2009 College Football Preview: The Big East

With the college football season just weeks away, KSJ will look at the players, coaches, teams, conferences, issues, and rivalries. Here's the previous installments in the 2009 college football preview.

The Big East will continue to fight for national respect this season. And with West Virginia losing Pat White, they will continue the fight into the next off season.

But as we head into next season, the question will be which Big East team surprise? Three years ago it was Rutgers and Louisville. Two years ago it was Connecticut and South Florida. And last year it was Cincinnati. So could Pittsburgh be this year's surprise team? We will find out.

Also is this the year Rutgers crashes the BCS party? They have a favorable schedule, all their toughest opponents vistit them. If they can rebuild their passing game which is protected by a veteran offensive line, then they could be headed to the Orange Bowl.

You can look at every team in the Big East, expect for Louisville and Syracuse, and say they have a chance at a BCS bid. The Big East is full of parity and the BCS bid is up for grabs. It will be seen though who takes the most advantage of the situation. We have seen Big East teams before look exceptional at the beginning of the season, then fall apart down the stretch. While the Big East won't receive national attention, it will be one of the most exciting conferences in college football. What other conference can say that eight teams can compete for the conference championship?

Will He Earn His Paycheck?: Rich Rodriguez's departure from West Virginia last year was very controversial. Rodriguez had previously turned down the Alabama job and said he wouldn't leave West Virginia. Oops! Well you know the story about Rodriguez.

West Virginia though might have made the biggest blunder replacing Rodriguez. They hired Bill Stewart who just lead the Mountaineers to an emotional win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Stewart had previously been the Mountaineers tight ends coach and had previously been the head coach at VMI. But Stewart is not a natural leader that Rodriguez is. And the start of last season proved it.

West Virginia came into last season as a favorite to win the national championship. But they stumbled early losing to Colorado and East Carolina. If it wasn't for quarterback Pat White, West Virginia might not have finished the season 9-4. Well White has graduated and it's time for Stewart to earn his paycheck. He has to prove this season, that he deserves to be the West Virginia head coach.

The Mountaineer only return four starter on offense including dynamic running back Noel Devine. Senior Jarrett Brown takes over for White. Brown has started games in the past for a hurt White. West Virginia is looking to throw more in the spread offense, but that could be a problem because only one offensive lineman returns as a starter. Also the defense must replace five players, including two linebackers. If Stewart wants to prove he can be a head coach, this is the team he can prove it with.

Team That'll Surprise, Rutgers: They have a favorable schedule and return 13 starters. They will have to replace their quarterback and both receivers. But they return four running backs including Kordell Young and an experience offensive line. So while the quarterback and new receivers gel, the running game can take over games.

Team That'll Disappoint, South Florida: Remember a couple of seasons ago when South Florida jump all the way up to the 2nd ranking, then promptly lost four games? I'm sure you do. South Florida is the Clemson of the Big East. Every year we expect this team to do great things, but they somehow can't finish the season. They do return great players like Matt Grothe and George Selvie, but this team usually falls apart down the stretch. And I wouldn't be surprised if it happened again.

Big East Game of the Year, West Virginia at South Florida: No team in the Big East has better talent than both West Virginia and South Florida. Plus this game will be the barometer of how well these two teams will do in the 2nd half. This game will show if West Virginia has overcame the loss of Pat White and is South Florida safe from anther late season collapse.

Coach on the Hot Seat, Steve Kragthorpe-Louisville: When Kragthorpe was hired as the Cardinals coach, the team was just coming off an Orange Bowl win. Since then Kragthorpe and Louisville have gone 11-13 and have not appeared in a single bowl game. He cleaned house in the coaching department this off season trying to create a different vibe. And if that doesn't work, Kragthorpe could be updating his resume.

Coach of the Year: Greg Schiano, Rutgers

Offensive Player of the Year: Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati

Defensive Player of the Year: George Selvie, South Florida

Freshman of the Year: Logan Heastie, West Virginia

Heisman contenders: None

Conference Champions: Pittsburgh