Big East Shit: Part 1, Not Your Bitch

Is there any conference that has come farther in a shorter amount of time than the Big East has since 2005? The fact of the matter is that two short years ago this conference was a wreck, talk abounded about ending Football competition. Now the conference, while not as strong as it once was yet, is in a position of relative power. Because the Big East’s Q rating is off the chart right now. With Brian Brohm, Steve Slaton, Pat White and Raymell Rice all legitimate Heisman contenders, Rutgers becoming New York City’s darling, a sleeper team in South Florida and their YouTube Legend at QB (sidebar: To the national media, USF can’t be a sleeper because everyone is talking about them.)

There is a lot going on in this small little eight team conference. There is reason for optimism everywhere but Syracuse. A lot of people are expecting a strong year from Pitt, basicly because of the way that they have recruited, it certinly has nothing to do with the way they have played Football the past two years, which is badly, really badly in fact. A brief moment of homerism will transpire in the next three sentances, skip ahead if you like. Cincinnati has a promising team this year with one of the conferences best defenses. Beyond that there is the Brian Kelly factor which can not be overstated, what this man has done for the program can not be over stated. Season tickets are higher, interest in the team is higher, and in due time the results will be better than anything since Sid Gillman left the friendly confines of Nippert Stadium for the League of Mercenaries. In short Brian Kelly will become one of the better coaches in College Football over the next few years, the question is if he will be in Cincinnati while doing it. UConn has reason for optimisim this year. A bowl birth is not out of the question with the lite schedual the Huskies have to start the season. What they can do in the Big East remains to be seen. Syracuse doesn’t have a lot of hope in reality, the fans are fans and see a rising of the tide for Syracuse. The fact of the matter is that Syracuse was in the the 100’s in 5 of 8 national stats for both offense and defense. Giving up a lot of yards can be overcome by gaining a lot of yards yourself, but when you can’t move the ball yourself you are in trouble.

Now, you will be hard pressed to find anyone who would go to the trouble of ranking the Big East above any of the other conferences. I am not one of them. In the end I do not think that top to bottom the Big East has the depth of say the ACC or Big 12. But there is a perception amoung the wider college football audience that the Big East is a conference that is clearly subserviant to the other BCS conferences. That is nothing more than ignorance rearing its ugly head as it so often does amoung the fans of this sport. Indeed there was a gap between the other five power conferences and the Big East a few years ago, but it shurnk a whole lot when West Virginia best Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. That gap was completely obliterated last year.  The Big East has established itself with its season last year as a full fleged member of the BCS club. If you think they don’t belong you are entitled to your opinion, but this is a rare case when an opinion can be wrong. Is the Big East on par with the SEC, Big 12 or the PAC 10? Of course not, and no Big East fan I know whould claim that either. Could Louisville or West Virginia change leagues and compete for a title? Probably, but no one knows for sure. The Big East is not an elite conference like the SEC is and no rational fan of the conference would make that claim. But it is easily on the level with the ACC. For the Big East to be on equal footing with the conference that raided it just 3 short years ago is quite an accomplishment. Face it folks the Big East is as good as ever right now, and everyone is improving. You can get your jabs in for the next couple of years, but beyond that this conference will be as good as everyone else.