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7/22 Roundtable - 5 Thoughts On The Big East
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USF QB Matt Grothe
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CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Jul 21, 2009
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7/22 Roundtable - Five thoughts on the upcoming Big East season. It's the Wednesday topic in the CFN Daily Roundtable Discussion.
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CFN Daily Roundtables
 July
22
5 Thoughts on the Big East.
Over the next several weeks, as part of the CFN 2009 Preview, we'll
examine some of the key questions going into the year with a
daily discussion of the big topics.
Pete
Fiutak,
CFN
Yes, I'm part of
the problem. You can check me out at
twitter.com/CFN_Fiu and find
out future roundtable topics and other random musings.
Q: 5 Thoughts on the Big East.
A: In the ongoing discussion of the top conferences, and
which BCS conferences are best, the Big East always seems to
come in last. Not only is the league No. 6 in the pecking
order, but there are some who put it seventh behind the
Mountain West. However, it would be cool if the the Big East
put the system to the test and made everyone reevaluate the
state of the current BCS format.
In 2006, Louisville would've played for the national
title if it didn't lose a 28-25 heartbreaker at Rutgers, but
instead it was Florida who got to go to Glendale to beat up
Ohio State. The Big East had a chance to put the pressure on
the BCS and be in the big show, but didn't.
Just two years ago, West Virginia was in. All the
Mountaineers had to do was beat a mediocre Pitt team at home
and they'd have been in the 2008 BCS Championship against
Ohio State, while LSU would've sat at home and watched. A
13-9 Panther win later, and the Big East missed out on a
chance to take home a national title. But at least the shot
was there, even though West Virginia already had a loss.
The real test for
the league will be to see if it can get the nod for the
national championship over one of the other BCS leagues when
things aren't quite equal. What happens if one spot is
available (after a shoo-in like an unbeaten USC or Texas is
obviously in) and it comes down to a 12-1 SEC champion
Florida and a 12-0 West Virginia? A lot of it would depend
on the Florida loss, but if it's a close one at LSU, and the
Gators beat the Tigers in a rematch in the SEC title game,
then who'll get the benefit of the doubt? Will the Big East
get enough love to get a shot at the title? It's up to a Big
East team to put the system to the test.
West
Virginia should be the league's best team this year, and
with non-conference games against Auburn and Colorado, it'll
have earned its stripes if it can go unbeaten. And while the
rest of the conference will be better than it'll get credit
for, even though most of the top contenders are rebuilding,
it'll all come down to non-conference play.
Few
conferences play as many decent non-conference games against
the Big East, with South Florida facing Miami and Florida
State, Cincinnati playing North Carolina, Cincinnati playing
Illinois and Oregon State, Pitt facing Notre Dame, and it
goes on and on. The best way to generate a conference buzz
is by winning games like those, and to have at least one
team that captures the national attention. Two would be even
better, like South Florida and West Virginia were able to do
two years ago.
Richard
Cirminiello,
CFN
Q: 5 Thoughts on the Big East.
A: Rutgers might be a retooled passing game away from its first league
title and BCS bowl appearance.
As West Virginia continues to
settle back to the pack in a post-Pat White, post-Rich Rod world,
everyone, save for Louisville and Syracuse, has a legitimate shot to
finish the season in the Orange Bowl. That’ll include the Scarlet
Knights, provided they can find suitable replacements for QB Mike Teel
and his top two targets, Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood. The big
question is at quarterback, where a pair of seniors, Domenic Natale and
Jabu Lovelace, is trying to become more than just footnotes in the
school history books.
The passing game aside, Rutgers has few
serious holes and a schedule that’s tailor-made for 10 wins. The
offensive line, led by future pros Anthony Davis and Kevin Haslam, will
be opening holes for a ground game that welcomes back last year’s top
four rushers and has come a long way since the Ray Rice left for
Baltimore. The defense has an
all-star at each level, meaning it’ll once again be plenty stout enough,
especially in a league that’s painfully short on playmakers. And, oh,
that schedule. Howard, Florida International, Texas Southern, and Army
comprise four-fifths of the non-conference slate, and Cincinnati,
Pittsburgh, South Florida, and West Virginia must all travel to
Piscataway. The only rugged Big East road game takes place at
Connecticut on Halloween. That means there’ll be plenty of time to gain
confidence and build some rhythm in that passing attack.
Is
Rutgers a budding top 15 team? Nope. Do the Knights have a legitimate
shot to cop one of this year’s 10 marquee bowl bids? In this system, you
bet.
Matthew
Zemek, CFN
Q: 5 Thoughts on the Big East.
A:
Matt Grothe, you have one final shot at a Big East title. Can you and
your team remain focused and on-task throughout the second half of a
season for once? Ball’s in your court down there in Tampa.
Hunter Ansley,
Publisher,
DraftZoo.com
Q: 5 Thoughts on the Big East.
A: Here’s a surprise:
The conference is wide open yet again.
Perhaps even more so than years past.
Cincinnati took the league crown last season, and they return a steady
quarterback with the ability to put points on the board.
But they’ve also got only one defensive starter returning, and a
complete lack of a running game.
South Florida has been on the cusp of greatness for a few years
now, but hasn’t been able to take the next step.
Matt Grothe is back at QB, where he’ll have to cut down on the
turnovers, and George Selvie is back at defensive end, but he’s coming
off of a dismal season and must get better at beating the double teams
he’ll face.
Pittsburgh has been recruiting like crazy lately,
but they just lost pretty much their entire offense when LeSean McCoy
and Larod Stephens-Howling left the campus.
Bill Stull has shown no signs of carrying this team on his own.
West Virginia just lost the only QB in the history of the game to
win four bowl games.
Louisville hasn’t been nearly the same since Bobby Petrino left, and
there are questions at quarterback; not a good thing in Steve
Kragthorpe’s offense.
Connecticut’s in the same boat as Pitt.
Donald Brown left and so did marginally productive quarterback
Tyler Lorenzen. Not to
mention the fact that Randy Edsall’s defense lost Cody Brown.
Rutgers is a serious contender because of a great defense led by
the highly underrated Ryan D’Imperio at linebacker, but again the
offense took some major hits now that Kenny Britt, Tiquan Underwood and
Mike Teel are all in the NFL.
And finally, Syracuse is nowhere close to being ready to move up
in the Big East world. I
know, it’s surprising considering they signed a backup basketball player
to play QB.
So, who’s going to win the league in 2009?
Pretty much anyone, outside of the Orange, can become the next
team to face the ACC in a bowl.
There’s just no clear favorite.
Jon Miller,
Publisher, HawkeyeNation.com
Q: 5 Thoughts on the Big East.
A: COMING THIS AFTERNOON.
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