College Football Big East Preview: Pitt Leads a Crowded Field

The Big East promises to be a rollercoaster ride for College Football fans in 2010 according to Al Dannity.

Six legitimate contenders
There isn’t a conference, major, mid-major, or minor, which can claim to be as competitive as the Big East. Six teams, three quarters of the conference, have a legitimate shot at winning the Big East Championship in 2010. West Virginia looks to have fully adjusted to life without Pat White and tied for second last season. Rutgers is a tough team to read. Every season they have a tendency to win one game they should lose and lose one game they should win. South Florida has no shortage of talent and has a new coach, Skip Holtz, who brought success to East Carolina.

Then there are the three teams that made the Sports Interaction Top 25. UConn brings back 19 starters from the team that went 3-4 in conference play but finished strongly in 2009. Cincinnati was perfect in 2009 and has a coach, Butch Jones, who is used to building on the success of predecessor Brian Kelly. Jones previously replaced Kelly at Central Michigan, leading the Chippewas to two MAC titles in three seasons. Finally there’s Pittsburgh, a school that has been knocking on the door for several years and was just one point away from a share of the conference title last season.

Plenty of star power
Pittsburgh running back Dion Lewis is a Heisman contender in just his sophomore season. There are concerns that Panthers coach Dave Wannstedt may lean too much on the running back but College Football betting fans should be in for a treat whenever Lewis touches the ball.

Noel Devine of West Virginia is a phenomenal threat out of the backfield. Having started life as a Mountaineer playing alongside Pat White and Steve Slaton, Devine is now a star in his own right and poised for a big year. The conference also features some promising young quarterbacks in Zach Collaros of Cincinnati, South Florida’s B.J. Daniels and Tom Savage of Rutgers. There are plenty of potential NFL talents on defense too with Pitt’s Greg Romeus and Lawrence Wilson of Connecticut as stand-out talents.

The final shake-up
There are six teams in the Big East that could go 5-2 depending on how the year goes but only the Huskies, Bearcats, and Panthers look capable of doing any better than that in 2010. Connecticut’s rise is the big story entering the 2010 season. This team has some pedigree, having earned a share of the Big East title in 2007, but I don’t like the Huskies to go all the way in 2010.Cincinnati remains a talented outfit but it rode its luck in several games last season and I can’t see it winning as many close games this year. That leaves Pittsburgh, a far from perfect team but one with the talent to beat opponents in tough games. Take the Pittsburgh Panthers at +250 with Sports Interaction to win the Big East.