Big East Blitz

Syracuse: Well, they got the man they wanted…maybe. Doug Marrone is the new Head Coach. But some are not too happy about the hire.

South Florida: The St. Pete Bowl is a few days away, and the talk isn’t about the offense or defense…it’s about those damn catwalks at the Trop! Will a punt hit one?

Rutgers: The football team turned their season around, but the athletic program is still a mess. The cash-strapped department has approved scaled-down improvements to the stadium.

UConn: Great news for the Huskies and the Big East, as star RB Donald Brown has opted to stay in school. Brown was the Offensive Player of the Year in the Big East this season.

West Virginia: Interesting article about how WVU and their Bowl foe UNC share a common bond of slander directed from Hollywood. Gotta love the movies!

Pitt: The “Self-Made All-American”…that’s what they’re calling Scott McKillop. He was selected to the FWAA’s Annual All-American Team. A great story, for a very hard-working individual.

Louisville: It was a big weekend recruiting for the Cards. Three committed Sunday, including Juco QB Adam Froman. He threw for 40 TD’s last season.

Cincinnati: The ‘Cats should consider themselves lucky that Brian Kelly is still the coach. Another accolade for Kelly yesterday, as he was named the Sporting News Big East Coach of the Year.

Big East Blitz

Cincinnati: The bandwagon is back baby. Gotta love being a winner.

Louisville: The coaching situation conversation was inevitable, but Steve Kragthorpe says he isn’t going anywhere.

Syracuse: Skip Holtz will meet with Syracuse, but says reports of an agreement already in place are inaccurate. The Orange plan on interviewing a few more name before a decision.

West Virginia: A disappointing season to say the least, but the defense continues to gain respect. The stingy D finished the season number one in red zone defense. Now only if the offense knew what to do in the red zone.

Rutgers: Well, there is no doubt Greg Schiano has changed his tune about the Knights. The coach put his five-loss team number 25th in the final Coach’s Poll of the season. Who could blame him? Rutgers finished the season on a six-game winning streak, tearing apart the competition.

UConn: The Huskies will go north of the border to take on emerging Buffalo. The biggest storyline forming in this game will be if Buffalo’s Turner Gill will be the next coach of Syracuse.

Pitt: Hey, this Dave Wannstedt guy may actually be able to coach. He did get his Panthers to a New Year’s Eve game.

South Florida: A disappointing season? Oh well. USF has already sold over 4,000 tickets for their bowl game. It does help that the game is basically a home game.

Big East Preview, Week 15

After a very long and wide open season, the Big East has a champion. Congratulations to the Cincinnati Bearcats on representing the conference in the BCS. However, the drama is not gone yet. There are plenty of bowl bids to be had, and this is the final week for teams to make a statement. For the final time in the regular season, here are the picks…

Last Week: 1-1

Overall: 44-21

Cincinnati at Hawaii: The Bearcats are off to the BCS, and a trip to the Islands will seem like a good reward for that. Brian Kelly says his team will not overlook this game though. Hawaii has won three straight games, but did have some struggles against Washington State last week. The Bearcats should own both lines, especially on the defensive front. Hawaii is allowing more than three sacks per-game. The Bearcats should be able to own the special teams game as well. This has been one of their major advantages all year. Hawaii will hang for a while, but the ‘Cats should be too much.

Prediction: 31-17 Cincinnati

South Florida at West Virginia: Pat White’s final home game as a Mountaineer will be the highlight in this one. Neither team has played to potential, with the loser heading into the bowls with five losses. South Florida has had great success in stopping the WVU run over the last two years, so expect White to go to the air. The Bulls will look to keep the offense in balance…with Grothe attacking the young(though improving) Mountaineer secondary. When first scheduled, many thought this game would be for the conference title, now it’s a bit of an afterthought. The players won’t feel that way though, so expect an exciting, cold atmosphere in Morgantown, with a very heroic night from Pat White.

Prediction: 35-31 WVU

Pitt at UConn: The Panthers are looking for a nine win season. This is quite an accomplishment, considering the season began with a loss at home to Bowling Green. Dave Wannstedt has finally had the season he has been dreaming of, and credit his stingy defense. They 23rd against the rush, with the secondary rapidly improving. This doesn’t bode well for UConn, who relies on running the ball with Donald Brown. This game will be Brown’s final chance to convince the media that he should be the Big East Offensive Player of the Year, so he will leave it all out there. The Husky defense have had a nice year, but don’t expect them to contain LeSean McCoy. UConn will have to rely on Pitt mistakes to take this one. That just won’t happen.

