Big East Bubble Season Part 2

 

Cincinnati's NCAA hopes are flying high after a critical win at Georgetown.

Photo courtesy ESPN.

This time last week there were several Big East teams who were looking to jump off the bubble and into the “lock” status for an NCAA tournament bid. At least one of those teams has accomplished this feat, as St. John’s heart-stopping last second victory over Pittsburgh surely put them over the top. West Virginia also recorded a much needed victory over streaking Notre Dame, and Cincinnati scored their first major road victory of the season. But where do these teams and another in Marquette fall in this week’s Bubble review? Let’s find out!

BIG EAST LOCKS: Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Villanova, Syracuse, Georgetown, Louisville, Connecticut, St. John’s

ON THE BUBBLE:

Cincinnati (22-6, 9-6) Current Big East standing: 8   Since start of February: (4-2) Last 10 games: (6-4)

RPI: 35  Strength of schedule: 83

Bubble Status: Almost a lock.

Just two weeks ago this was looking like another season all too familiar to Bearcat Nation. Cincinnati had performed admirably throughout the season and now were just going to close up shop and limp to the finish line…leaving their fans yearning for an elusive NCAA appearance. However, Mick Cronin has clearly instilled some energy in his group and the Bearcats have  a rather unusual three game winning streak in the Big East. Also, those wins aren’t just against the likes of Depaul or Providence (OK, one was against Providence in OT) but Cincinnati also took down Louisville at home and then absolutely stunned Georgetown in D.C. last night. Last evening’s road win is more than likely going to put this team in the Big Dance for the first time in years, but Cincy also has UConn and Georgetown coming to town. If the Bearcats can win either one of those games, or both, they will go from just getting in the tournament to a rather impressive seed (I’m thinking a 5 or 6) and that is all a Bearcat fan could ask for!

West Virginia (17-9, 8-6) Current Big East standing: T-8 Since start of February: (3-3) Last 10 games: (5-5)

RPI: 21  Strength of schedule: 4

Bubble Status: Almost a lock.

Following West Virginia’s loss at Syracuse, Coach Bob Huggins raged about his team’s inability to make shots. Who could blame him? The Mountaineers had reached 70 points only twice in their previous 10 games, but a return to Morgantown was all the struggling Eers would need. Huggins’ crew ousted No. 7 Notre Dame at home, 72-58, and nearly placed themselves in the NCAA tournament field. Like Cincinnati, the Mountaineers are currently “on the bubble” but if they make the tournament then expect a seed in the 5-7 range…it is the Big East after all. The last four games of the season will prove pivotal in the seeding process as WVU plays at Pittsburgh tonight, then travels to the scary RAC and finishes the season with home dates against UConn and Louisville. If the Mountaineers can go at least .500 in that stretch, look for this team to move into the “lock” status and staring down a high seed. Not bad for a “rebuilding” year.

Marquette (16-11, 7-7) Current Big East standing: 11   Since start of February: (2-3)  Last 10 games: (4-6)

RPI: 69  Strength of schedule: 31

Bubble Status: Squarely on the bubble.

This has been a frustrating year so far for the Marquette Golden Eagles. For one they don’t have a “bad loss” on their schedule (as we investigated last week), but they also have only two or three quality wins. Secondly, Marquette has found the sledding rather tough outside of Milwaukee as they have won only three games away from home (not exactly a figure the NCAA selection committee likes to look at). However, all is not lost, Marquette can still win a big road game tonight at UConn, and two of the last three are at home as well. I’m going to say that if the Golden Eagles can walk out of Connecticut with a victory, plus win at least two of their last three regular season games AND steal one game in the Big East Tourney…then Katy bar the door! The Big East sends 11 teams to the Big Dance!

Standings information courtesy ESPN.com, RPI and SOS courtesy WarrenNolan.com.

