ESPN College Football

Our series on coaches we love to hate is coming to a close. Go ahead, shed that tear.

Earlier this week, I asked you to vote for the biggest Big East villain in recent history. All week, it was a dead heat between vagabond Todd Graham and traitor Rich Rodriguez, ahead of Bobby Petrino, Brian Kelly and Randy Edsall.

The winner, as of 8 a.m. this morning: Rodriguez -- but he was just barely ahead of Graham. With 3,206 votes in, Rodriguez got 29 percent of the vote; Graham got 28 percent. Petrino was next, followed by Kelly and Edsall.

Here is a little of what you had to say, with a few entries for coaches not included in the poll.

John Ready in Youngstown, Ohio, writes: I think you should add Steve Kragthorpe to the list. He absolutely ruined the Cards. I am a die hard Louisville fan, but found it hard to watch the Cards during the Krag-era. He may not be a villain, but he has been quite vilified for his job (not) done during his tenure.

Mark in Marlboro, N.J., writes: With regards to the poll about the biggest villains, they all have their faults. Graham was a horrible coach, Edsall didn't take a much better job, Rich Rod went for the money and Petrino is a bad guy, even before his latest episode. As the father of a Cincy grad, I don't get on Kelly as much as their fan base. He made the program relevant taking them to two straight BCS Bowl games. My son went to school thinking the hoop squad would be playing in the Final Four. With a name like Kelly, you can't deny the man the opportunity to coach at Notre Dame

Jordan in Lakeland, Fla., writes: He may not be the winner, but I am not sure how you could not include Jim Leavitt in your list of villians.

White Dog777 writes: All the other coaches seem to have made upward mobile decisions but Randy Edsall leaving UCONN for his dream job at Maryland? Plus the way he left the team and not flying back from the Fiesta bowl with them was in my mind bush league. I really hope UCONN kicks the snot out of them in Maryland on Sept. 15th.

Bradenton Bull writes: IMO it's Brian Kelly for leaving UC high an dry right before playing UF in the BCS Bowl. UC ended up getting killed, which obviously greatly contributed to the negative perception of the Big East.. That blow out was killer to the conference. Not saying they would've beat UF, but I don't think they'd have gotten worked over like that.

Calmteer writes: Todd Graham and Petrino should be running away with this vote. The other three all put in their time and left their schools much better than they found them and all brought their schools multiple Big East championships and BCS games.

Eric 72785 writes: They did not point out that RichRod left the day after losing a game against a TERRIBLE team... that had we won, would have placed WVU in the NC. He literally (threw) away a number 2 ranking, with zero shot at not being in the big show ... *uck RichRod.

IAM4WVU87 writes: Funny Rodriguez and Graham receiving an almost equal number of votes, and now that are coaching in the same conference. Those poor $@%!$@%! have no idea what they're in for.

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!

• Cincinnati athletic director Whit Babcock saw unity at the Big East spring meetings.
• Louisville has offered class of 2014 athlete DeShone Kizer.
• The Big East pins its hopes on a TV deal.
• You can read more of Todd Graham's justifications for leaving Pitt. His story gets a little different every time he tells it, doesn't it?
• Syracuse defensive end Chandler Jones signed with the Patriots.
• Big East expansion West is still in the works.

It is well documented that coaches leave the Big East -- in less than graceful ways.

But I contend that nobody left their program more in the lurch than Todd Graham at Pitt.

What he did was cold and callous, resigning after he was not given permission to interview at Arizona State last December. Refusing to open the door when Pitt officials came knocking. Sending out a goodbye text to his players, the very ones he sold on honor, loyalty, trust and commitment. Now, this does not make him different than many other head coaches, who say one thing today and are gone tomorrow.

What makes his situation different are the circumstances surrounding his departure. Yes, Greg Schiano left Rutgers in the lurch for the Tampa Bay Bucs, less than a week before signing day. But he had been at Rutgers for 11 seasons and built a successful program on his own. Maybe you overlook some of the more unsavory details about the way he left because you can appreciate what he did while in New Jersey.

Graham? He stuck around for one miserable 6-6 season. He did nothing but hurt Pitt. Because his one-year tenure left the Panthers looking for their fourth head coach in a two-year span. No other program has had to deal with that type of coaching turnover. Most importantly, no player has had to deal with that type of coaching turnover.

If college football is supposed to be about the student-athlete experience, then I cannot imagine anybody at Pitt can say they have had an unbelievable time when you consider the drama.

