A preseason Top 25 without the Big East?

Big East Blog

January, 9, 2009

Jan 9

5:18

PM ET

Email Print

By Brian Bennett

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

My colleague Mark Schlabach has come out with his super-early 2009 Top 25, and there's nary a Big East team included.

And you know what? It's hard to argue against that.

A couple of weeks ago, I was sure Pitt would be no worse than a preseason top 15 selection. But given the way the Panthers played in the Brut Sun Bowl and LeSean McCoy's apparent departure, Pitt suddenly has all kinds of question marks.

West Virginia still has plenty of talent, but the loss of Pat White is going to hurt the Mountaineers' in the pollsters' eyes. Rutgers needs a new quarterback and wide receivers. Cincinnati loses 10 of 11 starters on defense. Connecticut won't have Donald Brown or Cody Brown and was only 8-5 with them. South Florida brings back Matt Grothe and George Selvie but doesn't deserve Top 25 status after the way it's performed the last two conference seasons. Louisville and Syracuse are rebuilding.

The Big East race looks as wide open in 2009 as it has ever been. At this point, I can't pick a favorite.

And at this point, I'm not sure you can pick any Big East team in the Top 25.

Tags:

Uncategorized, South Florida Bulls, Connecticut Huskies, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Louisville Cardinals, West Virginia Mountaineers, Cincinnati Bearcats, Pittsburgh Panthers, Syracuse Orange

Sort comments by: Most Recent | First Posted

Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.