That concludes our journey through the Big East. We laughed, we cried, but most importantly, we learned that previewing the conference necessitates lots and lots of words and pictures.
In case you missed all the excitement here at FanHouse, here's the juice:
2006 Recap: Rutgers won 11 games and apparently experienced a brief epidemic of pandemonium;
Biggest Shoes to Fill: If you aren't Brian Leonard, Dan Mozes, Tyler Palko, Amobi Okoye, or Brent Celek, you have work to do;
Impact Freshman: Learn the names now so as to appear infinitely smarter to your friends;
Key Position Battles: It's like Jeopardy, except without Alex Trebek's smarmy answers;
Best Players: If Brent Musberger is doing a Big East game, you'll hear these names over, and over, and over . . .;
Two years ago this preview would have consisted of five words: "Rutgers stinks; take the over."
Spin ahead to today. There are actually more than five words necessary to preview the Scarlet Knights. In fact, many of the words are polysyllabic, which says more about Greg Schiano's job as head coach than his won-loss record. The big question, though, is whether this recent upturn marks sustained program development, or merely a moment of exponential growth that has already seen its zenith.
WHY THEY'LL WIN
Manifest Destiny.
As each day passes it is becoming more apparent that Scarlet Knights fans view Greg Schiano as John Winthrop and Rutgers Stadium as the city upon a hill. To not assume Rutgers will stand victorious -- at least to those in Central New Jersey -- is to chastise fate.
Philosophical fallacies aside, the true reason for Rutgers' impending success in 2007 is the Scarlet Knights criminally easy schedule. Featuring the likes of Norfolk State, Army, Navy, and Buffalo, even the Terry Shea-era of Rutgers football could conceivably finish around the .500 mark.
But this isn't the Terry Shea era down on The Banks. This is the Greg Schiano era. "Choppin' Wood" is in, along with actual talent. Ray Rice is a legitimate Heisman candidate, and the defense features studs such as Eric Foster and Courtney Greene.
South Florida is the kind of football success story that other 1-AA programs dream of emulating. As is (and will be) oft repeated, this is only year 10 of USF Bulls football -- 1-A and 1-AA. Yet, they are now poised to be a top-25 teams with pundits falling over themselves to declare USF the next quality program in Florida. They are the 3d or 4th best team in the Big East this season. Ultimately slotted 4th (or more like 3B).
WHY THEY'LL WIN
The Bulls return 16 starters this season, with 9 on offense -- including their entire offensive line. There's a lot of experience on the team and that's supplemented with incoming talent that has been improving as USF keeps notching wins and raising their profile.
As a freshman, QB Matt Grothe started right away out of necessity and improved nearly every game. He completed almost 64% of his passes and was also the teams leading rusher. He was forced to do everything on the offense. This year, he's got receivers who are healthy. Most importantly, it would appear that he has a quality running back in Mike Ford -- not to mention good competition at the spot.
On defense, they return all but one player from their defensive line and have one of the best secondaries in the country. Seniors Mike Jenkins and Trae Williams may be one of the best pair of corners around. Definitely the best in the Big East.
West Virginia and coach Rich Rodriguez have been building over the past seven years from a team that went 3-8 in 2001 to two top 10 pre-season rankings last year and this. Like the building of this program, the offense has been building to one of the most dominant rushing and scoring offenses in the country. But with a defense that has been suspect, the team has not been able to make it over the hump and get to the national championship. Will the defense finally come together and make this a truly dominant team? That's what we'll be looking to find out this year and right now as we take a look at our second ranked Big East team, the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Why They'll Win
Any conversation about why the Mountaineers will win in '07 starts and ends with Pat White and Steve Slaton. Call them what you want, the dynamic duo, etc., they are the best one-two rushing combination in the country. If you're good, you can take one of them away, but not both.
White and Slaton are joined in the backfield by bruising fullback, Owen Schmitt. Who if you don't keep an eye on him, will be running down the middle of the field on a draw play, looking to take some poor defensive backs head off. And after you've been beaten and bruised by those three, slot receiver Darius Reynaud will show you that he is just as good in open space with the ball as anyone on the team on a reverse or wide receiver screen.
Despite the departure of offensive line coach Rick Trickett, the line returns three starters and should be more than adequate to create holes for the backs. And junior place kicker Pat McAfee returns after making 17 of 22 field goals and all 62 extra point attempts.
It's well over a week and a half into training camp. Many expected key position battles have sorted themselves or been quickly resolved (QB for Pitt and UConn and RB at Louisville). There are still plenty of questions remaining.