Dave Wannstedt recruited this group of seniors. Then he got fired after delivering a share of the Big East title. New coach Mike Haywood came along from Miami (Ohio). He was then fired after less than three weeks on the job after an arrest on domestic violence charges. In came Graham, who arrived selling high-octane football in a blue-collar Pennsylvania town. Was he all about the Pitt student-athletes?

Not if you consider billboards around the city with his face on it. Not when you consider the way he criticized his players for failing to pick up his prized system. Not when you consider the way he treated quarterback Tino Sunseri. It was always about Graham, which is why he ultimately left. The job was a mistake, he says now. His kids did not like Pittsburgh, he says now. Yet during the season, his wife proudly posted photos of herself and her kids in Pitt jerseys before games and practices.

He failed Pitt, and he failed his players, who came out on Twitter to blast him publicly for the way he left. Not one player ripped into Schiano. That shows you the big difference between the two.

Now, the Panthers players have to start over again. Sunseri has to learn his third offensive system in three years. Who can blame him for being slow to pick it up this spring? Changing playbooks once in four years is hard enough. Doing it three times in three years is almost too much to ask. Credit the Pitt players for not complaining about the lot they have been given.

They are happier to have new coach Paul Chryst, a man who at least seems to want to put roots down in Pittsburgh. He is going back to the way Pitt likes to play offense, another positive step. If hindsight is 20/20, Pitt should have just hired Chryst instead of Haywood when it had the chance. Instead, the Panthers went through an unnecessary and overly straining rigmarole.

Pitt is hoping all that is in the past. It cannot afford to have another coach leave it in the lurch yet again.

Earlier today, you saw my compilation of recent Big East coaches who have left their respective teams in, well, not the greatest ways.

Now it is your time to vote: Which coach do you think is the most hated or vilified in recent Big East history? Because let's be honest: there are no villains in the league right now. No coach has been in the league longer than four seasons; no coach has done anything to draw the ire or disrespect of their fellow coaches or fans.

So we have to dip back into history, and there we find plenty of guys who ruffled feathers. Your choices:

Randy Edsall. Hightailed it out of UConn after the Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma, forgoing the team charter plane home to run off with Maryland. Never told his players in person he was going to leave.

Todd Graham. Hightailed it out of Pitt after a 6-6 season filled with failed promises and underachievement. Said goodbye via text message, and has since said it was a mistake to take the Panthers job. And his kids didn't like Pittsburgh. Now enjoying sunny Arizona.

Brian Kelly. Hightailed it out of Cincinnati after a 12-0 regular season for Notre Dame. Waited until the end of his team banquet to tell his players of his departure after they already found out from news reports.

Bobby Petrino. Hightailed it out of Louisville after a 12-1 season and an Orange Bowl appearance for the Atlanta Falcons, after having conversations with Auburn, Florida, LSU and the Oakland Raiders while still coaching the Cardinals.

Rich Rodriguez. Hightailed it out of West Virginia for Michigan, where he failed spectacularly in three seasons with the Wolverines. He may still be the most hated man in Morgantown.

What do you think? Did I forget anyone? Please leave your comments down below or in the mailbag and we will recap the results and some of your thoughts Friday.

Time for a little game. Think of the most vilified college football coaches today.

Your list probably looks something like this:

Bobby Petrino.
Rich Rodriguez.
Todd Graham.
Randy Edsall.

You know what they all have in common. They all were Big East coaches at one point in time. Really great Big East coaches, to boot. But alas, great coaches never stick around for long in this league, a common lament among Big East fans. Perhaps the bigger question is -- what has made the Big East a breeding ground for villainous coaches?

Consider the recent history.

Exhibit A. Petrino got his first head coaching job at Louisville, and did one heck of a job, going 41-9 in four seasons. But the Cardinals were never just right, were they? I mean, how could they be when you 1) Try to negotiate a deal to become head coach at Auburn behind your boss' back. 2) Interview at Florida, Mississippi AND LSU the following year, while pledging love and loyalty to Louisville in between. 3) Forget loyalty and interview with the Oakland Raiders after Year 3 in Louisville. 4) Finally end the misery and leave for the Atlanta Falcons after a 12-1 season and an Orange Bowl berth.

That Atlanta dream job was not quite right either, so he left with good-bye statements taped to his players' lockers before the season even ended and headed for Arkansas. You all know how well his stint ended there.

Maybe all these aforementioned Big East coaches just hate good-byes.

