Happy Friday, everybody. We're one weekend closer to spring.
Thanks for the e-mails so far on the best game-day traditions at your school. Keep 'em coming. Good response from most places, but I'm looking for more from Syracuse, UConn and South Florida fans in particular. Hit me up in my mailbag.
We'll talk about those traditions next week. For now, let's answer some of your e-mails.
Jon-Michael from Charleston, W. Va., writes: With the amount of talent and depth that WVU has returning (I may be biased, being a die-hard WVU fan) why isn't WVU getting more pre-season hype heading into 2010? I realize our QB situation is a bit unknown at the moment, but our team did just fine last season without consistent quarterback play. I know we have top-notch talent that can translate into a Big East title and a undefeated season isn't out of the question. Do you think Pitt, UConn, or Rutgers are getting more preseason hype (which those teams have equally or less talent returning than WVU does) because they all have a better head coach and were stuck with "nice guy" Bill Stewart?
Brian Bennett: Well, it's not even March yet, so I don't know that anyone is getting a ton of preseason hype right now. I ranked the Mountaineers second in my initial preseason power rankings, and I feel like West Virginia should be in the Top 25 to start the year. If there is a lack of buzz nationally around the team, I'd say it's because of a couple of things: 1) the poor bowl showing against Florida State; people tend to remember the last thing they saw; 2) there are a lot of returning starters, but this is for the most part the same group that has been really good (18 wins in '08 and '09 combined) but not great (i.e., few marquee wins outside of last year's victory over Pitt) the past couple of years.
My take: Who cares? Teams might actually be better off not dealing with the pressure of preseason hype. West Virginia has the talent and opportunity to win the Big East this year. Play well and everything else takes care of itself.
Robert G. from Louisville writes: I'm looking at your list of new coaches and staff and can't help but notice that most of the league teams are filling their vacancies with DII and lower-tier DI assistants. However, Louisville is staffing up with assistants from top-tier ACC and SEC schools like Florida (understandable considering Charlie Strong came from there) Alabama, Miami and Georgia Tech. In your opinion, does this bode well not only for the immediate future but for the long haul? Should Strong be successful and move on as is the custom at Louisville, that would create a pool of potential head coaches.
Brian Bennett: Each situation is different. For example, South Florida and Cincinnati saw their new head coaches understandably bring along a lot of assistants from their previous staffs (Butch Jones from Central Michigan, Skip Holtz from East Carolina). UConn and Rutgers hired assistants who had been in those programs before, for the most part, while Syracuse got some big-name former players like Rob Moore and Tyrone Wheatley.
But I think the staff Strong was able to assemble is mighty impressive, getting two coaches from Florida to come along, hiring away Clint Hurtt from Miami and Brian Jean-Mary from Georgia Tech, among others. It shows that other coaches want to work with Strong and have great respect for him. That's a great start, and it also helps that many of the assistants have strong ties to the recruiting rich areas in Florida and elsewhere. The first couple of months of the Strong era could hardly have gone much better.
Matt from Philadelphia writes: I think I have the best expansion plan. What do you think about the Big East telling the Big Ten, "We will tell Notre Dame they cannot be in the Big East anymore for their sports, thus forcing their hand to join the Big Ten." In return the Big East would get Penn State. With Penn State in the league, they could draw BC and Maryland in and round it out by adding UCF. The Big Ten could get to 12 by adding Missouri as well. Both leagues win!
Brian Bennett: I like your reasoning so much that I've decided to apply it to another area of my life: I will tell Natalie Portman that I will stop hiding in the bushes outside her house, thereby freeing her to date Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg. In return, she will give me Rachel Bilson's number. With Bilson on my arm at the red carpet events, Zooey Deschanel and Freida Pinto will be so impressed that they will have their agents call me and set up dates. It's a win-win-win!
