Big East Preview, Week 7

A mix of league and non-conference games make up the week for the Big East. A few more chances for teams to make statements, especially Rutgers. The Knights were left for dead by the media, but could be one step closer to the post season after Saturday. USF and Pitt also get the chance to get back on track, following terrible losses.

Last Week: 3-1

Overall: 29-11

Bye Week: Syracuse, West Virginia

Louisville at Cincinnati: The Bearcats are quietly putting together a good season. And this team is much more balanced than many people think. We know how good the offense is, but the story has been the defense. Cincy is 15th in the country in points against, and have only allowed over 14 points once. This is a fantastic matchup for the Bearcats, considering Louisville has one of the worst offenses in the nation. The Cardinals will have Will Stein back from injury, but Teddy Bridgewater is far from the problem. The offensive line continues to be shambolic, the play calling is a disaster, and the ground game just can't get going. This means the Louisville defense is going to have to keep them in the game...again. The Bearcats are just going to have too much in this matchup. Even with an outstanding performance by the Cards' D, the offense just isn't potent enough.

Prediction: 31-10 Cincinnati

South Florida at Connecticut: The Bulls have had two weeks to think about their terrible performance against Pitt. This should be a better team than what was seen that Thursday night. They now get a chance to turn the season around against the weakest team in the Big East. The Huskies are reeling, just giving up way too much in the pass game. UConn can run the ball, but just too much inexperience in the passing game makes them too one-dimensional. Look for the Bulls to stack the box, and force Johnny McEntee into 3rd and long situations. It's eventually what buried UConn last week. On the other side, look for B.J. Daniels to stay in the pocket a bit more than usual. The depleted Husky secondary will get rocked once again.

Prediction: 34-20 South Florida

Utah at Pittsburgh: The Panthers continue to be the bipolar team of the conference. They hammer South Florida, only to back it up with a dismal performance at Rutgers. Todd Graham just can't find an offense to stay consistent. His biggest problem has to be his quarterback. Tino Sunseri just can't figure out the new system, and it may be time to look behind him. Or, just give the ball to Ray Graham 50 times, especially against a struggling Utah team. Look for Pitt to run as much as possible to try to gain the momentum back. The Panthers' defense should also have success, considering the Utes lost their starting quarterback for the season. It's already been a struggle for Utah to score, and now losing Jordan Wynn is a big hit. Pitt will go after the quarterback all day long. Look for the Panthers to pull away in the second half.

Prediction: 29-14 Pittsburgh

Game of the Week: Navy at Rutgers: It's always a good time trying to stop the triple-option. The Knights get the task this weekend against Navy. Rutgers is proving a lot of people wrong this year with the fast start. Already 4-1, the Knights get a chance to show some people what they have against the Midshipmen. After a solid game against Pitt, Gary Nova will get the start at quarterback. His completion percentage needs to improve, and probably will against Navy. Look for the Knights' dynamic receivers to have a field day on Saturday. There's no doubt Rutgers will be able to move the ball, but will the defense be able to stop Navy? The Knights are only allowing 15 points per game, but haven't faced an offense like this. Navy will move the ball, but look for Rutgers to clamp down when the field shortens. The Middies have played opponents tough this year, so expect this game to be close. However, the Knights' receivers will be too much of a mismatch. Look for Nova to hit a couple big plays in the second half to pull away.

Prediction: 30-20 Rutgers

Big East Power Rankings, Week 6

1. West Virginia (5-1, 1-0 in conference): The defense and special teams rose to the occasion to bail out a slow starting offense against UConn. Next Step...Boring Bye Week

2. Cincinnati (4-1, 0-0): Looking to keep the momentum going from before the bye week. Next Step...Hosting a reeling Louisville.

3. South Florida (4-1, 0-1): Looking to rebound from a disappointing loss two weeks ago to Pittsburgh. Next Step...Roadie to UConn.

4. Rutgers (4-1, 2-0): The surpass team of the conference is coming off a dismantling of Pitt. Next Step...Getting ready to stop Navy's option.

5. Pittsburgh (3-3, 1-1): The Bipolar Panthers backed up a solid win over South Florida by not showing up against Rutgers. Next Step...Back to the drawing board against Utah.

