Going Out On A Limb: Big East Edition
By Kyle Kensing
Recent precedent has proven that there really isn’t much going out on a limb when it comes to the Big East. In 2006, the historically awful Rutgers program flirted with playing for the BCS. Not a BCS bowl, mind you, but the whole freakin’ shebang. West Virginia and Louisville actually did likewise, the former twice. The Mountaineers lost on the final day of the regular season to a sub-.500 Pitt team, providing further evidence that there isn’t much going on a limb with this league.
Just how good the conference was for a time there in the mid-Aughties has been forgotten or neglected, the memories replaced by ESPN’s rhetoric. Of course, the Big East’s level of play has depreciated considerably. UConn became the first unranked BCS qualifier — again, there really isn’t too narrow a limb to go out on when talking about the Big East.
Unless, of course, you suggest one of its members will play for the crystal ball.
A Big East Team Finishes 12-0 & Plays for the BCS Championship by Default
The two sweetest words in the English language, dee-fault could feasible send a Big East team to the BCS title game for the first time since Miami called the conference home. Cincinnati went unbeaten in 2009, but was one of five teams to do so. That’s proven to be a far greater anomaly than several teams from the six BCS leagues losing at least once.
Obviously, one must start with the Big East’s presumptive favorites to find a potential unbeaten. Phil Steele tabbed USF for Big East supremacy this season, though the most accurate preseason prognasticator has frequently been wrong when it comes to the Bulls. USF must prove its capable of holding up late in the season, which past Bull teams have failed to. Last season’s meltdown began earlier than normal, beginning with a Thursday night blowout loss at Pitt and tail spinning from there.
But USF must start strong for finishing strong to matter. The Bulls take the longest continental trip of any team in the nation when they visit Nevada in Week 2. USF also hosts BCS title contender FSU in September’s final week.
Rutgers is a team to watch in the Big East championship race, returning key pieces like Duron Harmon on defense and featuring a group of talented running backs that should produce. RU also faces the single most arduous non-conference tilt of any team in the league when it travels to Arkansas. That presents a monumental hurdle for Kyle Flood’s Scarlet Knights to climb.
Louisville is the best candidate. The non-conference slate features contests against North Carolina and FIU, both of which beat UL a season ago. However, both losses came before the switch at offensive coordinator. A more mature Teddy Bridgewater gives the Cardinal offense the pop to back a stout defense lacking last year. UL faces a treacherous three-game stretch on the road early on, drawing the Golden Panthers, Southern Miss and the conference opener against Pitt all consecutively.
Should Charlie Strong’s guys brave that run, the Cardinals will be in prime position to run the table by the final week’s clash at Rutgers.
Temple Contends for the Big East Championship in its First…Er, First’ish Season
Replacing Bernard Pierce is no easy task, but it became a little bit more simple for Steve Addazio when Montel Harris transferred in. The former Boston College star joins lightning bug third down style back Matt Brown, and a dual threat quarterback who produced at last season’s end, Chris Coyer.
A well balanced rushing attack is precisely what Temple thrived on offensively last year, capitalizing on the stingy performance of its defense. Coordinator Chuck Heater has pieces to replace, including Stephen Johnson, Adrian Robinson and Tahir Whitehead but does retain key contributors Ahkeem Smith and Justin Gildea.
One area in which Temple faces challenge is playing an 11-game schedule, the result of joining the conference so late in the off-season. But the Owls do draw over half of their conference games at home, including 2011 co-champion Cincinnati and preseason front runners USF and Rutgers.
Rutgers Upsets Arkansas in Week 4 and John L. Smith is Run Out of Fayetteville
Arkansas is on the radar as a sleeper contender for the big prize, hosting both LSU and Alabama and featuring one of the nation’s premiere backfields, Tyler Wilson and Knile Davis. Those two SEC West showdowns would be rendered moot should the Hogs go down at home to a Big East opponent, even if it is a Rutgers bunch that went 9-4 last season.
OK, so this one’s far-fetched. The high powered Razorback offense shouldn’t miss a beat, even with Bobby Petrino spending the coming repairing his image instead of coaching. But nothing could have the Arkansas faithful lamenting Petrino’s firing quite like RU stymieing the uptempo attack. Imagine five star freshman Darius Hamilton bursting onto the collegiate scene with 2.5 sacks of Wilson, Harmon running back a pressured pass interception for a touchdown, Jawan Jamison replicating Trent Richardson’s performance against the Razorback defense a season ago, and…
Look, I’m out on a limb here, alright?