Morgantown: Best Places to Watch the Big East

Morgantown, WV is known as the home of West Virginia University. While West Virginia University is known as one of the nation’s biggest party schools and one reason students party is for their beloved Mountaineers. But what options are out there for the casual sports fan who doesn’t want to join in with a house full of “party animals” to catch the big game? Or what about the townie who wants to watch their favorite team at a place where everyone knows there name? Luckily, Morgantown has a treasure chest of pubs and sports bars to watch your favorite sports and of course, the Big East Conference. Check out the customized “Morgantown Sports Bar” map to find a location that suits your interests and tastes…or taste buds.

The Sports Page -While not the biggest of venues, the Sports Page has the biggest heart. Nearly every inch of wall space is covered with a flat screen TV (showing any sporting event you request) or unique sports memorabilia like a signed jersey or a piece of the field goal post from the 1984 WVU-Penn State game. “The Page” also boasts cheap buffalo wing specials (25 cent wings on Monday nights) and a hard-to-beat Friday happy hour ($5 All-You-Can-Eat wings, pizza, and corn-dog bites…$1.50 domestic drafts and $3 Long Island Iced Teas).

Gibbie’s Pub and Eatery – Ok, so maybe this isn’t your typical sports bar, or even a sports bar in general. But it is a safe bet that sports will always be on the various TVs at Gibbies and Gib’s boasts something that none of the other dives on this list do…a mission to provide top-quality craft beer. Gibbie’s has the most beers on tap in Morgantown and there is a different brew to suit every person, or sports fan’s taste. Be sure to check out the 2-4-1 pint special on Tuesday nights or the “beer-battered fries” with a Philly Cheese Steak…and Gibbie’s usually has live music to soothe your soul after that emtional loss or heart-pounding victory!

The Cue -The Cue has great drink specials and cheap games of pool. A little more underrated than most places, The Cue lands in the Top 5 for having the biggest viewing area and TV screen in a Morgantown sports bar. If you don’t want to watch the game on the  dozen-or-so TVs in the billiards area of the bar, then head upstairs to the full-fledged theatre that has comfy couches and a projection screen…that always looks great with your favorite team on it. Not to worry, there is a side bar in the “Theatre Room” to ensure you don’t go to long without a fresh brew!

Kegler’s -Kegler’s and Kegler’s II offer the best buffalo wings in town and arguably the best game day experience. If you want to be with fanatics of your favorite Big East team, or just listen to the bantering from fans on NFL Sundays, head over to Kegler’s for an array of beers and spirits and some of the best pub grub in Morgantown. Sundays always have great wing specials (35 cents and $2.00 domestic drafts) and if your game isn’t on TV or your team got knocked out of the playoffs, get a pair of shoes and a bowling bowl and have a blast at Kegler’s very own bowling alley. You really can’t go wrong here!

Coach’s Bar N Grill -So it’s a little far out of the way, but if you are looking for a classy atmosphere to watch your team(s), then Coach’s is it. Coach’s has a great viewing area(s) with large flat screens and numerous areas to sit alone or with a crowd. The bar is lined with granite counter tops and dark wood-paneled walls and typically has various specials throughout the week, but the food really shines here and just about anything you order would rival your mom’s meatloaf. And here’s a little tip, plenty of WVU athletic coaches like Bob Huggins like to frequent this place…so keep your eyes peeled and your glass full!

Big East Bubble Season

 

Steve Lavin has the Big Apple thinking Big Dance.

Photo credit New York Daily News.

It’s the time of seasonnnn for bub-bles…While that is a little play on the famous Zombies’ tune, this time of year in college basketball is the month of the bubble. Every team in the country is striving to gain an NCAA bid, be it by an auto-lock from a conference championship, spectacular play throughout the season, or an eye-opening February. ESPN and other networks talk a lot about mid-majors who are trying to impress the voters and NCAA Tournament selection committee, but one also has to look at middle-of-the-road BCS conference teams as well. And with that let’s jump right into the position(s) of several Big East teams who are looking to get off of, stay on, or get enough accomplished to be mentioned in the “Bubble Watch.”

BIG EAST LOCKS: Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Villanova, Connecticut, Louisville, Syracuse

ON THE BUBBLE:

St. John’s (16-9, 8-5) Current Big East standing: 7      Since the start of February: (4-1) Last 10 games: (6-4)

RPI: 16          Strength of Schedule: 2

Bubble Status: Almost a lock.

