Big East Football: 2008 Predictions

David Carter gives his predictions on the outcome of the Big East Conference, as well as the All-Big East first and second teams.

by Carter . (Columnist)

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Preview/Prediction

July 08, 2008

With the college football season almost here, I continue my look into every major conference and give my predictions. I continue with the Big East conference.

Here’s how I see it…

1. West Virginia

13-0, 7-0 in conference, wins Big East Championship, loses Fiesta Bowl to Oklahoma

2. South Florida

11-2, 6-1 in conference, defeats Wake Forest in Gator Bowl

3. Rutgers

11-2, 5-2 in conference, defeats Western Michigan in International Bowl

4. Pittsburgh

9-4, 4-3 in conference, defeats Kentucky in PapaJohns.com Bowl

5. Cincinnati

8-6, 3-4 in conference, loses to Oklahoma State in Texas Bowl

6. Connecticut

5-7, 2-5 in conference

7. Louisville

4-8, 1-6 in conference

8. Syracuse

2-10, 0-7 in conference

All-Big East First Team

Offense:

QB: Pat White (West Virginia)

RB: Noel Devine (West Virginia)

RB: LeSean McCoy (Pittsburgh)

WR: Oderick Turner (Pittsburgh)

WR: Tiquan Underwood (Rutgers)

TE: Steve Brouse (Connecticut)

C: Eric Wood (Louisville)

OL: George Bussey (Louisville)

OL: Trevor Canfield (Cincinnati)

OL: Greg Isdaner (West Virginia)

OL: Ryan Stanchek (West Virginia)

Defense:

DL: Terrill Byrd (Cincinnati)

DL: Earl Heyman (Louisville)

DL: Arthur Jones (Syracuse)

DL: George Selvie (South Florida)

LB: Tyrone McKenzie (South Florida)

LB: Scott McKillop (Pittsburgh)

LB: Reed Williams (West Virginia)

CB: Mike Mickens (Cincinnati)

CB: DeAngelo Smith (Cincinnati)

S: Nate Allen (South Florida)

S: Courtney Greene (Rutgers)

Special Teams:

K: Pat McAfee (West Virginia)

P: Max Suter (Syracuse)

KR: Kevin Huber (Cincinnati)

PR: Aaron Berry (Pittsburgh)

All-Big East Second Team

Offense:

QB: Matt Grothe (South Florida)

RB: Donald Brown (Connecticut)

RB: Mike Ford (South Florida)

WR: Kenny Britt (Rutgers)

WR: Mike Williams (Syracuse)

TE: Kevin Brock (Rutgers)

C: Mike Dent (West Virginia)

OL: Anthony Davis (Rutgers)

OL: Mike Hicks (Connecticut)

OL: Ryan Schmidt (South Florida)

OL: Joe Thomas (Pittsburgh)

Defense:

DL: Cody Brown (Connecticut)

DL: Maurice Mitchell (Louisville)

DL: Jamaal Westerman (Rutgers)

DL: Julius Williams (Connecticut)

LB: Jake Flaherty (Syracuse)

LB: Scott Lutrus (Connecticut)

LB: Ryan Manalac (Cincinnati)

CB: Darius Butler (Connecticut)

CB: Woodny Turenne (Louisville)

S: Quinton Andrews (West Virginia)

S: LaTarrius Thomas (Louisville)

Special Teams:

K: Conor Lee (Pittsburgh)

P: Rob Long (Syracuse)

KR: Jerome Murphy (South Florida)

PR: Marcus Edwards (South Florida)

Any questions, comments, or disagreements, or if you just would like to chat a little Big East Football? Feel free to drop a note or a comment!