6. Syracuse (4-2, 0-0): A solid first half against Tulane helped the Orange hold on for the win. Next Step...Still looking for a complete four quarters as they hit the bye week.

7. Louisville (2-3, 0-0): It's painful to watch this team on offense. This team needs to find some creativity. Next Step...Tough road game at Cincinnati.

8. Connecticut (2-4, 0-1): Mistakes and injuries are a bad combination. The Huskies are in full skid mode. Next Step...Tough home game against USF.

Rolling of the Conference Dice

Quick trivia question…how do you get umpteen thousands of WVU fans to sign up for that social media phenomenon called Twitter? Let them know that rumors of WVU to other conferences not called Big East run rampant on there.

You get all manners of stuff. People saying it’s a done deal…that have tweeted 4 times and have 3 followers. You get people posturing to have those new Tweeters follow them by writing incendiary articles pretending to be in the know…

I’m GUILTY. I’ve been doing that damned “WVU SEC” Twitter search for about 2 weeks straight now. I’ve been convinced that the dominoes were going to fall. And that by now, we’d be talking about our future opponents.

And we should start talking about our future opponents. Mainly Central Florida. And East Carolina. And Memphis. You have read all the articles. We don’t bring any TV sets to anything. We can try and rationalize it, but the facts are, we don’t. And it’s for that reason that we are here in the Big East for a while.

WVU will eventually get picked up by someone else. It’ll be during the race to get to 16 members per conference. Someone will jump first…then all the pieces will fall together. And WVU will end up somewhere.

Hell, that could even begin the process of setting up a playoff for college football. 4 super conferences. 3 more games a year. That would be exciting.

Enough with all the talk of academics and culture, as well. This has nothing to do with either. Any of that talk is just posturing. It’s all about the jingle.

The simple rub of it is that we need a new conference. And we will embrace you for taking us. But realize that soon after you add us, we will immediately start disliking you, and you will HATE to come and play in Morgantown, much like any other rival we’ve had over the years.

Patience friends. Patience. We’ll end up somewhere. But in the meantime…

“Under the terms of the agreements with the bowls and television rightsholder, the ACC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC will have annual automatic qualification for their champions for the 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.”

Should be 4 BCS berths for WVU in a row. That’ll be a lot fun. Let’s prove our worth.

-dookiestyle

Flying Dub-V Top 25, Week 6

Here is a look at this week's Flying Dub-V Top 25

1. LSU (6-0)

2. Alabama (6-0)

3. Oklahoma (6-0)

4. Wisconsin (5-0)

5. Oklahoma State (5-0)

6. Stanford (5-0)

7. Boise State (5-0)

8. Clemson (5-0)

9. Oregon (5-1)

10. Arkansas (5-1)

11. Georgia Tech (6-0)

12. Michigan (6-0)

13. West Virginia (5-1)

14. Nebraska (5-1)

15. South Carolina (5-1)

16. Kansas State (5-0)

17. Illinois (6-0)

18. Virginia Tech (5-1)

19. Arizona State (5-1)

20. Texas A&M (3-2)

21. Michigan State (4-1)

22. Baylor (4-1)

23. Auburn (4-2)

24. Houston (6-0)

25. Texas (4-1)

Former Mountaineers in the NFL, Week 5

Pat McAfee, P, Colts: Had five punts for a a 55 average, with one inside the 20 Sunday against Kansas City.

Corey McIntyre, FB, Bills: Started at fullback, and recorded one tackle in win over the Eagles. He was also banged up late in the game.

Ryan Mundy, FS, Steelers: It was a wild game for Mundy, who caught a pass from the punter on a fake for 33 yards. Also had five total tackles in Steelers' win over Tennessee.

Chris Neild, NT, Redskins: Bye Week for Washington.

Robert Sands, FS, Bengals: Inactive once again this week. Has yet to dress for Cincinnati this year.

Owen Schmitt, FB, Eagles: Didn't register an stats in Eagles' loss to the 49ers.