Brad B. from Bethel Park, Penn.,writes: I am a Pitt fan and I have taken notice that there are a lot of unhappy fans in the Big East (Cincinnati peeps mainly) who are mad at the fact that there were eight Pitt Panthers on the Top 30 list. A lot of them pointed out the fact that Cincinatti won the BE and they think that should give them more players on the list. They also said that if Pitt has that many good players, than Wanny has done a terrible job at coaching. ...[B]ut I want to point out to everybody that Pitt has never had a STUD quarterback. In fact, Wanny has never had a good QB anywhere, it's his curse. If you look at any team that has won the BE in recent years, they have all had great QB's. I know Stull had a good year but he is not a Tony Pike or Pat White by any means.
Brian Bennett: That's an interesting take, Brad, though you may underestimate just how well Bill Stull played last year. Wannstedt joked last year that his tombstone will read, "Never had a great quarterback." Fact is, high-level quarterback play does often determine who wins the league championship, and that's seemingly more true now in the age of spread offenses. We'll see if Tino Sunseri or Pat Bostick can play at that level this year for Pitt.
One last note I meant to include last week when talking about the low number of Cincinnati players on the Top 30 list: In some ways, the Bearcats reminded me of the New England Patriots during their run. They had a terrific quarterback, a few top-flight stars and then a bunch of really good players who were smart, disciplined and well coached. Am I wrong about this?
Dom from Orlando, Fla., writes: Mr. benit [sic], your [sic] a joke! To not put Devine ahead of the Spitt guy is ludicrous. They went head to head and Devine won the game single handedly! You?re [sic] a Spitt suck up. That's ok; many writers are Pitt suck ups. In any event you suck up to Spitt and your writing sucks to [sic]!
TK from Pittsburgh writes: It's funny how you ALWAYS forget to mention Pitt players. Just admit that you dislike Pittsburgh because you're some closet Bengals fan or something. Just freaking admit it before I lose the last sliver of respect I have for you. It's either you hold a grudge against Pittsburgh and all its glory (and sports heritage), OR you're a moron and actually live in a fantasy land where WVU and Louisville are still running the show.
Brian Bennett: Ah, I love my job.
Thanks for the e-mails so far on the best game-day traditions at your school. Keep 'em coming. Good response from most places, but I'm looking for more from Syracuse, UConn and South Florida fans in particular. Hit me up in my mailbag.
We'll talk about those traditions next week. For now, let's answer some of your e-mails.
Jon-Michael from Charleston, W. Va., writes: With the amount of talent and depth that WVU has returning (I may be biased, being a die-hard WVU fan) why isn't WVU getting more pre-season hype heading into 2010? I realize our QB situation is a bit unknown at the moment, but our team did just fine last season without consistent quarterback play. I know we have top-notch talent that can translate into a Big East title and a undefeated season isn't out of the question. Do you think Pitt, UConn, or Rutgers are getting more preseason hype (which those teams have equally or less talent returning than WVU does) because they all have a better head coach and were stuck with "nice guy" Bill Stewart?
Brian Bennett: Well, it's not even March yet, so I don't know that anyone is getting a ton of preseason hype right now. I ranked the Mountaineers second in my initial preseason power rankings, and I feel like West Virginia should be in the Top 25 to start the year. If there is a lack of buzz nationally around the team, I'd say it's because of a couple of things: 1) the poor bowl showing against Florida State; people tend to remember the last thing they saw; 2) there are a lot of returning starters, but this is for the most part the same group that has been really good (18 wins in '08 and '09 combined) but not great (i.e., few marquee wins outside of last year's victory over Pitt) the past couple of years.
My take: Who cares? Teams might actually be better off not dealing with the pressure of preseason hype. West Virginia has the talent and opportunity to win the Big East this year. Play well and everything else takes care of itself.
Robert G. from Louisville writes: I'm looking at your list of new coaches and staff and can't help but notice that most of the league teams are filling their vacancies with DII and lower-tier DI assistants. However, Louisville is staffing up with assistants from top-tier ACC and SEC schools like Florida (understandable considering Charlie Strong came from there) Alabama, Miami and Georgia Tech. In your opinion, does this bode well not only for the immediate future but for the long haul? Should Strong be successful and move on as is the custom at Louisville, that would create a pool of potential head coaches.