1. South Florida Running Back
The Bulls need an another offensive weapon to take some of the pressure off of QB Matt Grothe who was also the leading rusher last season. Last year, the team could not find a replacement for Andre Hall. Injuries and suspension put Ben Williams -- a walk-on as the starter last year.
Former Alabama recruit Mike Ford sat out last year, after not qualifying academically at Alabama. He was presumed to win the job. Williams, to his credit, has worked hard and is still the incumbent. Add in Moise Plancher -- who is coming back from an ACL tear in his right knee -- and Ricky Ponton who was suspended half of last season. Suddenly it is a crowded backfield and no RB has shined over the others so far in training camp.
USF is a popular pick to make the leap this season into being a regular feature in the top-25, but if they can't figure out the depth chart for running back quickly it will quickly revert back to the Matt Grothe show on offense. This year, though, there is no surprise and an early game at Auburn could become a painful night for Grothe.
With Syracuse and Connecticut occupying the worst two seats at the Big East Bonanza, somebody needs to sit in between the kitchen door and the dais.
This is not to say that either of the following two universities cannot move from their seats on the floor to positions of honor. Recent history has shown that the Big East hierarchy is fluid in nature. 2006 saw Rutgers move from its position as a predictory "mediocre" team to one of the conferences "contenders"; similarly, Cincinnati moved from the "dregs" to the class of "mediocre."
Pittsburgh Panthers
Last year: 6-6 overall; 2-5 Big East
WHY THEY'LL WIN: The Wannstache has been stockpiling the Panther talent cupboard for almost three years now. At some point, all that potential will start paying dividends. 2007 may not see an explosion of contributions from the young talent, but it should see a steady rise of talented play.
Even if Pittsburgh's corps of youth does not immediately raise the Panther's level of play, the schedule should not turn into a Murderer's Row. Having to play at Louisville, Rutgers, and West Virginia is harrowing, but Pittsburgh should be able to accumulate a nice cache of wins in its first seven contests -- Eastern Michigan, Grambling State, at Michigan State, Connecticut, at Virginia, Navy, and Cincinnati. The Panthers should get at least four to five wins from that group and manageable home contests against Syracuse and South Florida may make Pittsburgh bowl eligible.
In addition to the offensive line play, the loss of Derek Kinder may hamper Pittsburgh's success. One man a team does not make, but Kinder put together tangible production and senior leadership. No matter how good Oderick Turner is, he does not bring to the table Kinder's total package.
PROGNOSIS: Expect Pittsburgh to improve from 2006, even though the Panthers will finally feature a non-Palko under center. The conference record may look ugly, but overall the Panthers should string together six victories.
In the Big East, being one of the Dregs is not a good thing. Not at all. It means that your team is at the bottom of a conference that was left for dead two years ago. And that the prospects of that changing anytime soon are not good. It also means that your coach is probably spending as much time working on his resume as he is the game plan. Because the Big East is such a small conference we're going to take a look at the two teams we are projecting to finish at the bottom of the conference.
UConn Huskies
Last Year: 4-8 overall, 1-6 Big East
Why They'll Win: First off, a look at the schedule shows that UConn starts the season off with Duke, Maine, and Temple before a visit to Pitt. Then a home game against Akron. So the Huskies should be at least 4-1 by the time they get into the meat of the Big East schedule. Also, the starting quarterback this year will not be one of the starting quarterbacks from last year. Junior college transfer Tyler Lorenzen has already been named the starting quarterback to open the season. That he only enrolled at UConn in January should tell you all you need to know about the state of the Husky quarterback position. They also have an emerging start at the running back position in Donald Brown.
Why They'll Lose: The Huskies finished seventh in total defense last year, and sixth in total offense. That might sound good until I remind you that the Big East only has eight teams. Outside of Donald Brown they have absolutely no game breakers. They only return one starter on the offensive line, but that might not be a bad thing. The defense only returns one starter on the line and six overall.
Prognosis: This team will be lucky if it finishes at .500. The schedule is going to be murder for them during the final seven games. And with a two deep roster that is mainly filled with freshman ans sophomores, the wheels could come off real quick. Look for 4-6 wins in 2007.
This essay focuses on some schedule aspects that have not been considered previously. Its sexiness is unquestioned.
Game of Endless Pointlessness
Who: Norfolk State at Rutgers
When: September 15, 2007
Watchability: I'd rather drink gasoline.
I do not care how bad Rutgers was before the Schiano Revolution; playing Norfolk State is unforgivable. In the last two seasons, the Spartans have accumulated all of eight wins against 14 losses. And the team hasn't even improved its winning percentage during that period (Norfolk State has put together consecutive 4-7 campaigns).