With the type of production and results from the Red Storm this year, one would think Steve Lavin was a seasoned coaching veteran who hasn’t missed a beat over the last decade. However, Lavin is just getting back to his former UCLA-self and has this senior-laden squad making noise in NYC for the first time in recent memory. Early season losses to St. Bonaventure and Fordham could have kept this team from the Big Dance, but over the last month and a half the Johnnies have scored major wins against Georgetown, Notre Dame, Duke (ranked #1 at the time), UConn, and two key road wins at West Virginia and Marquette. From having seen St. John’s in action myself this year, when this team is firing on all cylinders and is able to control tempo with their up-and-down pace, they are nearly impossible to beat. Now all St. John’s needs to cap off a rather surprising season is to hold steady in their last five games with matches against Seton Hall, USF, and lowly DePaul…plus there is room for another marquee victory with games against Pittsburgh and Villanova.

West Virginia (16-9, 7-6) Current Big East standing: T-9      Since the start of February: (2-3) Last 10 games: (5-5)

RPI: 23          Strength of schedule: 3

Bubble Status: High-bubble team.

This time last month West Virginia was celebrating a huge non-conference victory over Top 10 Purdue. But oh what a difference thirty days can make. The Mountaineers followed that Purdue win with a shocking loss to in-state rival Marshall (out-doing a loss at ACC bottom feeder Miami) and have looked out-of-sync offensively in recent Big East games. Troubled shooting guard Casey Mitchell returned to action recently and played exceptionally at Syracuse on Monday night, but it is his teammates that are having serious problems finding the net. While coach Bob Huggins can still rest on big victories against Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Purdue, and at Cincinnati; his Mountaineers probably wish they had sealed the deal in single-digit losses to Minnesota (-4), Pittsburgh (-5), at Marquette (-4), and at Louisville (-4) to give them a better profile for March. West Virginia boasts the toughest remaining schedule of any team in the Big East with four ranked teams remaining, plus an always strenuous trip to Rutgers.

Cincinnati (20-6, 7-6) Current Big East standing: T-9      Since the start of February: (2-2) Last 10 games: (5-5)

RPI: 47         Strength of schedule: 34

Bubble Status: High-bubble team.

Almost any time a Big East team has 20+ wins in a season (albeit with 5 games to play) it is a pretty good bet that team is a lock for the NCAA Tournament…almost. The only problem here is that Cincinnati played nearly no one out-of-conference, sans for a 20 point mauling of cross-town rival Xavier. Mick Cronin’s Bearcats started strong with a sterling 15-0 record, however since that time not much has gone right for Cincinnati in the Big East as the team has gone 5-6 over their last 11 games. Most of Cincy’s problems have come on the road against Top 25 teams, but every one of those losses came by double digits. Luckily the Bearcats defeated Louisville at home on Wednesday and own a two point victory at St. John’s as well. While I can’t imagine Cincy not making the Big Dance, they do need to get another quality W to really put them in contention…and that could come in a 2 games series with Georgetown or when UConn visits the Queen City.

Marquette (15-11, 6-7) Current Big East standing: 11      Since the start of February: (1-3) Last 10 games: (4-6)

RPI: 66        Strength of schedule: 9

Bubble Status: Squarely on the bubble.

Like West Virginia, Marquette has found the sledding a bit tougher over the last half of the season. Since an 18 point pummeling of Notre Dame, the Golden Eagles fell at Louisville by one (following a 15 point lead late in the game) and can only point to a home victory over struggling Syracuse as a meaningful victory. As in past seasons, Marquette has had their fair share of tough losses with single-digit setbacks against Duke (-5), Gonzaga (-3),  Wisconsin (-5), UConn (-8), at Vanderbilt (-1), at Pittsburgh (-8), at Villanova (-5), at Notre Dame (-5), and at Georgetown (-9). Though it may seem a bit ridiculous that I listed all of those losses, it goes to show that this team has been very close to winning a handful of these games and that they clearly have the talent and coaching to compete with nearly anyone. Marquette does boast wins of Notre Dame, Syracuse, and West Virginia (all in Milwaukee) but the chances to get another notable victory are running out with only an away game with UConn providing for NCAA resume material. Buzz William’s needs to get his squad to at least 19 wins by season’s end for his squad to go dancing and that could very well happen with two games remaining against Seton Hall and home dates with Providence and Cincinnati.