Edsall left for Maryland after UConn lost the Fiesta Bowl to Oklahoma in January 2011 and never told his players word one about his plans. In fact, he did not even take the team charter home with the team. What may even be worse than that -- he made Jordan Todman get up in front of the team to explain why he was leaving early for the NFL draft. Edsall just finished a 2-10 season at Maryland in which he took a beating and lost 24 transfers. He is working hard to right the ship -- but you can bet some folks in Storrs are thinking, "Karma!"

Meanwhile at Pitt, Graham also had a tough time with good-byes at the end of last season. He told his players he was leaving via text message and hightailed it for Arizona State after a 6-6 season in which he had his players buying into an "high-octane" and "high-energy" offense. This, of course, came after he pretty much begged for the Pitt job after the Mike Haywood fiasco. But his shenanigans started at Rice, where he also had a one-year stint before leaving for Tulsa. ESPN.com columnist Mark Schlabach dubbed Graham the new president of the Liar's Club after his Pitt exit.

Rich Rod? Well, he is persona non grata in two states, West Virginia and Michigan. Who can forget the drama after he left the Mountaineers for the Wolverines in 2007, a few short months after signing a new contract and pledging his commitment to his school? West Virginia sued Rodriguez in the wake of his departure, and Michigan turned out to be an absolute disaster. It sure ain't easy being hated in as many spots as these guys.

There are others who left in less-than-ideal ways. How about Brian Kelly at Cincinnati, waiting until the end of his team banquet to announce his departure for Notre Dame? This was hours AFTER players began hearing news reports that they had lost their coach. Most recently, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano left for Tampa Bay less than a week before signing day, not even telling his loyal assistants, who were out on the road recruiting without any idea about what was happening.

His departure was tame compared to the rest. As for the others, I think they would make an excellent subject for a new television series.

"College Football Coaches Behaving Badly."

When the 2011 season ended, all appeared tranquil throughout Big East coaching land.

Of the eight headed coaches in the league at the time, only Greg Schiano had more than five years at his school. The other seven had three seasons or fewer under their belt. Louisville Charlie Strong had already signed a contract extension. Cincinnati coach Butch Jones was in line for one of his own.

So maybe, just maybe, there would be a bit of stability among the head-coaching ranks.

Maybe not.

First, Todd Graham bolted for Arizona State without so much as a good bye. Then Schiano stunned everybody when he left for the Tampa Bay Bucs. Their departures mean the Big East goes into 2012 with at least one new head coach for the fourth straight season.

But they also continued a trend that has hit the Big East harder than any other automatic-qualifying conference -- their head coaches leave for other head-coaching jobs more frequently than every league. So you see why there are many who believe the Big East is a stepping-stone league for head coaches. Here is the unvarnished numerical truth.

Since 2004, there have been 15 head-coaching changes in the Big East (including West Virginia). Of those changes, seven coaches left for another job either on the FBS level or the NFL. They comprise a who's who list of some of the most well-respected coaches in the game today. Some have gone on to great success (Mark Dantonio). Others, not so much (Rich Rodriguez, Randy Edsall).

During that same time period, only the MAC had more head coaches leave for another job, with nine. Conference USA also had seven head coaches leave for another job.

If you look at the schools in automatic-qualifying conferences, the Pac-12 was second behind the Big East in coaches leaving for another head-coaching position, with three. Of the six automatic-qualifying conferences, the Big East is the only league that has had at least one head coach vacancy at each member school since 2004.

But there is also another way to look at these coaching moves. When looking at the number of coaching vacancies during this time period, the Big East had the highest percentage of openings because coaches left for another job: 46 percent. In the MAC, that percentage was 40 percent.

The departed Big East coaches have cited many reasons for leaving -- better opportunity at a more high-profile program; NFL aspirations; better fan, institutional support; more stability. Leaving for more highly respected conferences has to play a role as well. The chance to prove yourself in the Big Ten versus the Big East may be appealing to some.

But maybe not all. As mentioned above, Jones and Strong recently signed contract extensions to stay at their respective schools. By no means does that tie them to their jobs forever, but it is a show of commitment from both -- especially when you consider their names came up for several job openings this past offseason.

"I believe in what we're building," Jones said in December. "I think there's so many great things to building a really successful football program and not just a successful team. We have great practice facilities now. We have very good facilities. We're in a conference that we can be extremely competitive in. We have a great fan base. We've got a great place to attract the top-caliber student-athletes to."

Still, it is always unsettling to see that Doug Marrone -- going into Year 4 -- is the longest-tenured coach in the Big East. At least nobody goes into 2012 on the hot seat.

But on the other hand, everybody goes into the year on high alert. This could be the year they lose their head coach, if history is any indication.

The speculation began as soon as the vacancies hit.

