ESPN College Football

Everybody knows what the marquee nonconference games are in the Big East this season -- South Florida versus Florida State and Miami, West Virginia at Auburn, Notre Dame against both UConn and Pitt, etc.

But what are the scariest games? In other words, in what nonconference matchups will a Big East team probably be favored but could still struggle and lose? Here are my picks for five nonconference games to fear:

• East Carolina at West Virginia, Sept. 12: Surely the Mountaineers won't lose to East Carolina two years in a row, right? And certainly not in Morgantown. But the Pirates thoroughly dominated West Virginia last year and will have a lot of confidence coming into this Week 2 showdown. The Mountaineers' rebuilt offensive line had better be ready.

• Connecticut at Baylor, Sept. 19: I'm not sure if UConn would be favored in this game, but this is a tougher road test than many people may realize. Baylor is a program on the rise behind sensational sophomore quarterback Robert Griffin, and the Bears gave the Huskies all they could handle in East Hartford last season.

• Rutgers at Maryland, Sept. 26: The Scarlet Knights' nonconference schedule is ridiculously soft other than this game, which may prove to be a challenge. Maryland looks no better than mediocre on paper, but this will be Rutgers' first road game of the season. The Scarlet Knights will probably be coming off two blowout home victories over Howard and Florida International, which may not adequately prepare them for a trip to ACC country.

• Fresno State at Cincinnati, Sept. 26: Even though Fresno State appears to be down compared to its recent success, the Bulldogs usually manage to pull off at least one big win each year (ask Rutgers about 2008). Cincinnati will be playing a week after a potentially mentally-taxing cross-country trip to Oregon State. The Bearcats also open the season at Rutgers and could be drained if not physically beat up by the time this game rolls around.

• Arkansas State at Louisville, Oct. 31: Hey, this is the same Louisville program that has lost to Syracuse the past two years and scuffled by Middle Tennessee State in 2007. Arkansas State is a respectable Sun Belt outfit that upset Texas A&M on the road to open '08. Given that the game is on Halloween, this could be the scariest possible upset of all.