Craig James (Yahoo!) on the Nuevo East Grande

[WoolyBully]

Big East: Proving ground

by Craig James, Yahoo! Sports

August 8, 2004

Editor's note: As part of Yahoo! Sports' preseason college football coverage, Craig James takes a look at the top conferences in the nation.

It has been well documented that Miami and Virginia Tech have left the  Big East for the more powerful ACC. And after this season, Boston College  will follow suit. So what does this mean for the Big East?

This is a critical season for the reputation of the conference.  Most fans, experts and coaches continue to say that the Big East is a  part of the "big picture," meaning the conference can still compete  with the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, Pac-10 and ACC.

I'll go along with this belief for now. But this is the year for  the conference to prove itself. Otherwise it will be looked at as being no stronger than the mid-level conferences.

What the Big East needs this season is for Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Boston College to step up. It's not going to be easy because all three have several question marks entering the season. And if the University

of Connecticut plays like some think it can, then a good Cinderella story might emerge.

Teams from the Big East will have plenty of chances to prove their worth this season. BC needs to beat Penn State and Notre Dame, and  Pitt needs to beat Notre Dame and Nebraska. Syracuse also has a chance

to step up with non-conference tilts with Purdue, Virginia and Florida State.

Now I'm not saying these three teams have to win all of these non-conference  challenges, but the conference needs to win more than they lose to remain  in contention. Otherwise, the Big East is no better than Conference USA,  the Mid-American or Mountain West.

Here's how I rank the conference as the teams get ready for the season:

1. West Virginia Mountaineers  

Rich Rodriguez has tons of energy and passion that spills over into  the locker room. His quarterback Rasheed Marshall will direct an  offense that has plenty of potential. On defense, Adam Jones, aka the

"Pac-Man," will lead his group. The Mountaineers have a key early  game against Maryland on September 18.

2. Boston College Eagles  

Late last season, Tom O'Brien put Paul Peterson in at quarterback  and things settled down nicely. Peterson needs to build on his late  success to run the offense. BC has three tough road games, but the  Eagles won five of six games away from home last season.

3. Syracuse Orange  

I feel like I'm taking a chance putting Syracuse this high, but  believe it's time for head coach Paul Pasqualoni and his players to  have a big season. The Orange lack experience, but the other Big East  schools also have their share of challenges. Syracuse has a good

running back in Walter Reyes to build around.

4. Pittsburgh Panthers    

Head coach Walt Harris should have been playing offseason golf with  Pasqualoni because they are in similar situations. Both really need  a quarterback. For Harris and Pitt, however, this is a year to show

that recruits can replace All-Americans. The Panthers need to prove  that last season's success was not a flash in the pan.

5. Connecticut Huskies  

I'm probably picking the Huskies lower than most experts but I want  to see how the team handles a full schedule of tough teams. Connecticut  should build around talented quarterback Dan Orlovsky.

The rest Rutgers and Temple round out the Big East. Rutgers really showed  signs of life last season behind a solid offense. And the Scarlet Knights

return plenty of experience on offense and defense. This should allow  them to compete week in and week out.

The Temple Owls will again challenge any and all, but should come  up short in most of their games.

[Markeymark]

Nuevo East Grande - sounds like some kind of new thing at Taco Bell.  8)