Rankings and standings courtesy ESPN.com, RPI Rankings from RealTimeRPI.com, and Strength of schedule from teamrankings.com.

A week of Twitter

Imagine walking your entire life and then one day someone gives you a car, or how about being the drive-thru attendant and getting promoted to CEO overnight…you would obviously have no idea what to do with your new found position or item. These scenarios are eerily similar to one that I experienced this past week as part of my Twitter Scavenger Hunt assignment (via Interactive Journalism at WVU).

The class of 20 or so was separated into groups of 2 and given a list of 10 objectives to complete on the downtown Morgantown campus. However, instead of using clues to find a sock or a key, the “hunt” was based around using Twitter to complete the objectives and notify your competitors of your progress. The challenge was to photograph a person, place, or thing, and obtain quotes regarding each objective and then tweet about your completed tasks. However, as a complete “newbie” to Twitter, obviously this assignment was destined for failure.

But then something funny happened along with way. After a quick tutorial on the basics of Twitter, and a test-run post before heading out, I actually liked using the uber-popular social media tool. Taking snapshots of people around campus and asking questions ranging in topics from school spirit to favorite restaurants, was rather easy and dare I say, thrilling.

Because the assignment essentially pushed me into the deep-end of the Olympic-sized Twitter pool, I didn’t have time to sit around and play with the technology…I had to learn the subject matter and run with it. Literally in a matter of one day I went from barely using my Twitter account (I started one about two years ago and felt like a fish trying to make a sand castle) to adding friends, following people and newsmakers and most importantly, tweeting on a regular basis.

Another interesting part of the Scavenger Hunt was the fact that other journalism and communication schools from around the country were also taking part in the assignment and uploading their pictures and quotes along with us. In fact, we were instructed to “retweet” (re-posting a post from someone else) and reply to our colleagues from schools like the University of Oregon to the University of Memphis.

Who knows, maybe here in a few weeks I won’t be so obsessed with Twitter (I have seen the notorious South Park episode that blasts the social media network) but at the moment it is becoming a more integral part of not only my life, but my view of journalism as a whole. I find myself tweeting daily now and hope to become a real “citizen journalist” through uploading videos and pictures from breaking news events and happenings that I randomly stumble upon.  Overall this was an excellent, hands-on challenge that I would suggest to anyone who wants to be involved more with Twitter or social media in general.

Wild and Wacky Big East

Just when you think one team from the Big East is ready to take control of the conference, along comes a surprising upset or an unbelievable paranormal-like miracle. Pittsburgh is easily the best and most complete team in the Big East but with the roller coaster nature of the conference games this season absolutely anything can happen.

Let’s take a look at last night’s thrilling match-ups and highlights. Starting with of course, the mind-numbing Rutgers comeback in The RAC.

Rutgers 77 – (10)Villanova 76

Big East followers have heard plenty about West Virginia’s Casey Mitchell this season, but it was Rutgers’ Jonathan Mitchell that shocked the conference last night. Mitchell nailed an uber-clutch (albeit controversial) 4-point play with .8 seconds left on the clock to tip the hometown Scarlet Knights (13-11, 4-8) over Jay Wright’s Villanova Wildcats (19-5, 7-4). Mitchell’s career-high 25 points lifted the Scarlet Knights from a 10 point deficit with 2:52 remaining and dropped Nova to a 2-way tie for fourth in the conference standings.

