With the 2010-2011 College Football season close on the horizon and team depth charts getting more and more season-ready, we’ll be breaking down each conference and what the outlook will be.
In the Big East, there are at least four teams that have a legit chance to win the conference, with the two usual powerhouses from the last five years taking the cake as usual.
Big East Projected Standings
1. West Virginia Mountaineers – 10-2
2. Cincinnati Bearcats – 10-2
3. Pittsburgh Panthers – 8-4
4. UConn Huskies – 8-4
5. Rutgers Scarlet Knights – 8-4
6. South Florida Bulls – 6-6
7. Syracuse Orange – 4-8
8. Louisville Cardinals – 3-9
Big East Champ: West Virginia Mountaineers
The Big East has been waiting for a competitive league for a few years now, and I think this could be the year in which they have four or five Top 25 teams. It starts with the BCS berth competition, with West Virginia being my favorite. Losing Jarrett Brown will hurt, but sophomore Geno Smith is a great fit for the spread option, and Noel Devine and that defense has the talent and experience to succeed. Cincinnati will be their main competition for the conference crown, but losing most of the defensive line, Mardy Gilyard, Tony Pike, and most importantly coach Brian Kelly, that could be enough to lose to West Virginia in their match-up.
Pittsburgh and UConn are two teams that really could cause the top two trouble. Both have great running backs (Dion Lewis of Pittsburgh and Jordan Todman of UConn), but neither have great secondaries or quarterbacks and will struggle with the depth and speed of the top two. Also, Rutgers could surprise this year and fight for a Top 3 spot in the conference with a sophomore Tom Savage at QB and Mohammed Sanu at WR, along with a veteran defense and running back corps. I’m not sold on BJ Daniels for South Florida, and the loss of defenders the past two years will hurt too much. Syracuse and Louisville are still in rebuilding mode, so both of them have outside shots of getting to a bowl game.
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