What would happen to the recruiting classes at Pitt and Rutgers after their head coaches surprisingly bolted? Both schools had amassed quite a bit of four-star talent under Todd Graham and Greg Schiano. It would take a herculean effort to retain everybody in the fold, many pundits said.

Well, consider Paul Chryst and Kyle Flood the Goliaths of the Big East. The two first-year coaches delivered top notch classes on signing day Wednesday, retaining every four-star player who committed under their predecessors while also picking up a few more stellar players along the way.

Rutgers finished in the ESPN Recruiting Nation Top 25, at No. 24 with Flood leading the way. Both the Scarlet Knights and Pitt earned B-minus grades from the ESPN recruiting experts -- the highest grades given out to any Big East team. Stop and consider that first-year coach Rich Rodriguez at Arizona got a C for his class, and Graham got a C-plus for his class at Arizona State.

"There's a group of guys, Pitt was the place for them," Chryst said. "They wanted to be here. They've got a unique bond because of sticking together and going through what they went through. Recruiting is about finding the right fit and they believe that Pitt is the best fit for them. It's exciting. It gives me encouragement that [Pitt] stands on its own."

Just how rare is it for first-year coaches to do well? Aside from Urban Meyer at Ohio State, Flood was the only new coach to have a Top 25 class. And he did it in an incredibly compressed time frame, something that deserves a standing ovation. Schiano left six days before signing day. Flood was named interim head coach and went to work holding his class together. He assured recruits he would be the next head coach at Rutgers, and that gave them a sense of relief.

Flood was hired Monday and formally introduced as Schiano's successor on Tuesday afternoon. Later that night, Rutgers picked up its best commitment of the class -- ESPNU150 defensive end Darius Hamilton, the No. 1 player in the state of New Jersey. Flood lost one committed player to Boston College, but that was minimal when you consider he added one of the best players in the nation.

Rutgers ended up with six four-star players -- double what it got last year.

“It has been a great testament to what I have always believed about recruiting and I think sometimes this gets distorted," Flood said. "If you recruit good people and you deal with them honestly, you can get through any situation. That was what we were able to do with this recruiting class, because at every stage of events from Friday to Monday to Wednesday we were completely open, completely honest and one of the best things that we did was bring (athletic director) Tim Pernetti on the road with us as an assistant coach to show them that.

"We didn’t hide anything. When I said that night that I fully expected to be the head coach at Rutgers they believed me and they stayed with us. When that came true on Monday it just gave more credit to that way of dealing with people. I think if you deal with people like that in recruiting you have a chance to get through anything.”

As for Pitt, Chryst had a much larger time frame with which to work. He was hired in late December, and almost immediately the big-name commitments who gave their word to Graham came out and re-affirmed their pledge to the Panthers. None was bigger than seeing four-star quarterback Chad Voytik and ESPNU150 running back Rushel Shell say they still wanted to go to Pitt.

Chryst did lose several three-star players who had committed under Graham, but he also picked up a huge signature on signing day from four-star linebacker Deaysean Rippy, the No. 12 player in the state of Pennsylvania. That gave Pitt five four-star players in its class. Last year, the Panthers had one.

It is time to take a last look back at how each Big East team fared in 2011 with season-ending report cards.

Up today: Pitt.

Offense: Anybody who watched Pitt play on offense this season knew it was a struggle. That is probably putting it nicely, too. This team never bought into the spread style former coach Todd Graham wanted to run, and once running back Ray Graham went down with a torn ACL against UConn, it was a massive ordeal to generate anything on offense. Quarterback Tino Sunseri ended up with more interceptions (11) than touchdowns (10). The offensive line was the worst in the Big East, wracked with injuries and lacking in depth. Rather than point the blame at himself, Graham blamed his players for not adjusting well enough to his hurry-up offense. But you could argue that Graham did not put his players in the best position to succeed, and that is a big reason why Sunseri took a step back in 2011.

Grade: D.

Defense: As usual, this was the strength of the team -- particularly late in the season. In the early going, there were major problems in the secondary and with the linebackers, but players adjusted nicely to the new defensive scheme and the push up front grew stronger. Aaron Donald ended up finishing the season 11 sacks to rank second in the Big East. Brandon Lindsey tied for fourth with 8.5. In fact, Pitt had one of the stronger defensive lines in the Big East and ranked No. 3 in the nation in sacks (43). Pitt was not as good as a season ago in terms of total defense, but this group kept the Panthers alive, which helped them make a bowl game despite some dreadful performances on offense.

Grade: B-minus.

