Top Dogs
July 29, 2008 10:27 AM | General
July 29, 2008
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| Bill Stewart talks to reporters during Tuesday's Big East media day in Newport, R.I.
AP photo |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – New coach, same circumstances. West Virginia is once again the team everyone is chasing in the Big East Conference. Today, the Mountaineers received 22 out of a possible 24 first-place votes to finish with 189 points in the poll of media representatives from each of the eight Big East markets. Following West Virginia, the media picked USF to finish second and Pitt to place third.
Fourth-place Rutgers is followed by Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville and Syracuse to round out the preseason picks.
“When we began reorganizing one of the things I talked about was one of our strengths was going to be balance and competitiveness,” said Big East commissioner Michael Tranghese. “As I look back over the last three years, we have yet to have a team get through this league undefeated. It has been very difficult and it is going to continue to be very difficult.”
This marks the third straight year West Virginia has been picked to win the Big East and the fourth time since 2004. The Mountaineers have either won outright or claimed a share of three of the last four Big East titles, including trips to the Nokia Sugar Bowl in 2006 and the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in 2008.
West Virginia has the returning Big East offensive player of the year in quarterback Pat White and its 2007 offensive line intact for first-year head coach Bill Stewart, whose 1-0 record for the Mountaineers includes a 48-28 victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.
USF earned one first-place vote after posting a 9-4 record last year and a trip to the Sun Bowl. The Bulls climbed to as high as No. 2 in the polls last year after its upset victory over West Virginia and veteran coach Jim Leavitt has 17 starters returning, including consensus All-America defensive end George Selvie.
Pitt had a 5-7 record last year but got a big boost with its 13-9 upset victory over West Virginia in Morgantown that knocked the Mountaineers out of the national title picture. Fourth-year coach Dave Wannstedt is looking to finally get over the .500 mark with a veteran Panther team that returns 15 starters from a year ago.
Rutgers is coming off back-to-back bowl victories for the first time in school history. The Scarlet Knights posted an 8-5 record last year and have 16 starters returning from that team led by quarterback Mike Teel.
Cincinnati last year had its first 10-win season since 1951 and is picked fifth by the media. The Bearcats have the best secondary in the conference and boast 12 returning starters from last year’s team that finished ranked 17th in the country.
Connecticut made a big jump last year, posting a 9-4 record and tying West Virginia for the Big East title with a 5-2 conference record. The Huskies have 19 starters coming back from last year’s team including second-team all-conference running back Andre Dixon.
Three years ago Louisville was picked to win the Big East in 2005. A year later the Cardinals did it in 2006. Today, Louisville is rebuilding under second-year coach Steve Kragthorpe who has had to clean up the mess left when Bobby Petrino left after the 2007 Orange Bowl. The Cardinals finished 2007 with a 6-6 record and will be breaking in a new quarterback, Hunter Cantwell, who takes over for record-breaking Brian Brohm.
Syracuse finished eighth in the preseason balloting. The Orange produced a 2-10 record last year and Coach Greg Robinson has 13 starters returning including quarterback Andrew Robinson.
