JKaufman1's Big East Preview
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by user The Beast
1. Louisville
Its 12-0 or bust for the Cards. This team has been very, very good for a while, it's playing in a BCS conference, and it has some big showcase games to boost their position in the polls. There's no reason whatsoever for this tam no to win at least 10 games, since they are capable of winning twelve. Louisville gets their toughest games, Miami, West Virginia, South Florida, at home. While this team has the potential to be a national contender, the fate rests on the knee of Heisman Candiate Brian Brohm.
2. West Virginia Everyone has been falling in love with the Mountaneers ever since their victory over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. They along with Louisville are BCS calibar teams. However, their goal is not another BCS bowl appearance. They are national championship contenders behind their classic running game and an unconditional way of doing it too. They run out of the spread which is very confusing for defensive coordinators accross America, just ask Georgia. The problem with West Virginia is that they are young. While they are well seasoned I do not feel they have enough big games under their belt, which is also the problem with Louisville, to win, the national championship. They are still very good, and will join Louisville in the BCS bowls.
3. Pittsburgh Its a risk putting the Panthers so high on the rankings, but this is the second year of the Dave Wannstedt era. He is a good coach, and unfortunately had a bad year last year, getting destroyed by West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl last year. However, don't just assume that a Big East title is out of reach. The Panthers get West Virginia and Louisville at Heinz Field to close out the regular season, with easy conference road games against Cincinnati and Syracuse. There's no reason why the Panthers can't progress enough as the season goes on to be in a position to win the conference. These Panthers have a chip on their shoulder and they might surprise you.
4. South Florida Winning the Big East title is possible. With seven returning starters on defense led by one of the nation's best linebacking corps, and with six starters back on offense, the nucleus is there for another solid team. If the Bulls can win early games at home and come away from Kansas with a win, a 6-0 start is very feasable, and have pushover games against Cincinnati and Syracuse. Of course, road games at Louisville and West Virginia will ruin title dreams, but a hot start could, at least, put USF in a great position. However, I see them struggling early behind the inconsistent quarterback play of Pat Julmiste. They have too many holes to actually win the conference championship.
5. Rutgers Last year was just the beginning. It took five years, but Rutgers has to hope it finally turned the corner under Schiano. An opening day win at North Carolina could set the tone for a huge start with Illinois, Buffalo and Liberty before kicking off the Big East slate. Improvement on defense should mean another bowl bid as long as the team starts well, and that means this spring is important to get even more experience in the back seven.
6. Connecticut Start fast. Uconn is an experienced team with a favorable early schedule playing Rhode Island, Wake Forest, Indiana and Navy, all winnable games. If UConn wants to go bowling and wants to be good enough to challenge for the Big East title, it needs the confidence of a big start going 3-1, at worst, before facing South Florida. These guys just lack the talent to win and truly compete for a conference championship, but a bowl bid isn't out of the question.
7. Cincinnati Time to take a big step forward. As bad as last year was, the team wasn't embarrassing and did show occasional signs on defense of becoming better. The Bearcats aren't good enough to challenge West Virginia or Louisville, so it's not a bad thing to get those two games on the road. Outside of the road trips to Ohio State and Virginia Tech, there isn't another game the Bearcats won't have a chance in. Just a few more wins than last year means a bowl game.
8. Syracuse The key for the Cuse is to forget las tyear, completely. They need to score and I mean score., but first SU has to do the basics first like figure out how to convert on third downs. The Orange were dead last in America in third down conversion percentage at 20.5% (No. 118 was NC State at 25.5%), so getting the quarterbacks to learn how to complete short to midrange passes would be a nice start. Overall, they just stink, with a lack of talent and inconsistant play the Cuse are definantly one of the worst teams from a BCS conference.
Date
Wed 07/12/06, 4:21 pm EST