Overall: This was not the season anybody expected out of Pitt. The preseason No. 2 choice in the league sputtered all year long, then had the coach who reconfigured both offensive and defensive schemes bolt without so much as a goodbye. Pitt did make it to a fourth straight bowl game, but the Panthers finished with their first losing record since 2007. There really is no way to classify this as a winning season, or even an average season. There was too much talent on this team for it to finish 6-7. The blame for this falls squarely on the shoulders of Graham, who stubbornly set his players up to fail.

Grade: D.

Previously featured:

• Cincinnati
• UConn
• Louisville

Time for your final Big East mailblog of the week. The season might be over, but the mailbag is always open!

RPitman in Chandler, Ariz., writes: This is really old and rehashed news to all people in the Pac-12. Just because Mark May screamed wolf everybody at ESPN jumped on the bandwagon. What about Saban and the Dolphins, Rich Rod when he left West Virginia. Oh, a good one! John Cooper, when I asked him before the bowl game if he was staying at ASU and he said yes. At halftime they announced he had accepted a job at Ohio State. Andrea, compare Pittsburgh to Tempe and then you too will see the light. Did you forget to mention that [Todd] Graham was buying a lot in Phoenix, he vacationed here with his family every year, his in-laws lived close by and his AD at Pitt was almost run out of Lincoln Nebraska and is a total disaster? Keep working as a cub reporter and someday you may be offered a job in a major sports hub like Phoenix.

Adelson: No argument from me that the weather is much nicer in Arizona. I loved staying in Scottsdale when I covered the Fiesta Bowl a few years ago. But I do have to quibble with something you said -- just a quick look at some attendance numbers. The Coyotes rank last in the NHL in attendance. The Arizona Cardinals -- No. 28 in the NFL. The Diamondbacks -- No. 18 in MLB for a team that won their division. The Phoenix Suns rank No. 20. As for Graham, I appreciate your defense of him. I am not the only one who took a hammer to what he did. And I seem to recall Rich Rod taking an incredibly large amount of flak for what he did. He is still persona non grata in West Virginia. But there really is no defense for a coach who 1) leaves via text message through his operations guy and 2) hides behind his wife and children when it comes to explaining why he left.

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Doug in Tampa writes: Question on USF's hire for defensive coordinator, Chris Cosh. What do you really think about it? I'm torn here. The talent should be better at USF than K-State, so he should have success (If secondary gets better and Skip keeps his hands off of it). However, I don't see him having better numbers than [Mark] Snyder, so want your take.

Adelson: From the outside, it seems like a good hire. He and Skip Holtz know each other, and he runs the same type of defense that USF runs. So those are benefits. But when you look at his career trajectory, he has been at a lot of different stops without an extended period as a defensive coordinator at one place. I know coaches move around, but it is a little concerning to me that he has been a defensive coordinator at five different FBS schools and had a max tenure of three to four years. I haven't studied his defenses much, so I am going to see how things go in the spring and what type of feel this defense has -- and I want to talk to him as well -- before I give a full assessment.

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Nick Sheets in Cincinnati writes: I am a current Cincinnati fifth-year senior. I've been at the University through Brian Kelly's start to his leaving to Butch Jones' hard first year and through the end of this season. Four out of the last five years, Cincinnati has started the season unranked and ended it ranked. Is that ever going to change? Brian Kelly's first year as a coach he took us to 10-3 and the next two years were BCS bids. This year, we were a broken ankle away from a BCS bid (not saying we would have come back against WVU, but Rutgers would have been different). Any chance we'll actually get a preseason ranking for once?

Adelson: Not next year, Nick. Too many key players are leaving. Think about who is going -- Zach Collaros, both Big East players of the year on offense and defense, JK Schaffer -- who had more than 100 tackles in three straight seasons. Plus losing co-defensive coordinator Tim Banks could have an impact, depending on how Jones decides to handle the transition. I know there are a lot of programs that are simply expected to reload when losing so much talent and are still ranked in the preseason Top 25 when that happens. But Cincinnati is not there yet. Think about it -- Cincinnati is still in its infancy as a member of an FBS conference. So it is going to take a little bit more time for the perspective to change.

