florida, which was a Top-10 team at the time, but have lost at home to Bowling Green (3-5) and Rutgers (3-5). Upsets are common in college football, but the down-and-up-and-down play of Pitt is uncommon.

These are the times that will test the mettle of the Pitt players and, particularly, the Pitt coaches. There is a lot of pressure on head coach Dave Wannstedt, despite the contract extension he received last year. Wannstedt continues to show that he knows how to recruit players but might not know what to do with them. Based on his recruiting success since becoming Pitt's coach in 2005, Wannstedt's teams shouldn't be losing to Bowling Green and giving up 54 points against Rutgers.

The Pitt administration was expecting big things and made no secret of it. At a booster luncheon before the season, chancellor Mark Nordenberg and athletic director Steve Pedersen talked about playing in a January bowl game, which is pretty much the equivalent of expecting a conference title.

Such a goal is attainable for Pitt, but does not look likely, particularly in light of the team's performance against Rutgers, a loss that remains inexplicable. Of course, Pitt could have lost to Rutgers, but for such a highly regarded defense to give up 54 points to a third-rate offense almost defies belief.

Rutgers clobbered Pitt with the pass. Quarterback Mike Teel threw for six touchdowns while completing 14 of 21 passes for 361 yards. Normally, the fault for such a defensive performance would rest with the Pitt secondary. But there were extenuating circumstances involving this performance.

Here's what Wannstedt said the day before the game:

"If we let them, they'll hand it off ... 40 times. It still comes down to stopping the run. I know [Rutgers coach] Greg Schiano's mentality is he's going to try to play defense, eliminate turnovers and run the football. That's how he's been successful. And I'm sure they'll try to establish the run. We have to make sure, regardless of how they're running the ball, that stopping the run is still a priority."

Wannstedt was dead wrong about the Rutgers' game plan and this certainly could have impacted the play of his defense. That doesn't excuse the players from being beaten deep repeatedly, particularly when Wannstedt said Rutgers was only sending out two receivers, but it does shift some of the blame to the coaching staff.

Pitt (5-2) needs six wins to qualify for a bowl game and seven to be assured of an invitation. Both appeared to be automatic five days ago. But now the invitation, at least, is in doubt.