Even Mike Teel -- he of a 13-12 touchdown to interception ratio -- should look like an NFL lock against the Spartans.
This sort of thing always gets fans worked up. This isn't about whether the player is good or not -- they are or the issue wouldn't be up for debate about whether they are overrated. The issue is that they aren't nearly as good as the hype around them or the superlatives used to talk about them in puff pieces.
1. Mario Urrutia, WR, Louisville
If we were talking about the NFL draft, there is no doubt that Urrutia would be the second player taken from the Louisville team. Physically there is no question. 6' 6", 225 pounds or so. An athlete with the body of the prototypical playmaking NFL wide receiver. He has tremendous potential.
What puts him at the top of the list in the conference is his desire and focus. He suffers in comparison to his teammate Harry Douglas who is willing to go over the middle and hang on to passes. Who plays a lot harder, blocks downfield and has his head in every play.
Urrutia doesn't want like to go over the middle and shies away from contact. He can be intimidated by a physical corner. He has shown lapses in concentration and can be taken out of the game.
With all the recent success of the Big East, and five teams that went to and won bowl games last year, there isn't a lot of need for Big East coaches to worry about their jobs. There are two new coaches in the conference this year, Brian Kelly at Cincinnati and Steve Kragthorpe at Louisville. So their jobs are safe barring the unexpected. But like every other conference in college football, someone has to be the door mat. And every door mat has to have a fall guy.
Coaches Sitting on Blocks of Ice:
Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia- Expectations are high this year like last year, but with the relatively easy schedule and a ton of talent back, he shouldn't even think about losing his job.
Greg Schiano, Rutgers- The best season in school history to go along with the schools first bowl victory. Again, nothing to worry about.
Jim Leavitt, South Florida- Wins over Louisville in 2005 and West Virginia in 2006 to go along with two winning seasons and two bowl appearances since joining the Big East. It might be hot in Florida, but not where Jim is sitting.
Coaches on the Luke Warm Seat:
Dave Wannstedt, Pitt- I don't think he is in any trouble of losing his job after this year, no matter what the outcome. But if he follows up 5-6 and 6-6 with two more like seasons it could be curtains for Dave. The talent is there. Pitt has had great recruiting class after great recruiting class since Wannstedt arrived. It should start to show up on the field this year and continue to improve next year. If not, you'll be reading about Wannstedt in the same vein as the guys after the jump.
That concludes our journey through the Big East. We laughed, we cried, but most importantly, we learned that previewing the conference necessitates lots and lots of words and pictures.
Manifest Destiny. 
The Bulls return 16 starters this season, with 9 on offense -- including their entire offensive line. There's a lot of experience on the team and that's supplemented with incoming talent that has been improving as USF keeps notching wins and raising their profile.
Any conversation about why the Mountaineers will win in '07 starts and ends with Pat White and Steve Slaton. Call them what you want, the dynamic duo, etc., they are the best one-two rushing combination in the country. If you're good, you can take one of them away, but not both. 
The Bulls need an another offensive weapon to take some of the pressure off of QB Matt Grothe who was also the leading rusher last season. Last year, the team could not find a replacement for Andre Hall. Injuries and suspension put Ben Williams -- a walk-on as the starter last year. 
Last year: 6-6 overall; 2-5 Big East
Why They'll Win: First off, a look at the schedule shows that UConn starts the season off with Duke, Maine, and Temple before a visit to Pitt. Then a home game against Akron. So the Huskies should be at least 4-1 by the time they get into the meat of the Big East schedule. Also, the starting quarterback this year will not be one of the starting quarterbacks from last year. Junior college transfer Tyler Lorenzen has already been named the starting quarterback to open the season. That he only enrolled at UConn in January should tell you all you need to know about the state of the Husky quarterback position. They also have an emerging start at the running back position in Donald Brown. 
Who: Norfolk State at Rutgers
If we were talking about the NFL draft, there is no doubt that Urrutia would be the second player taken from the Louisville team. Physically there is no question. 6' 6", 225 pounds or so. An athlete with the body of the prototypical playmaking NFL wide receiver. He has tremendous potential.
With all the recent success of the Big East, and five teams that went to and won bowl games last year, there isn't a lot of need for Big East coaches to worry about their jobs. There are two new coaches in the conference this year, Brian Kelly at Cincinnati and Steve Kragthorpe at Louisville. So their jobs are safe barring the unexpected. But like every other conference in college football, someone has to be the door mat. And every door mat has to have a fall guy. 
