Big East Preview
1. West Virgina – gets Louisville at home and after a bye week, I don’t have to tell you about Steve Slaton and Pat White. 7 back on offense, 8 on defense.
2. Louisville – @WVU, @USF, @NC State. November is tough with WVU and USF in back to back weeks. 8 back on offense (can you say Brohm for Heismann), 6 back on defense. Still, I don’t like picking 1st year coaches to go undefeated, but the schedule is easy enough.
3. South Florida – 9 back on offense, 7 back on defense. Get WVU and LOU at home. Non conference though against Auburn and UNC probably hurts although both of those games are winnable.
4. Rutgers – The season hasn’t started yet and I’m tired of hearing Ray Rice’s name. Draw WVU and USF at home so BCS is possible if they can find a way to win those. If so, Nov 29 game against LOU could be even bigger than last years. 7 back on offense, 6 back on defense.
5. Pittsburgh – Dave Wannstedt’s 3rd year, actually started 6-1 last year, USF at home, most other Big East games against the top of the conference are on the road. Michigan St and Virginia as out of conference games. 8 back on offense, but lose their starting QB, 6 back on offense.
6. Cincinnati – 16 starters back (8 on O, 8 on D), 4-3 in Big East last year, 8-5 overall. Lost head coach to Michigan St. Plays Oregon St out of conference, travels to San Diego St. @Rutgers, @USF, @Pitt. Possibly more talented team than last year, but probably can’t match 8 wins. New coach, tougher schedule. It will be interesting to see how Brian Kelly does as head coach there. He was 118-35-2 at Grand Valley St (Div II) and never had a losing season and 2 national titles. At Central Michigan, he led them to 2 winning seasons in 3 years including last years MAC Championship.
7. Connecticut - 8 back on offense, 6 back on defense. 4-8 record, but lost 44 starts to injury last year so should top that and could be bowl eligible. Defense should improve upon last years uncharacteristic year.
8. Syracuse – Hard to believe this team was at the top of the Big East just a few years ago. Fewest returning starters in the Big East (12 – 7 O, 5 D), and last year they were #110 in offense, #107 in defense. Non conference games are an improved Washington team, @Iowa, and against one of my surprise teams Illinois. Might not even match 4-8 of last year.