Cincinnati surprised a lot of fans and won the Big East last season, earning a trip to the Orange Bowl. This season, third-year coach Brian Kelly has to replace 10 starters on defense but has pretty much every offensive starter returning. I think the Bearcats can win the conference again if quarterback Tony Pike stays healthy and the defense fills many holes.
Connecticut has turned into a successful team in the Big East. Two bowl games in a row is a big accomplishment and coach Randy Edsall is somehow still in Stoors, Conn. He has made the most of the talent that he can recruit to Uconn. The Huskies have some big names to replace, like running back Donald Brown and quarterback Tyler Lorenzen, but another bowl is not out of the question and they could be a huge surprise.
Louisville fell back to Earth after spending many years in college football paradise under Steve Kragthorpe in the last two seasons. This year coach Krag had better figure out a way to win or he could be directly on the hot seat by the end of the season. I don’t see much success in this effort.
Pittsburgh is in year four of the coach Dave Wannstedt era. Year three went quite well and ended up with a trip to the Sun Bowl. Pittsburgh hung around the race for a Big East title and that will be the goal again this season. There are some huge losses on both sides of the ball, but Pitt definitely has the talent to win this conference.
Rutgers went to a bowl game in 2008, so it cannot be considered a disappointing season. The Scarlet Knights finished the conference slate with a 5-2 mark and were in the mix for a BCS berth. This year they need to find a way to replace quarterback Mike Teel and wide receiver Kenny Britt. Greg Schiano is one of college football’s best coaches so I see the Scarlet Knights in contention for a Big East title.
South Florida should go into the season as the favorite to win the Big East. Quarterback Matt Grothe is back to start for the third consecutive year and once again has a very talented core of skill position players to work with. Defensive end George Selvie had a less than stellar 2008, but
is one of the top defensive players in the country. The Bulls have some depth questions to answer, but have a massive amount of talent.
Syracuse has been a huge joke for the past four years. This season, the school that has Donovan McNabb and Jim Brown as alumni hired another alum, Doug Marrone, as coach to return the Orange to the top. Former Duke point guard Greg Paulus has been named the starting quarterback after being out of football for four years and I think the ‘Cuse will struggle mightily. However, Marrone is a coach who has brought some excitement to the fan base so I will look at Syracuse in the coming seasons.
West Virginia came back to reality last year after three consecutive 11-win seasons. Quarterback Pat White has moved on, the offensive line is very young and coach Bill Stewart still doesn’t have the confidence of the fan base. However, the defense is good and the spread offense is always a challenge to defend. The Mountaineers will be an interesting team, but I think they will struggle to some degree this year.
Big East predictions and awards
South Florida (9-3, 6-1)
Rutgers (8-4, 4-3)
Pittsburgh (8-4, 4-3)
Cincinnati (8-4, 4-3)
Connecticut (6-6, 3-4)
West Virginia (4-8, 2-5)
Louisville (3-9, 1-6)
Syracuse (3-9, 0-7)
Player of the Year: Matt Grothe, South Florida; Tony Pike, Cincinnati
Coach of the Year: Jim Leavitt, South Florida; Greg Shiano, Rutgers
Game of the Year: Thu., Nov. 12, South Florida at Rutgers