Prediction: 24-20 Pitt

Game of the Week. Louisville at Rutgers: Nothing like a Thursday night in Jersey. This is a game of two teams heading in opposite directions. The Cards have lost four straight, while Rutgers is looking for six straight W’s. If the Knights win, they will be a lock for a bowl at 7-5…which is pretty remarkable considering they began the season 1-5. It has been the Mike Teel show for Rutgers. He has thrown for 13 touchdowns over the last four game. Expect a few more this week when the Knight’s offensive line completely dominates play. The Cards will have to rely on Victor Anderson. The young rusher is averaging nearly 100 yards a game…and has been more reliable than QB Hunter Cantwell. They should have some success moving the ball, but Rutgers is very good in keeping teams out of the endzone. Too much is going right for the Knights, and with a rowdy Thursday night crowd expect Louisville to slowly fade away.

Prediction: 40-23 Rutgers

Big East Blitz

West Virginia: Nobody likes a blackout…but what about a White-out? Hey, it works for Penn State.

Louisville: Steve Kragthorpe continues to look for quick-fixes for the Cards. Juco-DB, Preston Pace has committed.

Syracuse: The coaching search begins. Oregon Offensive Coordinator, Chip Kelly could be a serious contender.

Pitt: There has been a Panther resurgence this season, as Pitt will be heading to a 2nd tier bowl game. The offense gets all the talk, but the emerging defense should be getting the spoils.

South Florida: It has been a very disappointing year in Tampa, but a win in Morgantown could lift some heads. The Bulls have had the blueprint to beat the Mountaineers as of late.

Rutgers: They have one five straight games…and have also covered five straight games. One of the hottest teams on the strip!

UConn: The Huskies have a big game with Pitt to close out the regular season. They will do it without Andre Dixon, who was suspended for violating team rules. They should be okay with Donald Brown.

Cincinnati: They may have already booked a trip to the BCS, but Brian Kelly won’t let them fold. One more game in Hawaii this weekend.

Big East Power Rankings…Week 13

Cincinnati (8-2, 4-1): They continue to win close games, a huge confidence booster at the college level. Next Step..A game possibly for the conference against Pitt.

Pitt (7-2, 3-1): A trip to a bowl game is in the future, but will it be in South Beach? Next Step…Finding a way to win at the ‘Nati to keep the BCS hopes alive.

West Virginia (6-3, 3-1): Will the offense show up in the first half? Or will it be another long day for the Mounties? Next Step…A must-win at Louisville to stay in BCS contention.

Rutgers (5-5, 4-2): The hottest team in the conference is one win away from bowl eligibility. Next Step…Hosting the Black Knights of Army.

UConn (7-3, 3-2): They have their QB back, and are looking to roll the rest of the schedule. Next Step…A huge road test at South Florida.

South Florida (6-4, 1-4): Losers of four out of their last five games. There is no end in-sight for the collapse. Next Step…Trying to find some heart against UConn.

Louisville (5-5, 1-4): Haven’t been the same since losing to Syracuse three weeks ago. Next Step…Trying to avoid a complete meltdown against West Virginia.

Syracuse (2-8, 1-5): Greg Robinson has been fired, but will finish out the season. Will his players rally around him, or just tank it? Next Step…Looking for a bit of luck against Notre Dame.

Big East Blitz

West Virginia: Hey, at least someone is impressed with WVU this year. I’m not sure why….though the defense has been superb.

Syracuse: Ah yes, the lame duck coach. Has to be an awkward situation…right?

South Florida: Is there another team in college football that has fallen faster than the Bulls? Tom Edrington, of the Examiner is skeptical.

Rutgers: One of the hottest teams in college football also has one of the hottest QB’s. Mike Teel says it took a talk with the Head Coach changed his season.

UConn: The rest of the Huskies’ season will be overshadowed by Randy Edsell-to-Syracuse talk. John Silver, of the Journal-Inquirer wirtes that Edsell is trying to stay mum.

Cincinnati: If the Bearacts beat Pitt this weekend, the conference is essentially their’s. Brian Kelly has become somewhat of a hero in the town. The question now is will Kelly be back?

Louisville: The dreaded vote of confidence? That is what it sounds like for Steve Kragthorpe, as the Cards continue to fall.

Pitt: Is Bill Stull good enough to be a bigtime QB in the ‘Burgh? Paul Zeise says why not?

