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| BLOG...WVU Runs Away With Big East Media Poll
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| J.P. Girouard CollegeFootballNews.com | Jul 31, 2008 |
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In the least-shocking occurrence since Brett Farve came out of retirement, West Virginia was the near-unanimous media selection to win the Big East, Pat White makes a controversial statement about the Mountaineer baseball coaches, and Mike Tranghese shoots down the idea of Army and Navy in the Big East. All that and more as we cherry-pick juicy tidbits from the 2008 version of Big East Media Day. If it was a presidential primary, it would've been called five minutes after the polls closed - West Virginia was the near-unanimous selection by the media to win the Big East in 2008: 1. West Virginia (189, 22 first-place votes) 2. USF (149, 1) 3. Pitt (128, 1) 4. Rutgers (110) 5. Cincinnati (98) 6. Connecticut (97) 7. Louisville (69) 8. Syracuse (24) There was actually little surprise in the polling top-to-bottom - Stassen's preseason consensus of the major college football publications suggested that West Virginia, USF and Pitt were pretty well-entrenched in the top-three and Louisville and Syracuse were likely to be bottom-feeders. Both the media poll and the preseason consensus also agree that there isn't a whole lot separating Rutgers, Cincinnati and UConn. In truth, other than the Mountaineers on top and the Orange in the cellar, you can make legitimate arguments for just about any Big East team to finish second - or seventh. In other Big East Media Day news: -West Virginia QB Pat White caused a stir at Media Day when he suggested that he thought he wouldn't be welcome on coach Greg Van Zant's team due to his skin color, comments he later apologized for. White happened to be a pretty well-regarded baseball player coming out of college (a fourth-round draft pick of the Angels in 2004), so it seems ludicrous that a middling baseball program like WVU wouldn't welcome White with open arms. And sure, it's noteworthy that there are no blacks on West Virginia's baseball team. But the reality is that African-American involvement with baseball has been declining for years. When given the choice, Pat White decided to play football - the choice more and more uber-talented athletes of any color are making. -A recent New York Post article notwithstanding, don't expect the Big East to be adding Army or Navy as "limited" football partners anytime soon. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese did admit that conversations took place between the Big East and the service academies - two years ago. In truth, it never seemed like something Army or Navy would be all that excited about; both institutions have actually been looking to "schedule down" in recent years. The Black Knights, for example, only have two BCS opponents on their 2008 slate. It seems unlikely they'd want to add four more. -The award for "Best Quote" at Big East media day goes to USF head coach Jim Leavitt, referring to the departure of Rich Rodriguez from West Virginia and hiring of Bill Stewart: "He's (Stewart) got a great reputation, because he is who he is. He's a down-to-earth, good person, loves the game. ... The people who wonder on how he'll be (compared) with Rich are nuts. This guy's probably better than Rodriguez. I'm worried about him. We beat Rodriguez. We haven't gotten this guy. This guy worries me. I wish Rich would have stayed. But he didn't, so we'll have to go play Michigan now." I guess when you beat the Mountaineers twice in a row - both times when they were in the top-ten - you can get away with such smack. Somehow I don't think Greg Schiano (winless for his career against WVU) is as sad to see Rich-Rod leave. -Syracuse might not win many games in 2008, but they've got one thing going for them - quality eaters. Apparently, offensive lineman Ryan Durand downed seven lobsters during the Big East clambake, breaking the unofficial team record. What was shocking to note, though, is that former Rutgers running back Brian Leonard supposedly ate nine lobsters at this shindig a couple of years back. So let's get this straight: not only is Brian Leonard a team leader, good guy, Draddy Trophy winner and a first-day NFL draft pick - he can also eat whatever the heck he wants and still be in better shape than nearly every other human alive? That cannot possibly be fair. J.P. Girouard writes/blogs/whines incessantly about the Big East for CollegeFootballNews.com Archives: WVU Runs Away In Big East Media Poll Rutgers' Strange Stadium Bargain The Coach Who Stayed The Big East Manifesto Copyright © Scout.com and CollegeFootballNews.com | |