Big East Openers: Cupcakes, Appetizers, and One Full Entree

College football is upon us and with it comes this public service announcement to give a quick look at what's happening with the Big East teams this Labor Day weekend. For your tailgate dining satisfaction, we present appetizers, cupcakes and one all-you-can eat special:

Cincinnati at Rutgers—You can almost forget the rest of these games. This one is the biggie, this is the six-pound challenge, the monster steak! You have the defending Big East champion, Cincinnati, taking on perhaps the preseason Big East favorite, Rutgers. This is a 4 p.m. Labor Day game on ESPN and it is certainly worthy of the watch. The Bearcats have quarterback Tony Pike to lead their offense but have a defense stripped by graduation, a new D-coordinator and a new three-four allignment.

Edge in this one goes to Rutgers. Winner of this game sets itself up as the early favorite for the conference title.

Minnesota at Syracuse—There are no cupcakes when you're Syracuse. This is a solid entree against a Big Ten team. It's a noon start on ESPN2 on Saturday and it's a point of curiosity with the debut of former Duke point guard Greg Paulus at quarterback for the Orange. It's coach Doug Marrone's debut but the Orange has a long way to go to get where it used to be.

Edge in this one goes to the Golden Gophers.

Youngstown State at Pittsburgh—Should be a cupcake for Pitt. The Panthers are one of four teams mentioned in the Big East race and they need to come out and establish that in their (1 p.m.) opener at home. Pitt's defense will be too much for Youngstown State to overcome.

Big edge to Pittsburgh.

Connecticut at Ohio—Someone needs to tell the Big East that this is a road game for UConn. UConn's schedule and virtually everyone else's has this game at Ohio U. The Big East site has it at UConn. UConn has done some offensive revamping and has lost star players to the NFL like Donnie Brown. This still ranks as an appetizer for the Huskies.

Edge to UConn.

Liberty at West Virginia—The West Virginia booster club has more members than Liberty has students. At home, this noon start should be a true cupcake for the Mountaineers. Don't let anyone tell us how tough Liberty can be. Sure, Liberty won something called the Big South conference and was 10-2 last season. But if West Virginia doesn't win by more than three touchdowns, the hilly-billies can burn their couches early this year. This is a classic mismatch. Noel Devine should get at least 200 rushing yards.

Big edge to West Virginia.

Wofford at South Florida—USF opens this season flying under the Big East radar. They have disappointed fans and predictors the past two seasons and no one knows quite what to expect from Jim Leavitt's 2009 team. New offensive coordinator Mike Canales will improve his unit and Joe Tresey, who came from Cincinnati, will have a strong defense on the field. Wofford went 9-3 in the Southern Conference last season but will have problems in Tampa Saturday night (7 p.m.). This is a very light appetizer for the Bulls.

Big edge to USF.

Indiana State at Louisville—How about two cupcakes with that Papa John's Pizza? Louisville is rebuilding and Indiana State went 0-12 last season. Is this cupcake vs. cupcake? Sounds like it. Home field advantage to the Pizza cupcake.

Slight edge to Louisville.

There you have it, your complete Big East menu for this week.

Enjoy.