Brian Bennett: Each situation is different. For example, South Florida and Cincinnati saw their new head coaches understandably bring along a lot of assistants from their previous staffs (Butch Jones from Central Michigan, Skip Holtz from East Carolina). UConn and Rutgers hired assistants who had been in those programs before, for the most part, while Syracuse got some big-name former players like Rob Moore and Tyrone Wheatley.
But I think the staff Strong was able to assemble is mighty impressive, getting two coaches from Florida to come along, hiring away Clint Hurtt from Miami and Brian Jean-Mary from Georgia Tech, among others. It shows that other coaches want to work with Strong and have great respect for him. That's a great start, and it also helps that many of the assistants have strong ties to the recruiting rich areas in Florida and elsewhere. The first couple of months of the Strong era could hardly have gone much better.
Matt from Philadelphia writes: I think I have the best expansion plan. What do you think about the Big East telling the Big Ten, "We will tell Notre Dame they cannot be in the Big East anymore for their sports, thus forcing their hand to join the Big Ten." In return the Big East would get Penn State. With Penn State in the league, they could draw BC and Maryland in and round it out by adding UCF. The Big Ten could get to 12 by adding Missouri as well. Both leagues win!
Brian Bennett: I like your reasoning so much that I've decided to apply it to another area of my life: I will tell Natalie Portman that I will stop hiding in the bushes outside her house, thereby freeing her to date Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg. In return, she will give me Rachel Bilson's number. With Bilson on my arm at the red carpet events, Zooey Deschanel and Freida Pinto will be so impressed that they will have their agents call me and set up dates. It's a win-win-win!
Brad B. from Bethel Park, Penn.,writes: I am a Pitt fan and I have taken notice that there are a lot of unhappy fans in the Big East (Cincinnati peeps mainly) who are mad at the fact that there were eight Pitt Panthers on the Top 30 list. A lot of them pointed out the fact that Cincinatti won the BE and they think that should give them more players on the list. They also said that if Pitt has that many good players, than Wanny has done a terrible job at coaching. ...[B]ut I want to point out to everybody that Pitt has never had a STUD quarterback. In fact, Wanny has never had a good QB anywhere, it's his curse. If you look at any team that has won the BE in recent years, they have all had great QB's. I know Stull had a good year but he is not a Tony Pike or Pat White by any means.
Brian Bennett: That's an interesting take, Brad, though you may underestimate just how well Bill Stull played last year. Wannstedt joked last year that his tombstone will read, "Never had a great quarterback." Fact is, high-level quarterback play does often determine who wins the league championship, and that's seemingly more true now in the age of spread offenses. We'll see if Tino Sunseri or Pat Bostick can play at that level this year for Pitt.
One last note I meant to include last week when talking about the low number of Cincinnati players on the Top 30 list: In some ways, the Bearcats reminded me of the New England Patriots during their run. They had a terrific quarterback, a few top-flight stars and then a bunch of really good players who were smart, disciplined and well coached. Am I wrong about this?
Dom from Orlando, Fla., writes: Mr. benit [sic], your [sic] a joke! To not put Devine ahead of the Spitt guy is ludicrous. They went head to head and Devine won the game single handedly! You?re [sic] a Spitt suck up. That's ok; many writers are Pitt suck ups. In any event you suck up to Spitt and your writing sucks to [sic]!
TK from Pittsburgh writes: It's funny how you ALWAYS forget to mention Pitt players. Just admit that you dislike Pittsburgh because you're some closet Bengals fan or something. Just freaking admit it before I lose the last sliver of respect I have for you. It's either you hold a grudge against Pittsburgh and all its glory (and sports heritage), OR you're a moron and actually live in a fantasy land where WVU and Louisville are still running the show.
Brian Bennett: Ah, I love my job.
Brian Bennett | email
College Football- ESPN.com Big Ten blogger
- Joined ESPN.com in 2008
- Wrote for The Courier-Journal
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Andrea Adelson
Adelson joined ESPN.com in 2010 after spending time as a college football columnist at The Orlando Sentinel. She has covered college football since her days as a University of Florida student, and lives in Orlando, Fla.
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