2010 Big East Football Predictions

The Big East will be adding a few bowl games this season and also axing a few. The Gator, Sun and International bowls will all be axed, making room for the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando along with the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. The team that finishes No. 2 in the conference will be playing a team from the Big 12 in one of the most exciting new bowls in the country. There are several new coaches in the Big East this year with Butch Jones taking over at Cincinnati, Charlie Strong at Louisville and Skip Holtz at South Florida.

Below I give my 2010 Big East predictions offering the finishing order of each team, along with a small preview. I have already posted my 2010 college football predictions article which shows you the top ten teams in the land. It will give you the inside track on beating the NCAA football odds this season.

Big East Predictions:

1.) Pittsburgh – The Panthers own three of the best players in the conference in RB Dion Lewis, WR Jonathan Baldwin and DE Greg Romeus. With that kind of talent back, it’s hard to pick against Dave Wannstedt and his Panthers as he clearly has turned around this program.

2.) Connecticut – The Huskies went 8-5 last year, but all five of their losses came by 4 points or less. 8 starters return on both sides of the ball. The offense should be solid with QB Zach Frazier back to guide the ship, and RB Jordan Todman to carry the load after rushing for 1,188 yards and 14 touchdowns last year on an offense that scored 21.2 PPG. The defense gave up 23.6 PPG and should be solid as well.

3.) Cincinnati – Butch Jones knows how to coach up QB’s, as he has done with Dan LeFevour over the past few seasons at Central Michigan. Zach Collaros has a similar skill set as LeFevour, and the Bearcats shouldn’t be far off from the 38.6 PPG they scored a year ago. Only 5 starters are back defensively which will keep the Bearcats from winning this conference for a third straight year.

4.) West Virginia – 9 offensive and 9 defensive starters are back with the most returning experience in the conference. WVU will have to break in a new QB though, which is a serious concern because without a proven signal caller I’m not going to take them to finish higher than fourth in the Big East.

5.) Rutgers – The Scarlet Knights have made a bowl trip in five straight seasons, but their fans want more. QB Tom Savage earned Freshman All-American honors last season, but he’ll need help from a non-existent running game and an offensive line that could not get the job done a year ago. Both factors are concerning, but the defense is in good hands. 6 starters are back from a unit that gave up 17.9 PPG last year.

6.) South Florida – The Bulls lose 7 starters defensively, including DE’s George Selvie and Jason Pierre-Paul to the NFL. Skip Holtz will have his hands full in repairing this defense, but the offense should be fine behind QB P.J. Daniels and all 5 offensive linemen returning.

7.) Louisville – Charlie Strong was a great hire and should help improve the defense right away. The stop unit gave up 371.1 YPG and 26.3 PPG a year ago. But the biggest improvement must come offensively, where the Cardinals scored just 18.1 PPG last season. All 5 starters are back on the offensive line along with senior QB Adam Froman, WR Doug Beaumont and RB Victor Anderson so the potential is there to be much better.

8.) Syracuse – The Orange return just 4 starters offensively, so don’t expect much improvement this season under second-year head coach Doug Marrone. Their defense was respectable at 27.9 PPG allowed in 2009, but I don’t see enough talent on this team as a whole for Syracuse to improve on their 1-6 record in conference play last season.

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

• Big East Football Predictions 2010
• WAC Football Predictions 2010
• 2010 Sun Belt Football Predictions
• LSU Football Predictions 2010
• Pac-10 Football Predictions 2010

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