ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Each Monday during the season, this space will review the previous week's highlights and top players in the Big East and preview the coming week. Since it's Week One, all we have to do is preview.

Here's what's on tap for Week 1, with games listed in descending order of interest and importance:

Monday, Sept. 7

Cincinnati at Rutgers (ESPN, 4 p.m.): A potentially pivotal conference game, on the first weekend of the season and all alone by itself on Monday. While the coaches may not find this ideal, it's great for us to watch.

Saturday, Sept. 5

Minnesota at Syracuse (ESPN2, Noon): The start of the Doug Marrone era plus the college football debut of Greg Paulus. And Minnesota could be pretty good. There will be a lot of eyeballs on this one out of sheer curiosity.

Connecticut at Ohio: Right out of the gate, the Huskies are going on the road. It will be interesting to see how the new no-huddle offense looks, and UConn may not be able to hold much back with a possibly challenging opener.

Youngstown State at Pittsburgh: The Panthers shouldn't have too much trouble with the FCS Penguins, but most people will be looking to see how quarterback Bill Stull performs after months and months of scrutiny.

Liberty at West Virginia: This is another game that shouldn't be close in the second half, but it will mark the beginning of the post-Pat White era for quarterback Jarrett Brown.

Wofford at South Florida: Wofford gave South Carolina fits last year with its unusual wingbone offense, though several starters from last year's team have moved on.

Indiana State (0-1) at Louisville: You'd be hard-pressed to find a worse matchup anywhere in Week 1. The FCS Sycamores have lost 28 straight games, including last week's opener against Quincy, a NAIA team, in overtime. The Cardinals should be able to name their score.