Big East Spring Preview 2006

[Apis Bull]

Spring Preview 2006

Spring Storylines ... Big East

By Pete Fiutak  

1.  November 2nd. West Virginia at Louisville. That's all that matters, right?

Maybe not. The Big East was lousy last year outside of Louisville and West Virginia, so the common perception going into the season will be that the Big Two will be the only ones with an honest shot of winning the crown and taking the BCS spot. While the Cardinals and Mountaineers are the league's two best teams, they're not so loaded that they can't be tagged by one of the up-and-coming Big Easters. South Florida, Connecticut and Pittsburgh have enough returning talent to make a run, while Rutgers should have the offensive firepower to hang punch-for-punch with the Cardinals.

Louisville has to be worried about a repeat of the South Florida fiasco of last year at Rutgers on a nationally televised Thursday night game the week after the showdown with the Mountaineers. There's also a road trip to Pittsburgh that could throw a wrench into BCS plans. West Virginia has three dangerous Big East road games playing at UConn, Louisville and Pitt. In other words, there might be a slight opening for someone else to slip in and at least tie for the title.

2. While the Big East lost big-time in the expansion exchange ...  

... it helped itself out in a big way getting Louisville and South Florida. Cincinnati, in time, should also be a nice addition. The loss of Virginia Tech, Boston College and Miami over the last few years knocked the Big East out of any consideration for elite conference status, but that doesn't mean this can't a more competitive league and far better over the next few years. If Greg Robinson can turn things around at Syracuse, Greg Schiano can keep improving Rutgers, Dave Wannstedt can make Pitt a power after a down year, South Florida can keep getting its share of good in-state talent, Randy Edsall can keep Connecticut on its path, and Louisville and West Virginia can stay strong, this has the potential to be one whale of a league in the near future. It might not be there yet, but its not down with the non-BCS leagues anymore. The key for the league's future might be to get so good that it can reel in the really big fish ...

3. What can the Big East do to get Notre Dame?

Nothing. Notre Dame is unattainable with its sweetheart of a TV and BCS deal. However, the Big East would be foolish to not look into expansion possibilities to expand from its current eight-team configuration to get to become a 12-team league able to reap the rewards of a two-division format along with a conference championship game. Unfortunately, there aren't four realistically available teams out there who could raise the overall cachet of the league. Maybe Army and Navy because of their national fan bases. UCF might be a nice fit for a natural rivalry made to order with South Florida. Maybe Marshall or East Carolina from Conference USA. Maybe Memphis or Southern Miss, but that would really start to stretch the geographic boundaries. In any event, expect expansion to become more and more of an issue over the next few years.

4. The offensive star power

Considering the Big East only has eight teams, it'll have tremendous national star power to promote. The league takes a back seat to no one when it comes to top running backs with the return of Louisville's Michael Bush, West Virginia's Steve Slaton, Connecticut's Terry Caulley Rutgers' Brian Leonard and Ray Rice and Cincinnati's Bradley Glatthaar. That doesn't even get into Louisville backup George Stipling and all the good Pittsburgh prospects. Louisville QB Brian Brohm is a legitimate Heisman contender, but West Virginia's Pat White could be the league's best quarterback and Pitt's Tyler Palko has the potential to be an All-Big East performer. Rutgers has a fearsome receiving corps coming back, while Louisville's Mario Urrutia is on the verge of national stardom. In other words, expect lots of fireworks.

5. How long can they hang on?

It's one of the inevitable byproducts of college football success. When you win, someone is going to want your head coach. Louisville and West Virginia might be powerful programs, but that doesn't mean it won't be hard to keep their rising star leaders around for much longer. Cardinal head coach Bobby Petrino has had one foot out the door since taking the job, but he keeps turning down other gigs and says he's happy where he's at. Maybe, but it would've been interesting to have seen what would've happened if anyone but Al Davis had come calling from the NFL. West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez has been around for five years and hasn't shown any interest in moving on elsewhere, but that could quickly change with one more BCS season. He might be under contract until 2009, but as we all know, that doesn't always mean much if some NFL team waves a multi-bazillion dollar offer. Sure, it's possible that these two young stars will be Big East lifers. And Notre Dame might join the conference in 2007.

Spring Preview 2006