Big East Preview
Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 9:35PM By John P. Wise
One Great Season
NEW YORK -- I still can't believe what's happened to the Big East since November 2006.
Louisville, West Virginia and Rutgers were all 8-0 and among the top 10 teams in the country. They were all scheduled to play each other in the season's final weeks, but none escaped unblemished; all were knocked from BCS Championship game contention.
And the league has not been the same since.
My alma mater of all teams, Cincinnati, repped the Big East in the Orange Bowl last year, and played listlessly in a loss to Virginia Tech. The Bearcats have one of the nation's more exciting players returning in WR/KR Mardy Gilyard, but losing 10 starters on defense usually prevents teams from repeating as league champs.
Rutgers has shown that 2006 was just one good year, and Louisville fans can't wait to get rid of coach Steve Kragthorpe, who's made a mess of the success John L. Smith built and Bobby Petrino furthered.
That leaves West Virginia, whose Mountaineers will climb back to the top of the league once more in 2009.
Four-year starter Pat White leaves a gaping hole at quarterback, and the offensive line is thin, but electric running back Noel Devine will still be a threat to hit the century mark every time out. When White and Steve Slaton were backfield mates for three years, WVU beat -- actually pounded -- teams with offense. That won't be the case this season, but the Mountaineers bring back eight starters from a stingy defense, which we've heard wins championships.
Don't sleep on Pittsburgh, which just can't seem to meet expectations under Dave Wannstedt. But his defense will be comparable to that of WVU's, and will hide the shortcomings of an inexperienced offensive attack.
South Florida will be solid again in 2009, with quarterback Matt Grothe at the helm and sackmaster George Selvie causing havoc from the defensive side of the ball. If the gunslingin' Grothe can curb his mistakes and Selvie can stay healthy, the two stars who lifted USF all the way to a No. 2 ranking in 2007 will certainly help the Bulls contend in what appears to be a wide-open Big East.
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
WVU
Pitt
UC
USF
Rutgers
Louisville
UConn
Syracuse
BEST GAME ON THE SCHEDULE: Pittsburgh at West Virginia, Nov. 27.
Reader Comments (2)
Explain something to me, we always hear about recruiting classes -- well following Rutgers strong finish in '06 -- we heard what a great recruiting class they had -- one of the best in the Big East.
Is all that just talk, or did that class underperform?
You didn't even mention the might Orangemen? What about them? Actually, I've given up following them, but I wonder what happened. How have they managed to pull off 20 years of futility? Will they ever get back on track?