College Football Preview 2011: Big East

Even though the Big East does not have a single team ranked in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll and only one that barely made the Associate Press’ Top 25, the conference will still crown a champion. And this conference champion will ultimately qualify for the the BCS, most likely to be played in Miami at the Orange Bowl. That said, just because West Virginia happens to be that aforementioned ranked squad, don’t be surprised to see them as the “beast of the Big East” come November. With only 11 days left until we kickoff the 2011 college football season, here is my Big East projected order of finish from worst to best.

8. Rutgers: Finishing 2010 by going 4-8 on the season and losing the last 6 games is not the type of year you want to have especially if you’re coach Greg Shiano who has seen better days during his tenure in New Jersey. The Scarlet Knights’ schedule is somewhat favorable this season with only three away Big East games. They’ll play at Syracuse, at Louisville and finish out the regular season at Connecticut. Ah, if only they had the talent. A group that finished so poorly last season returns much of the same inconsistent talent it had last year. The quarterback position is also suspect for Shiano’s group. Same bad talent will equal a similar bad season for Rutgers.

7. Syracuse Orange: While they finished 8-5 last year including a very close victory in the New Era Pinstripe bowl over Kansas State, I don’t think they’ll be able to recapture the magic they discovered in 2010. They play host to West Virginia on Oct. 21st which will most likely be a loss followed by a difficult matchup the next week in Louisville against the Cardinals. These could potentially be two unaffordable mid-season losses with a nail in the coffin if they close the season out by losing to the Panthers in Pittsburgh. The team is lead by junior quarterback Ryan Nassib who tossed for over 2,300 yards last year and touted better than a 2:1 TD to interception ratio.

6. South Florida Bulls: B.J. Daniels should be back on track to direct the Bulls to another winning season after going 8-5 in 2010 including a win over Clemson in the Car Care Bowl last New Year’s Eve. He struggled at times as a freshman, but he should be poised for a much more successful sophomore year. Unfortunately, for the Bulls, they open conference play at Pittsburgh on Sep. 29th and a home finale against West Virginia. If they can get past these two key games they could be this year’s sleeper team.

5. Cincinnati Bearcats: Like Rutgers, they went 4-8 last season and didn’t show much sign of improvement along the way by dropping 5 of their last 6 games. The upside for this team is the return of offensive seniors Zach Collaros, Isaiah Pead, Orion Woodard and D.J. Woods. Collaros finished 98 passing yards shy of hitting the milestone of 3,000. I’d like to think he reaches that goal in 2011. He’ll be protected by an experienced offensive line. Three of which are seniors.. If this team can stay cool under pressure they should have an exciting season.

4. Connecticut Huskies: The Huskies got hot late in 2010 and won their last 5 games that sent them to the Fiesta Bowl to represent the Big East in the BCS. That game turned out to be a tough one for them as they were manhandled by Oklahoma 48-20. I strongly believe the Huskies hit their apex last season and are destined for a fall from the top. Every now and again any given conference will experience a dark horse to rise from the ashes of years past and play exceptional football for one season only to fizzle out for several more afterward. I see the Huskies set to face this same demise in 2011. They play on the road at West Virginia and Pittsburgh this season and include a very weak non-conference schedule in Fordham, Vanderbilt, Iowa State, Buffalo and Western Michigan. Even if the Big East is projected to have a down year as a conference, these five teams aren’t exactly powerhouses. One player to watch for UConn will be junior running back Jordan Todman. In his previous two seasons he has totaled 28 touchdowns, averaged 5.1 yards per carry and has gone over 1,000 yards rushing. Todman was phenomenal on the ground last year as he piled up almost 1,700 yards. Since the Huskies’ offensive line returns four seniors and averages 310lbs I think its a safe bet that Todman will have similar production this season.

3. Louisville Cardinals: Second year head coach Charlie Strong posted what most considered to be the top recruiting class in the Big East when he brought his Florida recruiting pipeline to Louisville, Kentucky. Key additions at the skill positions and some strong acquisitions to the defensive side of the ball should drastically improve a Cardinals team that finished 2010 with a 7-6 record overall and sub par 3-4 record in conference play. I certainly do not expect to witness shutout and near-shutout losses from Strong’s team this season. His squad’s victory over Southern Miss in last year’s Beef O’Brady’s Bowl should have increased the veterans’ confidence levels and excited the newcomers. The Cardinals will kickoff the 2011 season for all of college football when they tangle with Murray State on Sep. 1st. While that game may seem like a gimme, the last four match-ups on their schedule are anything but that. Three of them are on the road at West Virginia, Connecticut and South Florida. The other is a home game against Pitt. These four competitions will most likely decide just how far the Cardinals will actually go in the race to win the Big East.

2. West Virginia Mountaineers: The primary reason behind this, despite the fact they have a new head coach at the helm in Dana Halgorsen, is due to their strength of schedule. Their last four games include home and away matchups against Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and finally South Florida. The home game against the LSU Tigers on Sept. 24th will help prep them, but not so sure they’ll get the job done down the stretch. So I guess you could call West Virginia my default #2 team in the conference.

1. Pittsburgh Panthers: Look for first year head coach Todd Graham to do something former coach Dave Wannstedt could never do: Win a Big East title outright. Wannstedt always talked the talk on the recruiting trail but simply could not walk the walk on the field. With good talent returning in 2011 coupled with a not-so-tough schedule, Todd Graham should be on his way to first year utopia and a berth in the BCS. One of his contributors should without a doubt be junior running back Ray Graham (no relation). Graham’s rushing yards and touchdowns have both doubled from his freshman to sophomore years. I expect those numbers to nearly double once again this season, and, with an experienced offensive line, he should maintain his 6.2 yards per carry from a year ago. The Panthers play conference road games at Rutgers, Louisville and West Virginia. The rest of the schedule falls in their favor to finish on top.

Big East Game of the Year: Oct. 25th, Pittsburgh at West Virginia

Big East MVP: Jordan Todman, Running Back, Junior, Connecticut


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