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BIGPGM in N.J., writes: Hey Andrea, Could you ever see this series of events unfolding?? 1. Big East wins court battle keeping WVU in Big East 2. Big XII needs another team immediately to maintain 10 teams for scheduling and TV contract purposes. 3. Big XII picks up BYU or some other non-Big East team, and continues to have no interest in expanding past 10 teams. 4. WVU is forced to stay in the Big East, but realizes this may be for the best considering access and success in the BCS. 5. Big East renegotiates TV contract, which is comparable to ACC contract. 6. With new contract and new members, Syracuse and Pitt realize that life is not greener on the other side, and never make the jump to the ACC. 7. With so many teams, the Big East keeps its new additions minus UCF making it a 12 team football conference and 18 teams for Hoops. Big Division: Boise State, San Diego State, Houston, SMU, Cincinnati, Louisville. East Division: Rutgers, UConn, Pitt, Syracuse, WVU, S. Florida 8. Big East and Big XII decide to have a conference affiliation similar to the recent Big Ten/Pac-12 agreement.

Adelson: In a word: no. But nice effort!

Well, you knew it was only a matter of time before Todd Graham started to put a spin on the real reason he left Pittsburgh. The fallout after he ditched the Panthers following a 6-6 season was a complete PR disaster for the new Arizona State coach.

So take a moment to think about what he could say to make all this seem totally right.

Think about the kids.

Yes, the kids.

Graham said several times that family played a huge role in why he left, citing his wife. But he went a little bit more in depth in an extended interview with Craig Morgan of FOXSportsArizona.com:

All three of my kids went to Pittsburgh and said, 'I don't want to live here, dad.' It wasn't because of the people. There were great people there, we worked our tail off and did some great things. I'm proud that they asked me to take over a program that had been on the front page of Sports Illustrated with the most criminalities in the country and we did some good things there, but they just didn't like it there.

(ASU) was a deal that I did not plan. It was an opportunity of a lifetime that just came up for me. I've got a responsibility to my family to take care of them.

But wait. There's more. Morgan asked whether it bothers Graham that his job hopping is a persistent topic of conversation, even though college football coaches leave their jobs for new opportunities all the time.

Nobody has ever asked me what kind of deal I got here versus what I had (at Pitt). Nobody's asked me what kind of commitment I had there -- half the commitment I have here. Who would not take that opportunity? Everything about this made sense if you sat down and looked at it for your family, for your future, for your finances. Everything. There was no comparison.

And then you have to remember that we wanted to be here pretty bad. That's the scariest thing I've ever done -- to resign my job. I'm not making a minimum-wage job. I took a great risk and I could have ruined my whole career. You're never going to please everybody, but when I look in the mirror every day, I know I did what was best for my family, and I've tried to do things the right way everywhere I've been.

Never mind that Pitt allowed him to completely remodel the entire football offices at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Pitt paid him roughly the same as he will be making at Arizona State. Pitt gave him his first job at an AQ school after the Mike Haywood debacle. His wife routinely was on Twitter, connecting with Pitt fans and sending out out pics of their family and kids enjoying life in Pittsburgh.

Graham is clearly playing defense here. He says in the interview, "Look, we knew we would get our head kicked in for doing this -- for coming here and leaving Pitt." But I don't think he realized just how negative the reaction would be when he left, so he is doing his best to explain.

I still don't think anybody outside of Arizona is buying what he's selling.

Now it is time to relive the top moments in the Big East for 2011 -- both the good, and the bad.

1. Eric LeGrand returns. Not only was this the top moment in the Big East, it was one of the top moments in all of sports in 2011. Seeing the injured LeGrand lead his Rutgers teammates onto the field in his wheelchair before the start of the West Virginia game Oct. 29 in middle of a snowstorm had to soften the hearts of even the most jaded. What LeGrand has been able to do is truly inspiring in the year since he was paralyzed making a hit against Army in 2010. He has gone further than anybody ever anticipated -- he has started rehab work on a treadmill and gotten twitches and sensations throughout his entire body. And he has begun to do radio and television work for Rutgers, as well.

2. Expansion. This is the storyline that eclipsed most everything else for the entire season. First it was Pitt and Syracuse leaving, seemingly catching commissioner John Marinatto off guard. Then TCU jumped ship. Then West Virginia. When everything was tidied up in December, the Big East had gone Big Country, adding Boise State, San Diego State, SMU, UCF and Houston. West Virginia's fate remains tied up in pending lawsuits. However that saga plays out, the Big East is prepared to launch Version 3.0 in 2013.

3. West Virginia goes BOOM! You could make the case that the way the Mountaineers dismantled Clemson in the Discover Orange Bowl should be ranked higher. In any other season, it would be No. 1. But when folks look back on the 2011 season, I think the first two stories are more likely to come to mind because of the way they transcended sports, and signaled the dawning of a new era. If we are going with purely on-the-field stories, then this one is the hands-down choice. West Virginia scored a bowl-record 70 points on the Tigers. For perspective, not even the worst teams in the nation -- New Mexico, FAU, Indiana and Akron -- had 70 scored on them this year. The ACC champ did. Unforgettable moment: Darwin Cook returning a fumble 99 yards to swing momentum, then taking down Obie the Orange Bowl mascot.

