Big East Expansion: Power Ranking the Teams of the 'New' Big East

Whether it’s at the end of this year or 27 months down the road, the Big East will be looking a lot different than it does right now.

Pittsburgh, Syracuse and West Virginia are all leaving and TCU never even played a game before getting snatched up by the Big 12.

It is expected that the conference will invite Boise State, Navy, Air Force, Houston, SMU and Central Florida to join.

So who will reign supreme once all of those teams come together in 2012?

Connecticut

Now that Randy Edsall is gone, the Huskies really don’t have much of a leg to stand on in football. Lyle McCombs could develop into a solid running back, but Connecticut ranks 106th in the country in pass defense.

Houston

You can’t just replace players like Case Keenum, Bryce Beall, Tyron Carrier and Patrick Edwards overnight. This team is predicated on offense, offense and more offense so they are going to take a serious hit without their senior stalwarts.

Air Force

Running back Asher Clark and quarterback Tim Jefferson will be gone after this year and without them, this team could really struggle offensively. Coordinator Tim DeRuyter was the heart and soul of this defense and now that he’s at Texas A&M, they’ve fallen by the wayside. Expect that to continue.

Navy

The Midshipmen were 9-4 last season but have lost their last six games this season. The transition of quarterbacks from Ricky Dobbs to Kriss Proctor has not gone as smoothly as people would have hoped but the defense is what has really let the team down. They are giving up 33 points a game.

South Florida

A win over Notre Dame looked promising to start the season, but the Bulls have fallen by the wayside. Quarterback B.J. Daniels is their entire offense and their big play defensive lineman is a senior.

Cincinnati

So far this season the Bearcats have only lost one game, but they were dominated by Tennessee. Additionally, do it all quarterback Zach Collaros will be leaving as will three of their best defenders and their star running back Isaiah Pead. It should be a rough 2012 for Cincinnati.

SMU

June Jones has resurrected this program but it still has a ways to go. They return running back Zach Line and top tackler Taylor Reed but lose their quarterback and leading sack artist. This team also has trouble on the road, losing three of four, scoring 14 or less points in those games and sending the fourth into overtime.

Central Florida

UCF showed a lot of promise last year but this year the Knights have fallen completely flat with an embarrassing loss to UAB. This team has lost every road game they’ve played in so even though they return most of their talent, it’s hard to say this team will be any better next year.

Rutgers

With Mohammed Sanu only being a junior, Rutgers still has an offense. And with Greg Schiano as head coach, their defense should be pretty good too. They lose one of their best defensive linemen in Justin Francis but their three losses are by a combined 14 points. The biggest problem for this team is doing well on the road, where they’ve lost 2 games and sent another into double overtime.

Louisville

The Cardinals are certainly headed in the right direction under Charlie Strong but again, the problems on the road loom large. They are 1-2 on the road but have Teddy Bridgewater and most of their defense returning next season.

Boise State

The Broncos get the top spot here not because of returning talent—they don’t have much of it for next season—but because they know how to win. Chris Petersen is an amazing coach and his team should do no worse than four wins which was enough to send Connecticut to the Fiesta Bowl last season. Boise State should once again win their conference.