To Win Big East Conference

Cincinnati +800

Connecticut +800

Louisville +1500

Pittsburgh +250

Rutgers +500

South Florida +250

Syracuse +5000

West Virginia +250

Let's go team by team and look at everyone's prospects:

PITTSBURGH (+250) has a shaky quarterback in Bill Stull, who completed just 57% of his passes last year. Thankfully he'll have receivers like tight end Nate Byham to help him out. The running back situation is another story. The Panthers have to deal with the loss of LeSean McCoy, who went in the NFL draft to the Philadelphia Eagles, and that puts pressure on the running game. In fact, the leading returning rusher is Aundre Wright, a wide receiver. Freshman Dion Lewis gets a chance at the starting job, but in a way that brings Pitt back to scratch. There are a pair of standout defensive ends in Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard, and with a deep secondary, it's going to be hard for Big East rivals to pass against this team. Coach Dave Wannstedt will probably wind up hoping that defense will keep his team in games. There are fifteen starters coming back, the most of any team in the Big East.

WEST VIRGINIA (+250) will have to adjust to life with Pat White gone. White was a special case, an extraordinary quarterback who probably did more for his team on an overall basis than any other offensive player in the nation. Jarrett Brown, who has been his backup for a while, is a competent player as he takes over the QB role, but it won't be the same. Noel Devine, who came to Morgantown as a highly touted recruit, is an explosive runner who gained 1289 yards with 6.3 yards per pop as a sophomore. He's small though, and there is a question as to whether he can take a pounding if given a bigger workload. The Mountaineers have to be able to run up the middle with some authority. The defense may have to carry things a bit more. The unit returns seven starters, and front to back, it may be the best in the conference. Bill Stewart returns for his second season; West Virginia won nine games in their first year after Rich Rodriguez's departure.

SOUTH FLORIDA (+250) possesses assets, to be sure. Jim Leavitt has done a great job in building this program into one of the Big East's best, with impact on a national level. Much of that has been done with his recruiting efforts within the state, which overflows with talent. A key game on the schedule is a September 26 non-conference tilt, when the Bulls visit Florida State, as they continue to make a case for a "Big Four" in the Sunshine State. Matt Grothe (18 TD's, 14 INT's) is not a great passer, but he is heralded as a leader, and is a resourceful runner as well. Leavitt hopes that Mike Ford can provide some more support than he did last year from his running back position (417 yards, 5 TD's). Do not sell this group of receivers short. With a new offensive coordinator in Mike Canales, those wideouts will increase their role in this offense. These guys have a solid secondary, anchored by two seniors, and a very good defensive line that is spearheaded by George Selvie, an All-American candidate who rushes the passer about as well as anybody.

RUTGERS (+500) unquestionably has to re-tool its offense. The Scarlet Knights lost quarterback Mike Teel, along with wide receivers Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood, who carried this team while it was adjusting to the loss of Ray Rice last season. Fortunately there is a big, experienced offensive line and some real depth at the running back spot. The quarterback situation is going to be up in the air, but coach Greg Schioano has a number of candidates, including Dom Natale, Jabu Lovelace, 6'6" flame-thrower D.C. Jefferson, Steve Shimko and last, but not least, Tom Savage, who is perhaps the biggest recruit during Schiano's tenure. Natale has the lead right now, but Savage hasn't shown up for fall practice. Somebody will be competent at that position. Sure, it could be a transitional year offensively for Rutgers, and five starters were lost on defense, but Schiano still has some speed and experience there. Rutgers plays its toughest Big East games at home this year. This could be the team that breaks through against the trio of favorites.

CONNECTICUT (+800) has lost several of its pillars, not the least of whom is running back Donald Brown, whose 2083 yards and 18 touchdowns leave a huge hole to be filled. This year the Huskies are going to a no-huddle offense, and Zach Fraser, who started two games last season, may have the inside track to replace Tyler Lorenzen at quarterback. Frazer was a big high school who originally signed with Notre Dame, and he has a bigger arm than Lorenzen. He's got great size for the position (6'4", 230 pounds) and will eventually prove to be an upgrade over Lorenzen. Andre Dixon had 828 yards rushing two seasons ago before Brown made him irrelevant, and he and sophomore Jordan Todman should give U-Conn more than enough rushing. The Huskies were #6 overall on defense last season and return six starters to the lineup, but they have lost two players who were second-round draft picks - defensive end Cody Brown and cornerback Darius Butler. Randy Edsall is known as a crafty coach; he'll figure out a way to get this team to its third straight bowl game, but the conference title is going to be a bit of a stretch.

CINCINNATI (+800) got a nice surprise last season when Tony Pike stepped into the quarterback role in the second game of the season and was outstanding, winning second-team all-conference honors. Yes, he did collapse in the Orange Bowl, tossing four interceptions, but with great receivers like Mardy Gilyard (81 catches last year) and all the top runners returning, he will have the Bearcats moving the ball in Brian Kelly's spread offense. That's not the problem. The big news in Cincinnati is that the defense has to be completely rebuilt, losing all but one starter. The people who were lost are not easily replaced - cornerback Mike Mickens, safety Brandon Underwood, cornerback DeAngelo Smith, and defensive end Connor Barwin were all drafted, and defensive tackle Terill Byrd was a second-team All-American.

LOUISVILLE (+1500) faltered on offense too often last year, as Hunter Cantwell, touted as a great pro prospect going into the season, turned out to be a little more of a dud. This year they get West Virginia, South Florida, Cincinnati and U-Conn at home, and they have one of the top returning running backs in the conference in Victor Anderson, who ran for 1047 yards and 5.7 an attempt as a freshman. The defense, which was tough against the run for much of the season, went through meltdown periods later in the schedule. The low point was in the season finale against Rutgers, when they allowed 49 points in the first half en route to a 63-14 humiliation. The new defensive coordinator is Brent Guy, who spent the last four years of his life compiling a 10-38 record as the head coach at Utah State. Louisville will improve on defense, and could make a little noise, but with an inexperienced quarterback replacing Cantwell, it won't be enough.

SYRACUSE (+5000) is in for a major rebuilding project. The Orange were just 10-37 under coach Greg Robinson, who was fired and replaced by Doug Marrone. All new coaches talk tough, and Marrone is doing a lot of cosmetic things to create the impression of getting back to a "winning tradition" at Syracuse. He has a heck of a receiver in Mike Williams, who will eventually be playing on Sundays, but the question is who will get the ball to him. Cameron Dantley (48%, 1298 yards passing) may be overwhelmed by the job. One piece of good news is that Marrone gets 14 starters back. One of them is Arthur Jones, an All-America candidate at defensive tackle. This year he's joined by brother Chandler Jones, a defensive end who can rush the passer. Big brother must help little brother.


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