College Football Preseason Top 25: #23 Connecticut

After last season’s tragedy, can the Connecticut Huskies rebound with a big season in 2010? Al Dannity thinks a conference title is possible.

The schedule
While the Big East is often criticized for failing to schedule strong non-conference games, you can’t blame UConn for trying. A road game with Michigan used to be something to fear but the Huskies will have bigger fish to fry later in the season.

Vanderbilt may present some kind of challenge on October 2 but the first real challenge for UConn will come the following Friday when the Huskies travel to Rutgers. The two big players in the conference, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, visit Rentschler Field in November. While those two games will go a long way towards determining the conference title, don’t rule out the importance of UConn’s season-ending trip to South Florida. The Bulls have historically started well and imploded late in the season but new coach Skip Holtz should right the ship and give the Huskies a serious test in December.

The players
There will no shortage of motivation for UConn’s roster this year. The murder of cornerback Jasper Howard on campus scarred the team during the 2009 season and they lost the next three games after his death. The team rallied and recorded a famous victory over Notre Dame to end the season on a positive note. Howard’s memory will be honored before every UConn game this season and the veterans on this line-up will look to do their fallen teammate proud.

In all the Huskies return 19 starters, including kicker Dave Teggert. Running back Jordan Todman will have a lot of pressure on his shoulders following the departure of Andre Dixon but he will receive plenty of help from an offensive line that includes All-Big East and preseason All-American guard Zach Hurd.

On defense the front seven is stacked but UConn looks thin in the secondary. College Football betting fans should follow the performances of cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson and safety Jerome Junior closely.

The forecast
Unless Rich Rodriguez has a surprise waiting in Ann Arbor, I expect the Huskies to hold an undefeated record entering conference play. The road games with Rutgers and South Florida pose a greater challenge than the visits of higher rated opponents like Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. I like UConn to stay in the hunt up until the last day of the regular season. Much like the team of 2007, this is a group of players capable of earning a share of the Big East title but not necessarily capable of taking the conference crown outright. Whether that will be enough for a trip to the BCS depends on their head-to-head record. Either way I like the Huskies to win 10 games in 2010.