Thursday Morning Quick Hitters

Playoff atmosphere was in full force Wednesday Night at the Boston Garden, as the undefeated Atlanta Hawks squared off against the Champs. The game did not disappoint, the Hawks jumped out to a 16 point lead shooting over 60% until the Celtics scratched and clawed their way back. The Hawks Marvin Williams nailed a 3 with 7 seconds left to put the Hawks up by 1, but the Celtics got the ball in the hands of the captain, Paul Pierce, who drained a fall away jumper with a half a second left. The Celtics beat the Hawks 103 – 102.

The LA Lakers stayed perfect by holding off the New Orleans Hornets 93 – 86.

The San Antonio Spurs fall to 2 – 5, losing to the Milwaukee Bucks 82 – 78.

The Washington Wizards got their 1st win of the season, beating the Utah Jazz 95 -87.

The New York Knicks move to 5 – 3 and hit a franchise record 19 3 pointers in a 132 – 103 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Central Michigan squandered a 24 point lead over Northern Illinois, but pulled out a field goal victory in OT, 33 – 30.

Brian Burke, General Manager of the Aneheim Ducks, who help build a contender for the Portland Pirates and a Stanley Cup Champ, stepped down yesterday for “family” reasons. Speculation is Burke wants the Toronto Maple Leafs GM job.

Wednesday Morning Quick Hitters

The San Francisco Giants Tim Lincecum takes home 2 prizes yesterday. MLB announced Lincecum as the 2008 NL Cy Young Award winner. Lincecum was 18 – 5, a 2.62 ERA and ML Leading 265 strikeouts. Lincecum became only the 2nd San Francisco Giant to take home the award. In Lincecum’s 2nd win yesterday, 2K Sports announced Lincecum would be the cover boy for the MLB 2K9 Baseball Video Game.

The Atlanta Hawks move to 6 – 0 beating the Chicago Bulls 113 – 108. Al Horford scored a career high 27 for the Hawks. Atlanta returns to the scene of their last game of last year, against the Boston Celtics.

The Utah Jazz Deron Williams returned from his ankle injury to help blast the Philadelphia 76ers 93 – 80.

The LA Lakers also move to 6 – 0 as they rally to beat the Dallas Mavericks 106 – 99.

Tom Brady was in the building yesterday…but not to learn the gameplan.

49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz blames refs for loss.

#14 Ball State handled Miami of Ohio 31 -16

Friday Morning Quick Hitters

Well, the Mighty Quinn started his 1st game for the Browns this season last night, but was overshadowed and overmatched by Jay Cutler as Cutler threw for 3 TD and 447 yards. The Denver Broncos comes back to beat the Cleveland Browns 34 – 30.

D’Angelo Hall clears waivers

The Utes allowed a quick 10 points and then shut TCU out the rest of the way, finally beating # 12 TCU 13 – 10.

The Boston Bruins continue their trek to respectability in Boston, as the Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5 – 2. Blake Wheeler got his 1st career hat trick for the Bruins in the win. The Bruins are 1 point out of the NorthEast Division lead.

The Big East Blitz

(Wait…you still have a job?)

UConn: QB Zach Frasor, who missed Saturday’s win with an injury, returned to practice yesterday. Asked who would start Saturday…Randy Edsell said, “I’m not in a position to make that determination right now.” Well, let me help you with that…Frasor isn’t good…Cody Endres is 1-0.

Pitt: The Panthers got smoked by the pass against Rutgers last week. It doesn’t get any easier this week facing the wide-open Notre Dame attack. As Kevin Gorman for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes, what exactly happened to that alledged top-10 secondary for Pitt?

Rutgers: At least one person still believes the Knights have a chance at the BCS, following their beatdown of Pitt.

Louisville: Steve Kragthorpe, you have arrived. His first major win at the ‘Ville has the writers talking about how he could be the right guy for the job.

Cincinnati: The ‘Cats were very close to being ranked…than got smacked by UConn and a third-string quarterback. It’s time to move on though, and Bill Koch of Cincinnati.com says the team must get their minds set on a pissed off USF team coming to town Thursday night.

West Virginia: Hey, it’s nice to see that WVU has an offense this year. And after the wild weekend the Mountaineers find themselves in first place in the conference.

Syracuse: According to the New Haven Register, Lane Kiffin is the top mark for Syracuse. I’m sure Greg Robinson loves coaching everyday, knowing he could be fired for sneezing too loudly.

South Florida: Can this team win a big conference game on the road? That will be tested Thursday night. If they lose, that would be three losses in conference…good-bye BCS hello International Bowl.