(11) Georgetown 64 – (13) Syracuse 56

Creating visions of the classic Georgetown-Syracuse meetings of the 1980s and 1990s, John Thompson III’s Hoyas defeated the Orange in a another Top 25 Big East showdown. In what has become a tale of two teams (remember when Georgetown simply couldn’t win in the Big East and Syracuse was once undefeated and at the top of the standings?) the Hoyas continued their solid teamwork and got key contributions from seniors Austin Freeman (14 points) and Chris Wright (9 assists) to record their first win in the Carrier Dome in the last six attempts. The loss is the fifth out of the last seven for Jim Boeheim’s Syracuse squad, who led throughout most of the second half.

(7) Notre Dame 89 – (15) Louisville 79

Louisville’s notorious late game heroics were outlasted by the Fighting Irish in the two teams’ fifth overtime meeting in their last nine contests. Mike Brey’s squad reached 20 wins in a season yet again and got monster performances from seniors Tim Abromaitis (23 points) and Ben Hansbrough (25 points). The Cardinals had a chance to pull off another Top 10 road victory in the final seconds but Preston Knowles’ desperation three at the buzzer fell agonizingly short. However, check out Kyle Kurich’s extreme-facial, which was only 2 of his game-high 28 points.

 

Looking Back: One Post a Day

Whew, I can honestly say I am staggering towards the finish line with my “One Post a Day for a Week” assignment. I had originally planned to post a four part series regarding the Big East’s football recruiting, but to this point I have only wrote three (no worries the fourth will be up shortly). And to make matters even worse, I forgot to post on Wednesday…the second day of my assigned seven.

While I easily credit my work/school schedule, general laziness and forgetfulness as my main culprits in not achieving my “post a day” goal, WordPress it self should not be let off the hook so easily. For starters, I just now realized that if you edit a post from an earlier day, then the date and time for that post is updated to the time that you edited it…not the time that it was originally published. Thus, in the wake of editing a post to add tags and another to correct grammatical errors, WordPress touted that I had two posts on one day…this happened twice this past week. Hence, the “Big East Football Recruiting Review Part 1” was originally published on Thursday, February 3 (not Feb. 4) and the post “Big East Football Recruiting Review Part 3” was originally published on Saturday, February 5 (not Feb. 6).

Another problem that WordPress created for me was with its’ little Android phone application. Apparently whenever you publish a post via your application it is anyone’s guess if the post will actually be published and in-turn viewable by others. For instance, when I had originally created a post on Thursday via my Sprint 4G Evo running the WordPress Android app, the application notified me that my post had been published. However, when I checked on my blog a few hours later on my computer, my post has instead been saved as a draft…and not published. Luckily I caught the mistake in time as that would have been day number two that I had not created a genuine Big Beast blog post.

All in all, the experience was pretty good I suppose. Knowing that I had to post every day really kept me in the loop with my blog roll and my RSS feed(s) and I was constantly thinking of the new and different things to write about. In fact, I wrote down most of my ideas and look forward to developing content based around the my blog brainstorming session! I sincerely believe that if a post a day was a requirement for this course, that could only help the students instead of hinder them…as the motivation to be involved in blogging is much greater than two posts per week.

Big East in the Super Bowl

With Super Bowl XLV (45 for those less versed in the now archaic usage of Roman numerals) set to kick off in a few hours and football fans around the world choosing sides for the black and yellow or green and yellow, the Big Beast breaks down which former Big East players will be suiting up for their respective teams this evening.

Let’s start off with the Steel Curtain, the Men from the Steel City, the Pittsburgh Steelers. This is a team that hasn’t really had a substantial Big East presence on its roster in several years, despite being located in heart of Big East country. However, the Steelers do have two interesting ties to the Big East conference. For one, both the Steelers and the Pittsburgh Panthers play their home games at the beautiful Heinz Field (well the arena is beautiful, the field is often in utter disarray). Secondly, current West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart gave current Pittsburgh Steelers head coach his first coaching job, an assistant position at VMI in the early 1990s. Without further ado, here are your two Big East alums playing in Super Bowl XLV for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

William Gay – DB – Louisville

Ryan Mundy – DB – West Virginia

Now onto the Cheeseheads, the Lombardi Legends, the Green Bay Packers. Like the Steelers, the Pack Attack hasn’t boasted a robust collection of Big East players throughout the last few years…but it doesn’t mean the Packers are without a Big East influence. While I don’t have any concrete Big East-Green Bay connections, if we are really pulling for straws here, Green Bay backup QB Matt Flynn captured a national championship for LSU after Pittsburgh upset then No. 2 West Virginia…handing Flynn and the Tigers the Sears Trophy. Or we could also point to the fact that the Big East features conference members in each Super Bowl participant state (Pittsburgh – Pennsylvania, Marquette – Wisconsin). Ok, so maybe that last one was a little cheesy. Here are your Big East beasties suiting up for the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV.