Steve Slaton, RB, Dolphins: Bye Week for Miami

Injuries:

PacMan Jones: PUP List

Brandon Hogan: PUP List

J.T. Thomas: Injured Reserve

Projecting the New Big East

So, maybe you're like me, and have already given up on the SEC and Big 12. You just know that WVU is forever stuck in the Big East, until superconferences take over the world. Well, if that's the case, it's time to try to figure out what the new Big East will look like. The conference would like to get 12 teams, which could give them a conference championship game, and possibly will help them keep the AQ status. So, what will the conference look like? Let's break it down.

The Returners:

Cincinnati

Connecticut

Louisville

Rutgers

South Florida

West Virginia

Assuming that none of these teams abandon ship (that's assuming a lot) it's not a bad core of teams. WVU is the flagship football program for the Big East, while the rest should stay competitive. Cincy, UConn, and Louisville have all been to BCS games, and South Florida and Rutgers have been NFL-producing machines. Again, could certainly be worse.

The Favorites:

Army

Air Force

Central Florida

Navy

Temple

I'm not a fan of bringing in the service academies. They have a good following, and are outstanding universities. However, going 6-6 every year with the best win being over Southern Miss just isn't really making you jump for joy. And, it does nothing for recruiting. In regards to UCF, I'm always a go for a Florida team. Plus, it would make for a solid rivalry for South Florida. Temple has really improved things since getting dumped from the Big East a few years back. And, the Philadelphia market is there for the taking.

The Possibilities:

East Carolina

Houston

Memphis

SMU

Villanova

I'm intrigued by Houston and SMU. The recruiting pipeline could always use Texas, and the Houston and Dallas markets would be solid. Both schools bring a fun version of football to the table, and could contain a level of competitiveness needed to keep AQ status. Memphis has been dying to get into the Big East since Louisville came in. Not a bad market, horrible football program...needs to improve. I'm mixed on Nova. If the conference was in better shape, then absolutely. However, this is a football program that is not sold on moving to the FBS level. The last thing the Big East needs is more insecurity. ECU has already applied to the Big East, just not sure if the conference cares.

The Long Shots:

Boise State

James Madison

The Broncos are the newest sexy pick for football-only. There is no denying the success that Boise has had recently. This team is constantly in the Top-10, and have a few BCS wins to their name. However, travel will be a killer. It's over 2,600 miles to get from Boise to Tampa. There would only be a few trips a year if they were football-only, but it's still a lot on the old budget. JMU is interesting. Their fanbase is already better than some in the FBS. They are also playing WVU next year at FedEx Field. This is a school that may be making the move to the FBS soon.

The Not Ever Going to Happen:

Notre Dame

Let it go folks, it's not going to happen...ever...ever.

The Projected Big East:

Old:

Cincinnati

Connecticut

Louisville

Rutgers

South Florida

West Virginia

New:

Air Force

ECU

UCF

Houston

Memphis

Temple

This is entirely a guess. I think Air Force is the only academy that is interested. Army and Navy will continue to roll strong as independents. ECU and UCF will finally get their wish of being in the conference. To me, Houston and Memphis are easy targets. Two schools that have a lot going for them (primarily markets), probably would drop C-USA in a second. And, Temple would welcome the Big East back. It's not a horrible conference, but certainly leaves something to be desired.

In Honor of Columbus Day, The Big East Ready to Pillage

Here is the latest from Big East conference realignment...

The Big East had a teleconference this morning, and are going to start talking to institutions in regards to joining the conference. Tom Liucci of the Star-Ledger writes...

According to the (Big East)statement, commissioner John Marinatto has been authorized "to engage in formal discussions with additional institutions and (we) are considering a model that includes 12 football-playing schools."

So, the Big East is going after it...at least that's the perception. Twelve schools would give the conference a championship game at the end of the year, and could put some pressure on the BCS heads to allow the Big East to keep its AQ status.

So, who are the teams? Air Force, Navy, UCF, Houston, Memphis, Temple, and SMU have all been rumored. And, ECU has already applied. Boise State for football may also be in the mix, but that just seems ridiculous for travel. Plus, there's no guarantee that WVU, Louisville, Rutgers, UConn, and/or Cincinnati will even be in the conference in the future. This is going to be interesting to watch.