Big East Power Rankings: Week Six

What a week in the Big East, as South Florida got to the top of the Moutaineers again, Rutgers lost in Piscataway to Maryland, and UCONN and Cincinnati stayed perfect. Here’s how they stack up to this writer today:

Remember, these are how good I think the teams are RIGHT NOW, not how good I think they’ll be in November.

1. South Florida – The nation is getting a whole truck load of Bulls coverage after the big win over WVU, and USF deserves every bit of it. This is a doggone good football team that has brought their A+ game every single week in wins over Elon, Auburn, North Carolina and the Mountaineers. The attention is great for the Big East, and just draws attention to how deep this league has become after awhile of worrying that it would take years for depth to develop. The defensive line has been tremendous, with George Selvie leading the nation in TFL and sacks.
2. West Virginia – There are folks who will always point to games like Thursday’s loss in Tampa as evidence that “gimmicky” offenses can’t win national titles. I’m not one of those people, but you have to wonder: when a team is so good at one thing (rushing) that they don’t have to spend much time doing another thing (passing), what happens when a team can shut down the running attack? Obviously, losing Pat White didn’t help, but its not like WVU was blowing the roof off the barn before then. West Virginia outgained USF by about 160 yards in the contest, and can still win the Big East title with just a little help.
3. Cincinnati – No one below West Virginia has beaten anyone yet, but the Bearcats have looked tremendous in ripping five subpar foes by an average of 36 points per to date. Things get thorny heading to Piscataway this weekend, where Rutgers has revenge on the mind, both for last year’s defeat, and for last week’s beat down vs. Maryland. Sure, the schedule has been weak, but Cincy is 6^th nationally in scoring offense, 4^th in scoring D and tops in turnover margin. Those are eye popping numbers, and we’ll see how they register on the reality scale this weekend.
4. Rutgers – Just based on what we’ve seen on the field this year, the Scarlet Knights haven’t impressed too much. Teams that can run the ball are going to have a great change against Rutgers, as Navy and Maryland have showed already. The offensive line has been great (2 sacks allowed, 2^nd in NCAA) in plowing holes for Ray Rice and protecting Mike Teel, and the extra time to throw has been instrumental in Teel’s ascent to 2^nd place in national passing efficiency. The degree of difficulty on this schedule is pretty ridiculous. Rutgers doesn’t leave home until October 13^th, gets 8 home games total, and plays all three of the Big East’s best teams at home.
5. UCONN – They’re trying to do it with defense in Storrs, and so far at least, its working. The Huskies are 5^th nationally in scoring defense against competition that has been fairly weak, but not as bad as the slate Rutgers and Louisville hhave played. The D-Line, led by Danny Lansanah and Julius Williams, has really toughed up opposing lines, and the offense only needs to get just a little bit better for this team to get MUCH better. I can’t wait to see this squad take on Virginia of the ACC in a couple weeks.
6. Louisville – The Cardinal fans are going to kill me, but this team has really done nothing impressive so far this year. The ‘Ville’s three victories have come against teams with a combined 1 win over FBS teams (MTSU over Fl. Int’l), and the defense has been exposed twice now, once against MTSU and again in the shocking loss to Syracuse. I’m very confident in Steve Kragthorpe’s ability to build this team, but its not like the cupboard was that bare. Was it? Lamar Myles has been a tackling machine (50 total, 2^nd in Big East), but the defense is 7^th in the league in both sacks and TFL, in addition to being 8^th against the pass and 6^th against the run. That just ain’t gonna cut it.
7. Pittsburgh – A 2-0 start has collapsed in to what will almost certainly be another losing season for Dave Wannstedt in Pittsburgh, and there’s a good chance it’ll be his last. The offense is doing just about nothing right, rating 101^st in total offense and 97^th in scoring. The future is now in the Steel City, with freshman QB Pat Bostick given the reins for awhile and handing to feature back LeSean McCoy. Both show promise; will Wanny be around to see it through?
8. Syracuse – Yeah, ‘Cuse played a nice game against Louisville, but they’ve looked awful outside that contest, including the most recent loss to a Miami of Ohio club that was in absolute freefall on both sides of the ball. Sophmore Andrew Robinson has some pretty solid numbers, with 1145 yards and 7 TDs against just one pick in five games of action, but the running game is a disaster, and the Orange dudes are 111^th in the nation or worse in the following categories; rushing yards, total yards, scoring, rush D, total D, sacks allowed. Ouch.