Big East Predictions

The Big East used to be one of the better brands of college football amongst the BCS conferences. Now they could be easily considered the Fredo of the “Big 6” leagues in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Yet after the exodus by the Hokies and ‘Canes to the ACC and the rumored poaching by the Big Ten, this league still holds its head up high. This season could prove to be the most wide open race we’ve seen in a while for the automatic BCS bowl berth. Here are my predictions for the Big East.

1: Connecticut – The Huskies had one of the toughest finishes to the year in 2009 after Jasper Howard’s murder, but still wound up going 8-5. Showing a true test of Randy Edsall and his team’s mettle is that the three losses immediately following the tragedy were by a combined 10 points. Now Connecticut returns eight starters on both sides of the ball this season. The schedule for the Huskies sets up great. Their non-conference schedule is all very winnable for this club. Plus, the tough games against Cincy, Pitt and West Virginia are all in Storrs. This should be UConn’s first 10-win season at this level.

2: West Virginia – Bill Stewart has had respectable 9-4 marks in his first two full campaigns as head coach. Yet that still is lesser ground than where Rich Rodriguez had this team on before bolting for Ann Arbor. But things look like they are set to change in Morgantown this autumn. The Mountaineers have eight starters coming back on offense and nine on defense, including the most veteran offensive line in the Big East. What will be a tough sell is Florida prep star Geno Smith becoming the third starting QB in as many years for West Virginia. A trip to LSU is a challenge, but there is no doubt this team should finish with at least a 10-2 record.

3: Cincinnati – Three years back, Cincinnati brought Brian Kelly in Central Michigan to take over its program. And after all the success they had with him, they figured they can go back to the well and bring Butch Jones in from the Chippewas to run the Bearcats. Some folks might believe that the cupboard is bare in Cincy, but that’s small thinking. Zach Collaros will make people forget about Tony Pike under center. He pretty much already did that in ’09 after tossing for 1,434 yards and 10 touchdowns to just two picks. And Collaros will fit in quite well with Jones’ balanced spread attack that helped Dan LeFevour put his stamp on the MAC record book. A date with the Sooners at Paul Brown Stadium is daunting, but road tests against the Mountaineers and Huskies make you think that Cincinnati will find itself with a disappointing (by its recent standards) 9-3 mark.

4: Pittsburgh – The Panthers are coming off of their first 10-win season in Dave Wannstedt’s tenure over his alma mater. Yet you get the feeling that Pitt left a perfect season slip away. They’re returning just 11 starters from last year’s team. The showcase piece for Pittsburgh is Dion Lewis, who was last year’s most decorated freshman running back (1,799 yards, 17 TD’s). But Lewis will need some effective work out of new starting QB Tino Sunseri in 2010. The Panthers welcome back Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard on the defensive trenches after sacking 13 total signal callers a year ago. The non-conference schedule has the Utes and ‘Canes, which are no pushovers for a rebuilt team. I look for Sunseri to struggle in his first year as he guides Pitt to a ho-hum 7-5 season.

5: South Florida – The Bulls are entering unfamiliar territory this season as Skip Holtz comes to Tampa via ECU after Jim Leavitt was thrown out on his rump of allegations of player abuse. Holtz will have a strong start to the year with B.J. Daniels coming back to run the show behind the entire offensive line and Andre Hall to help with the running duties. The season opens with four of the Bulls first five games at Raymond James Stadium (Face Gators on Sept. 11 in Gainesville) to ensure a fast start. The problem for USF is they go to Morgantown, Cincy and Miami after that welcoming start to the year. It shouldn’t be a shocker since the Bulls are 8-13 straight up in the final seven games of their last three seasons. Nobody should be surprised if this team finishes no worse than 6-6.

6: Rutgers – Greg Schiano has put together quite the program at what used to be the biggest laughingstock in college football. The Scarlet Knights leave the keys to the offense in Tom Savage’s hands. Not a bad idea considering Savage completed 52 percent of his passes and tossed 14 scores to seven interceptions as a true freshman. Mohamed Sanu has proved he is a quality wide receiver that was successful as the QB in “Wildcat” formations. Too bad Rutgers will be replacing its top four tacklers from last year on defense. The Knights appear to be heading for a 6-6 campaign.

7: Syracuse – You can say the Orange are still failures, but there is no doubt they played harder for Doug Marrone than they ever did for previous head coach Greg Robinson.  Syracuse has 10 starters back on a defense that went from giving up 5.1 yards per carry to 3.9. The only problem is the Orange’s offense is essentially brand new at the skill positions with just five starters coming back. Marrone has this program going in the right direction, but a 4-8 mark would be a definite positive.

8: Louisville – The Cardinals made the smartest move they could by bringing Charlie Strong and his recruiting acumen in from Florida to replace Steve Kragthorpe to right the ship. And Strong pulled off a great play by getting deposed UNLV head coach Mike Sanford to run the offense. Too bad the wide receiving corp is a bit on the thin side and Justin Burke and Adam Froman (not related to the “Sausage King of Chicago”). While Strong will get this team back on track, a 2-10 mark would be a logical starting point for Louisville.