Big East No Longer the Big Least

Lots of people have liked to pile on Big East football for being weak recently after the conference lost Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College. I’m not here to claim the Big East should be compared to the best conferences, but the fact remains, the Big East is no longer the weakest of the major BCS conferences.

Just a week ago, the Big East had four teams in the BCS top 25, which was tied for the most of any conference. At that point, it was more teams in the top 25 than the Big 12, ACC, and SEC. Currently, the Big East has 3 teams in the top 25 of the AP poll, 2 in the top 10. The only other conference with 2 top 10 teams is the SEC, which has 3, and that includes a very overrated LSU team. The Big 10 is horrible, and extremely overrated. It’s funny that the top 2 teams in the Big 10 are Ohio State and Penn State. Those two teams are currently ranked lower than their 2 Big East counterparts in the same state, which would be Cincinnati and Pitt.

Take a look here, as Big East Blogger Brian Bennett for ESPN.com breaks down how good the Big East’s situation currently is.

Big Least

The Big 6. You know, the 6 conferences that make up the BCS. There’s the SEC, BIG 12, Big 10, Pac-10 and ACC. And then there’s the Big East. The Big East still holds a key to a BCS game in January, but one has to start questioning whether they deserve it. The conference was supposed to fall apart after Miami and Virginia Tech bolted for the ACC. As the Canes and Hokies struggled to find footing in their new conference, the Big East stood tall. The 8 team conference routinely grabbed the national spotlight with the likes of Rutgers and South Florida. But one glance at the Big East these days, and one has to wonder if they’re even better than the MAC.

West Virginia began the year as the hands down favorite. And it only took two weeks before they fell from the National Title picture. A dismal performance against East Carolina was followed up by rocky mountain loss in Colorado. The precipitous fall seems only to have just begun. Where are you Rich Rodriguez?

Remember “Pandemonium in Piscataway”. Two years ago, coach Greg Schiano was the coach of year for restoring fight to the Scarlet Knights. Now, he’s trying to keep his winless team from fighting each other. That’s directed at you Mike Teel!

South Florida and UConn appear to be the best of the bunch. But consider this: The Bulls barely slipped past interstate rival Central Florida—a middle of the pack Conference USA foe—and UConn needed late heroics to escape both Temple and Baylor, two perennial bottom feeders of the FBS. Can you imagine how they’ll fare in a Bowl game against a real opponent like Oklahoma or Florida!?

There is good news for fans of the Big East. Basketball season is just around the corner.