Branden Underwood – DB – Cincinnati

Jason Spitz – OL – Louisville

Anthony Smith – DB – Syracuse

As you can see, Louisville has the most participants in this year’s bowl of all bowls. And that note matches up nicely with tomorrow’s review of Louisville 2010-11 recruiting class. But before I let you go watch the gratuitous amounts of commercials (which will no doubt include a varying cast of babies talking with adult voices), or check out the super-pop music tinged halftime show (the Black Eyed Peas…really?), what Super Bowl blog post would be complete without a little prediction.

Green Bay 27 – Steelers 20…who knows, maybe Big Ben makes it 3 for 3 and ascends the Stairway to 7…but I’m banking on Aaron Rodgers getting his first ring and forever removing himself from Brett Favre’s Green Bay shadow.

 

Big East Football Recruiting Review Part 3

This is part three of a four part series reviewing the Big East’s 2011 recruiting classes.

It’s now time to have a quick rundown of the teams in the bottom of our recruiting rankings and highlight some players from each school’s class.

With the exception of South Florida, the teams we will review today usually don’t have stellar…or even a noteworthy class of recruits. The Cuse’s lack of success over the last decade has provided little reason for the northeast’s best recruits to play in the Carrier Dome…but as Bob Dylan said, “the times they are a changing.”

 

Big East Football Recruiting Review Part 2

This is part two of a four part series reviewing the Big East’s 2011 recruiting classes.

Yesterday the Big Beast highlighted West Virginia’s and Rutgers’ recruiting classes while also explaining why the Mountaineers got the slight nudge in terms of our recruiting rankings. While a full review of Louisville’s class will be the last part of our four part series, today we will look at why Cincinnati had the better haul over Pittsburgh.

First off, both Cincinnati and Pittsburgh impressed me with their latest recruiting efforts, especially considering the less than delightful circumstances at each program. Let’s look at Cincinnati for starters. Cincy is coming off a 4-8 record where both the defense and offense fell to the middle of the Division-1 standings. Clearly some fresh talent was needed on both sides of the ball to make up for the lack of playmakers and depth left from Brian Kelly’s move to Notre Dame the season before. However, Coach Butch Jones seems to have erased the memory of last season from his recent crop of signees and while short on headliners, the Bearcats’ class is solid nonetheless.

Led by Jameel Poteat, a Pittsburgh defect and a standout running back from Pennsylvania, the Bearcats’ boasted 20 3 star players according to Rivals.com. Obviously Poteat’s signature was the most sought after by Cincy faithful, but it was the focus on developing the lines on both sides of the ball that shows where the coaches priorities were. Cincinnati received LOIs from four offensive and four defensive lineman and also tacked on five wide receivers (four of which are 6′ or taller, a rarity in this day and age). 24 players signed with Cincinnati, a very respectable number, and many of them hailing from Ohio, Georgia, Florida, and California (yes, California).

I would like to think that the varying areas of the country that are represented in this class are due to the increase in national exposure for the Bearcats’ football program over the last few years, but it could just be the coaching efforts of Jones and his staff. Although the class isn’t a world-beater by any means, I see Cincinnati having many more solid recruiting classes in the near future (that is if Jones can get things turned around).

Now onto Pittsburgh, which barely even had a class to speak of a few weeks ago. Much has been made of the Mike Haywood debacle at Pittsburgh, luckily for Panthers’ fans Todd Graham came to the rescue. Though the new coach has only been in his Steel City position for less than a month, he has already been successful on the recruiting trail for several highly-regarded players and won a recruiting battle or two against Pitt’s arch-rival West Virginia. Depending on which recruiting service you rest your faith and trust with, Pittsburgh only landed one to two 4-star players and that is a change from past seasons for Pitt.