4. Down goes Collaros. One play changed the entire complexion of the Big East race. Too simple to say? Nope. Cincinnati had a two-game lead on everybody else on Nov. 12 when West Virginia came to town. In the second quarter, Bruce Irvin sacked Zach Collaros, who fumbled on the play. Julian Miller recovered in the end zone for a touchdown but the damage was done for the Bearcats. Collaros broke his ankle, and Cincinnati dropped two straight. West Virginia won out and finished in a three-way tie with Cincinnati and Louisville. The Mountaineers clinched the BCS berth -- leading to the eventual walloping of Clemson -- because they finished as the highest-ranked team in the final BCS standings.

5. Todd Graham bolts. In one of the most stunning turns of events this season, Todd Graham decided he had enough of Pittsburgh after 11 months on the job and a 6-6 record. He bolted for Arizona State without saying good-bye to his players, gleefully spewing the same speech he gave to the Panthers when he was hired for his "dream job." His coaching move drew universal scorn, and outrage from his players, as well. They took to Twitter to lambaste their former coach for his lies and unseemly departure.

6. Four clutch plays. West Virginia faced a must-win against USF in the regular-season finale Dec. 1. With the game tied at 27 and 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Bulls embarked on a drive that took them down to the West Virginia 28. That's when clutch play No. 1 happened. Najee Goode forced B.J. Daniels to fumble and the Mountaineers recovered. Geno Smith took over with 3:02 left. Clutch play No. 2: Stedman Bailey makes an unbelievable catch on fourth-and-10 for 26 yards, down at the USF 16. Clutch play No. 3: Shawne Alston drags Bailey back to the line of scrimmage after the catch so the Mountaineers can get the snap off without a penalty. Clutch play No. 4: Tyler Bitancurt hits a 28-yard field goal to win the game 30-27 and a share of the Big East title.

7. Ray Graham gets hurt. Pitt running back Ray Graham ranked second nationally and led the Big East in rushing yards per game (134.1) headed into Week 9 against UConn. But early on against the Huskies, Graham crumpled to the ground while making a cut, clutching his right knee. He had torn his ACL, and his season was over. You could almost say the same for the Panthers, who struggled to do anything on offense without their best player.

8. Charlie Strong, surfer. You know how momentous Louisville's 38-35 victory over West Virginia was this season? So momentous it sent coach Charlie Strong bodysurfing over his players in a jubilant locker room afterward. He had Adrian Bushell and Andrew Johnson to thank. On the first play of the fourth quarter, West Virginia lined up for a 23-yard field goal to tie the game. Bushell blocked the kick; Johnson returned it 82 yards for a touchdown and the momentum went to the Cardinals. It was their first win in Morgantown since 1990, and third win ever in the series.

9. Syracuse does what? Surely Syracuse's win over West Virginia in Morgantown in 2010 was a fluke. Surely the Mountaineers would gain revenge in the Dome. Yeah. About that. The Orange schooled West Virginia and reintroduced the Mountaineers to the tight end, pulling the biggest upset of the season 49-23. Syracuse had not scored that many points in the series since 1960. The game also marked the triumphant return of Chandler Jones -- who had two sacks and six tackles in his first game back from a knee injury.

10. USF collapse. The Bulls began the year 4-0 with a national ranking and a victory at Notre Dame. Then Big East play happened. USF lost seven of its final eight games and missed a bowl for the first time as members of the Big East. The Bulls also posted their worst record in Big East play (1-6). A team pegged as a dark horse disappointed in every possible way, losing five games by six points or fewer.

Now that the college football season is over, we have plenty of time to dissect what happened. Let us take a look back at what we learned about the Big East during bowl season.

1. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Yup, that was West Virginia hanging 70 on Clemson. Yup, that was Cincinnati beating Vanderbilt. Yup, that was two 10-win Big East teams finishing in the Top 25. Not too shabby for the most disrespected league in America. The twin results of bowl season might do little to calm the anti-Big East rhetoric, but clearly West Virginia served notice that it should not be trifled with in 2012. All season long we waited on the Mountaineers to put together a complete game from start to finish. We finally got it in the Discover Orange Bowl to the tune of a bowl record for points scored, along with many other Orange Bowl and BCS marks shattered. The television ratings might not have been terrific, but West Virginia put on one heck of a show in South Florida. Say what you will about its imminent departure to the Big 12 -- that game counted for the Big East, which had lost its three previous BCS games by a combined 38 points.

