Big East Football Preview

The following is a Big East football preview that I wrote for blogcritics sports, which is a must read for any sports fan. I’ll be covering the conference throughout the year for their BC Tailgate feature.

With credibility no longer a concern, accountability becomes essential.

It took a 5-0 bowl record and three teams finishing in the top 12 last season for the Big East to justify itself as worthy of an automatic BCS bowl. In 2007, the expectations are clear: A team from this conference needs to play for the national championship. The question is who.

West Virginia and Louisville are clearly the class of the conference, maybe the nation. Both begin their season in the top 10, with the Mountaineers even receiving one of the three No. 1 votes the Associated Press didn’t award to USC. They’ll be led by the dominating quarterback/running back combo of Pat White and Steve Slaton. Both are legitimate Heisman candidates and will continue to put up monster numbers against a less than demanding schedule.

The Cardinals have the best overall offense in the league. Brian Brohm has a great chance at being the first quarterback taken in the NFL draft next April and he’s got a numbers of talented pass catchers at his disposal, including Harry Douglas who is probably one of the top three wideouts in the country.

One of last year’s feel good stories, Rutgers, is back with the best defense in the league and a Heisman-calibar tailback. The Scarlet Knights will probably be undefeated when they host West Virginia October 27. The major concern with this three team race for the title is chance that they’ll all knock each other off, the way they did last year. For a Big East team to play in the BCS title game, they’ll have to be unbeaten.

How they’ll finish
West Virginia
Louisville
Rutgers
Pittsburgh
South Florida
Cincinnati
UConn
Syracuse