Who would have thought three years ago that the Big East would be equal in strength to, if not stronger than, the ACC? The ACC had pilfered three of the Big East's strongest members (Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College). The Big East was left in survival mode, and picked up Louisville, Cincinnati, and South Florida. Granted, the only thing East about those schools is their time zone. But, it's all about survival, and the Big East survived with its BCS automatic bid intact.
Fast forward to 2006. West Virginia came off of their Sugar Bowl win over Georgia, which saved the reputation of the conference. Rutgers had their best season in recent history, and almost completed a rise from the dregs of college football to the BCS. And, Louisville was a field goal against Rutgers away from an undefeated season and a spot in the BCS national championship game. The 'Ville went to finish 12-1, including a pasting of Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl.
Rutgers, West Virginia, and Louisville all look to be strong again this year. The schedule favors Rutgers to win the conference this season. As a matter of fact, I predict the Rutgers hype machine to be in full force, as they will be in contention for a spot in the BCS national championship game. The Scarlet Knights will win their first 11 games, before losing in the last week of the season as they travel to Louisville. Still, the Scarlet Knights will win the league in a tiebreaker over West Virginia.
West Virginia looks to be stout as well, with Heisman candidate Steve Slaton. The Mountaineers will only lose when they travel to Rutgers. They will also be 11-1, and could very well find themselves in a BCS bowl.
Louisville will be no pushover. But, I look for them to lose in back-to-back November road trips to West Virginia and South Florida. The Cardinals will win 10 games this season.
Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Cincinnati, and South Florida will all be bowl-eligible. The Panthers look to be the best of that group. Syracuse will bring up the rear.
Big East Projection:
Rutgers 11-1 6-1
West Virginia 11-1 6-1
Louisville 10-2 5-2
Pittsburgh 7-5 4-3
Cincinnati 6-6 3-4
Connecticut 6-6 2-5
South Florida 6-6 2-5
Syracuse 3-9 1-6
2 comments:
I was really impressed with Rutgers last year and I hope they do as well as you say this year. I'm not sure why, but I really don't like Louisville and hope the fail this year.
I'm still on the Rutgers bandwagon. That's still a great story.
Louisville is like the outlaw of college sports. They were always a bit of a renegade school in hoops before they became big-time in football. Then, they sort of bought their way into big-time college football.
I have to give them props, though. In addition to making the BCS, Louisville made the NCAA tournament in both men's and women's hoops. The Ville even made the College World Series in baseball.
Part of your dislike for the Ville may also come from the time they and TCU spent together in C-USA. Louisville happened to be geographically close enough to the Big East to be able to join it, and thus the BCS.
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