New offensive coordinator Calvin Magee appears to have aggressively sought out cogs for his no-huddle, run-oriented spread offense as the Panthers collected four running backs and three wide receivers. In fact, Graham’s first class is heavily laden with offensive talent.  Only 8 of the 20 signees are defenders but as usual, Pittsburgh attracted a couple of big-time defensive standouts. Nicholas Grigsby, a 4-star Ohio linebacker, and Khaynin Mosley-Smith, a 4-star New York defensive tackle, look to follow in the footsteps of recent Pittsburgh defensive greats like Jabaal Sheard and Greg Romeous. However two of Pittsburgh’s incoming freshman decided not to follow in the footsteps of Pittsburgh defect Terrell Chestnut (who committed to West Virginia) and instead opted for their Backyard Brawl brethren. Linebacker LaQuentin Smith and defensive back Roderick Ryles, both from Orlando, opted to pledge their allegiance to Pittsburgh just hours after returning from their official Morgantown visit. Both of the players cited a “family atmosphere” as their reasoning for choosing the Panthers, and Graham must be commended for resurrecting a program and locker room in such a short period of time.

Tomorrow we will list the most intriguing incoming freshmen in the Big East and review the rest of the Big East’s recruiting classes. And in case you are wondering, the last installment of the “Big East Football Recruiting Review” will feature a full review of the Louisville Cardinals’ Top 25 Class complete with videos and comments from the coaches. Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Big East Football Recruiting Review Part 1

This is part one of a four part series reviewing the Big East’s 2011 recruiting classes.

While few teams in the Big East had any major headliners on Signing Day, just about every team enhanced their recruiting hauls from previous years. Clearly Louisville Coach Charlie Strong had the best class as nearly every major recruiting service has the Cardinals in the Top 25 for recruiting. The following are my rankings for this year’s Big East recruiting classes.

1. Louisville
2. West Virginia
3. Rutgers
4. Cincinnati
5. Pittsburgh
6. South Florida
7. Syracuse
8. Connecticut

One way my rankings differ from those of other publications is that I have WVU at number two, in front of Rutgers and Cincy overtaking Pittsburgh. I put an emphasis on what each school will be able to accomplish with their recruits instead of praising the fact that they got them to commit. Let’s take a look at why my rankings differ from the others.

For starters, while the Scarlet Knights had an impressive class, including in-state running back Savon Huggins and two to three more 4-star players depending on what service you look at. But Schiano always seems to get top-notch defensive lineman, and the usual highly regarded skill player here and there…the only problem is classes like these have not helped Rutgers in the past. While one could argue it’s encouraging that Schiano and Co. finished with such an exceptional class following an abysmal season, I’m holding out judgement until Schiano shows me he can actually coach his recruits and not just get them on campus, ie. Tom Savage.

West Virginia on the other hand didn’t have as many high school superstars in their class this season, but besides Louisville, the Mountaineers recruited to their needs better than anyone in the Big East. New offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen recently noted that the key to any good offense is the O-line…and that was clearly a focus for the Mountaineer coaching staff. Four offensive lineman, including former Rutgers commit Marquis Lucas, signed with WVU, adding a crop of fresh talent that had been missing from Morgantown. Mountaineer headliners included Pennsylvania safety Terrell Chestnut and 4-star Florida running back Andrew Buie, but it could be the sleepers of the class that make some noise down the road. Houston-area Player of The Year and Texas 6-A state champion Dustin Garrison (a 2-star running back?) joins fellow Texan Paul Millard, the number one rated quarterback by MaxPreps.com (another unranked/ 2-star recruit?), in what many are considering recruiting steals by WVU. West Virginia needed a boost on offense and that’s what they got.

Tomorrow we will examine the difference between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh on this year’s recruiting trail and take a look at the top incoming freshmen in the Big East.