- 1. Pittsburgh (6-1): Dion Lewis burst onto the scene last season with nearly 1,800 rushing yards. The sophomore is back again this season to lead the offense and give defenses fits. QB Bill Stull is gone, but there are high expectations for sophomore Tino Sunseri. Sunseri will have some huge targets to throw to in Jonathan Baldwin and Mike Shanahan. Baldwin is one of the best receivers in the nation and a physical freak. On defense, two premier DE’s lead a deep line, and LB Max Gruder and S Dom DeCicco will solidify the back seven. The Panthers were at the top of the nation last year in sacks, and with Greg Romeus back to wreak havoc on the edge they should be again. There is a good chance for Pitt to get off to a fast start in conference play, but the final four games will be brutal on the Panthers’ hopes for a Big East Championship; they close @ UConn, @ USF, vs. West Virginia and @ Cincinnati.
- 2. West Virginia (5-2): The Mountaineers return more than any team in the Big East. If they can get reliable play from the QB position, this may be the year for Bill Stewart’s club to get back on top. Anticipated starter Geno Smith missed the spring but is still expected to start. His main goal will be to get the ball in the hands of electric RB Noel Devine and shifty WR Jock Sanders. With four of five starters back on the line WV’s offense should be very tough to stop, as long as Smith can be at least adequate at the QB position. The 3-3-5 defense should be amongst the best in the conference as well and will keep the Mountaineers in every conference game. Road games at UConn and Pitt will be tough to win, but if they take care of those two and handle business in Morgantown, West Virginia will find themselves in the fight for the Big East until the end.
- 3. Connecticut (5-2): QB Zach Frazer has established himself as the starting QB for the Huskies and will provide a nice complement to star RB Jordan Todman. The WR’s will need to find a dependable group of starters but should be solid, and the line returns four starters from last season. If Frazer is as good as Huskie fans think, the UConn offense will be loaded. The defense must replace stud DE Lindsey Witten but think that former LB Greg Lloyd can step in at DE. The rest of the defense returns mostly intact. If there is a weak point it may be in the secondary, where the only returning starters were just freshman last season. Pitt, WV and Cincy all travel to Rentschler Field this year, so the Huskies appear primed for a run at the conference championship.
- 4. Rutgers (4-3): If you are looking for the most underrated QB-WR duo in the nation, it might just be Rutgers’ Tom Savage and Mohamed Sanu. Both started and looked great last season as freshman, and now they are the most productive returning duo in the conference. Look for both of these guys to get national attention before their careers are over. Also returning is leading RB Joe Martinek, who will help keep defenses from dropping too many guys into coverage. The only question on offense is a somewhat re-built offensive line. The D-line will wreak havoc, with two solid ends in Jonathan Freeny and Alex Silvestro and a Freshman AA at DT in Scott Vallone. The Scarlet Knights do lose some talented players including CB Devin McCourty. Reports out of Piscataway indicate that this defense might be the fastest and most athletic that Coach Greg Schiano has had. The conference road games will be brutal and will test Savage and company this year, but look for this team to emerge as the class of the conference in the next couple of years.
- 5. Cincinnati (4-3): Coach Brian Kelly may have bolted to Notre Dame, but don’t expect the Bearcats to change much under Butch Jones, who also replaced Kelly at UCM. QB Zach Collaros was excellent filling in for Tony Pike at times last year, so there shouldn’t be much of a drop-off at QB. RB Isaiah Pead established himself as a potentially great back last year. The WR’s lost Mardy Gilyard but gained former USC WR Vidal Hazelton and return D.J. Woods and Armon Binns. After averaging nearly 40 points per game last year the offense will again be deadly. The defense will be what keeps the Bearcats from another Big East Championship. After giving up nearly 40 points per game over the final five last season and losing its top players, things could be ugly at times this season. The final four games will be against the four best teams in the conference, so Cincy will either emerge as one of the top teams or fade into the middle of the conference down the stretch.
- 6. South Florida (3-4): The Bulls will be breaking in only the second coach in their history, as Jim Leavitt is gone and Skip Holtz is taking over. Lucky for Holtz he has dual-threat QB B.J. Daniels back to lead the offense. Daniels will only be a sophomore and has the potential to be a household name. The offense will miss WR A.J. Love, who is out for the season after tearing his ACL, but the line has a ton of experience and Daniels will have some nice complements in WR Dontavia Bogan and RB Moise Plancher. The defense will sorely miss DE’s George Selvie and Jason Pierre-Paul but has a pair of solid senior LB’s and a pair of potential lockdown CB’s. The Bulls are not yet good enough to compete for a conference title, but with Daniels still maturing the future is bright in South Florida.
- 7. Syracuse (1-6): It’s never good when you are coming off a 1-6 year and lose almost the entire offense. To make matters worse, RB Delone Carter was involved in an altercation in the spring and his role this season is still up in the air. If Carter does not play, the offense might be among the worst of any BCS team. Ryan Nassib looks to be the starting QB but will be working with a thin WR corp. The line should be all right, but without Carter the offense has no proven weapons. The defense led the league against the run last year and should again be solid this year. The Orange have moved some pieces around on defense but return most of the starters from last season. Even with an above-average defense, the offense could be historically bad and won’t be enough to get the Orange more than a couple of conference wins at most.
- 8. Louisville (0-7): New coach Charlie Strong will find out real quick that Louisville is a far cry from the team he had at Florida. The Cardinals don’t have a clear-cut QB. It appears senior Adam Froman is the frontrunner but he has plenty of competition. Only 1 starting WR returns, but the line returns a ton of experience. That may not be such a good thing, as that same line was downright terrible last season. RB may be the strongest position on offense, but how they much they will be used is unknown at this point. The defense might be more unsettled than the offense. The LB’s will be solid but the secondary is thin and the line has some questions. Strong is known as a defensive guru so in time he may have the Cardinals defense among the best in the Big East. This year though, Louisville just doesn’t have enough talent to be considered a favorite in any Big East game except maybe Syracuse, but since that game is @ Syracuse we give the nod to the Orange.
Let’s hear your predictions in the comments!
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