Preview/Prediction

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comments (11) write a comment »

reply to comment by Matt
about 1 month ago

6. Connecticut (5-7, 2-5 in conference, loses to Miami (FL) in Meineke Car Care Bowl)

7. Louisville (4-8, 1-6 in conference, defeats Central Florida in St. Petersburg Bowl)

Carter, you need six wins to play in a college bowl game. I believe it is a requirement for NCAA bowl recognition.
reply to comment by Carter
about 1 month ago

There is no requirement for the number of wins in order to get into a bowl game. The Meineke Car Care Bowl is a game has the 6th place Big East team and another ACC team in it. Same for the St. Petersburg Bowl, this Bowl game has the #7 Big East team in it. There are 7 bowl games in which the Big East teams can participate in. A BCS Bowl game, the International Bowl, Gator Bowl, PapaJohns.com Bowl, Texas Bowl, Meineke Car Care Bowl, and the St. Petersburg Bowl.
1. by Jeff
  from about 1 month ago
  
  Carter, you're 100% wrong and 100% stupid. A team needs 6 wins against Division I-A opponents to be bowl-eligible.
  
  And the Big East is going to have THREE 11 win teams this year, huh? You need to back away from the crack pipe, son.
  
  I'm assuming you realized the error of your ways, because the article no longer has UConn or Louisville going to a bowl game.
2. by Jordan
  from about 1 month ago
  
  You have to have 6 wins to be eligible for a bowl invite. You can't go to a bowl with less than 6 wins.
reply to comment by Matt
about 1 month ago

Hum.... I'm not totally sold. I just read this article on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowl_eligible.

If you are correct it might make for an interesting article. But as the Wiki article explains, I've always thought that if a conference didn't have enough winning records to compete in a bowl that their spot would be lost. This is why fans speak of "Bowl eligibility." Without six wins you can't compete.
reply to comment by Paul
about 1 month ago

Bowl eligibility = minimum of 6 wins. While the Big East does have 7 bowl tie-ins, a team has to qualify to play. Last season, only 6 teams made the cut and only 5 of those teams got invited to play in a bowl game.

In regards to your predictions, if West Virginia does go undefeated, they'll most likely play in the BCS national championship. This year the game is being played at the same site as the Orange Bowl, Dolphin Stadium.
reply to comment by Brendan
about 1 month ago

I highly doubt the Internation Bowl would invite Rutgers for a 2nd consecutive season, and RU would not want to go to Toronto for the 2nd time in a year too.
I see WVU, RU and USF earning big time bowl invites and Pitt getting better.
Syracuse will not win a BE game.
reply to comment by Jameson
about 1 month ago

Mike Williams is academically ineligible to play this year. I would be really impressed if he was second team Big East. Can we fact check next time?
reply to comment by Adam
about 1 month ago

The debate over the amount of wins in dumb for any true fan to talk about. Of course you need to be at least .500 overall to even be considered for a bowl game.

Going to the actual predictions I would be stunned if WVU makes it through the season undefeated. They play Auburn out of conference and they are bound to slip up once in conference play. They need to travel to Pitt this year don't forget. They also have been beat two years in a row by USF.

Next if USF gets 2nd place there is no way the Gator Bowl takes them, just like last year.

You give Rutgers a lot of repsect for going undefeated out of conference. I don't know if that will really happen. If you're right though no way Rutgers goes back to Canada. If anything this year Rutgers has the best shots for gator (if they come in 2nd), Papajohns.com, or back to Houston for the Texas Bowl.

Other things I would change are Pitts predictions. I think they either finish in 2nd or 3rd this season. They have a good home schedule for BE play and have plenty of skill guys back.

For the All BE teams at the QB spots I expect Mike Teel to be either on first or second team if Rutgers can get to 10 or 11 wins.
reply to comment by Mike
11 days ago

Uconn will win/share the Big East Title and hopefully get a shot at a BCS Bowl Game. WVU will struggle a bit without Rich Rod. and Steve Slaton, but can possibly stay on top of thigs. UCONN 11-1 overall / 6-1 conference play
My UCONN SCHEDULE OUTCOME:
Hofstra 6 UCONN 55
UCONN 31 Temple 17
Virginia 20 UCONN 24
Baylor 10 UCONN 41
UCONN 28 Louisville 17
UCONN 42 North Carolina 13
UCONN 35 Rutgers 24
Cincinatti 10 UCONN 20
West Virginia 38 UCONN 24
UCONN 35 Syracuse 0
UCONN 31 South Florida 28 OT
Pittsburgh 15 UCONN 27
1. by Carter
  from 8 days ago
  
  lemme guess...youre a UConn fan?