2. Comeback kid. Cincinnati coach Butch Jones wasn't exaggerating when he said Zach Collaros' return from an ankle injury was one of the best stories of bowl season. It was indeed. Collaros is a good kid and a good player who deserved to lead his team in his final game. He worked countless hours in the rehab room to get his broken ankle healed up enough to be able to play Vanderbilt. His status was a question leading up to the game, so much so that the Commodores were favored over the co-Big East champs. But Collaros was able to come back to the field about two weeks before schedule and deliver a 31-24 win. His stats weren't pretty (neither were his interceptions), but Collaros gutted it out and did just enough to get the Bearcats their fourth 10-win season in the past five years.

3. Louisville has some growing up to do. Don't get me wrong. The Cardinals exceeded most everyone's expectations this season when they won a share of the Big East title, and beat West Virginia along the way. But they had a few too many mistakes in their Belk Bowl loss to NC State, and their late rally came up just short. Teddy Bridgewater threw three interceptions, and was confused by some of the blitzes thrown his way. He also took several sacks late in the game when he should have thrown the ball away. This was a winnable game for Louisville, and it always hurts to lose. But I think this game can serve as a valuable learning experience heading into 2012.

4. Rutgers completes turnaround. It was a few months ago that people like me picked Rutgers to finish dead last. Consider its bowl win against Iowa State the bookend to a terrific turnaround season. What we always know to be true about the Scarlet Knights happened again -- they won their fifth straight bowl game, the longest active bowl winning streak in the nation. The game turned out to be the final one for receiver Mohamed Sanu, who declared for the NFL draft the following week. He had six catches for 62 yards in the game, and Jawan Jamison showed once again that the potential is there for the Scarlet Knights to have a good run game.

5. Pitt ends the misery. It was a miserable season for the Panthers, and they ended it with a miserable performance against SMU in the BBVA Compass Bowl. You can hardly blame them for wanting to turn the page on 2011, a season that has been defined by the antics of former coach Todd Graham. First he left his players in the lurch by making them play a style of offense that made them look inept. Then he left his players in the lurch when he lied to them and actually left with a text message through a surrogate as his way of thanking them for their hard work this season. Pitt ended up 6-7 -- its first losing season since 2007. The top half of the league might have been good, but the Big East did have four teams with losing records for the first time since 2005.

Rather than dwell on the way Todd Graham left Pitt, center Ryan Turnley turned is mind to the future.

He watched Wisconsin play in the Rose Bowl against Oregon, just to get a first glimpse at what new coach Paul Chryst will bring to the Panthers.

"Just from watching Wisconsin play, I know he’s going to bring a physical brand of football back to Pitt," Turnley said in a recent phone interview. "We're all looking forward to it. I watched the Rose Bowl. They executed their offense so well, which means they’re taught extremely well. That's something as a player, when you watch other teams do that, you know they have great coaches, and we're looking forward to that."

Turnley was probably not alone in watching that game. It is a way of looking ahead after the distractions of the last month. The players will attempt to put all that behind them as they head into the BBVA Compass Bowl against SMU on Saturday.

"I think everybody knows what (Graham) did, and I think he took some criticism for it," Turnley said. "It’s time to move on. We’ve been through things like this before, and we’re not going to dwell on it."

Turnley was much nicer than a few of his teammates, who began bowl week interviews with more scathing comments. Linebacker Max Gruder called Graham's actions despicable, and defensive tackle Chas Alecxih said he had no desire to ever see Graham again.

Because of all the turmoil, many have wondered where Pitt would find the focus or motivation going into a bowl game it already played in last season, under similar circumstances.

"We have to do it for each other and Pitt," cornerback Antwuan Reed said. "We’re a Pitt family and we’re keeping our Pitt family together. We’ve come closer because of everything that’s happened, come closer. We've just got to play for each other and we’ll be fine. That’s the motivation."

This will be Reed's final game as a Pitt player, so ending it with a victory is something that would be special. Turnley also mentioned winning the game for all the outgoing seniors. Pitt is looking for its third straight bowl win, and also its first two-game winning streak since September.

This has been a maddeningly inconsistent team that finished the season 6-6, but one that did show signs of improvement on defense. You could make the argument that the defense is the the reason why the Panthers are in the bowl game at all, after forcing six turnovers in the regular-season finale against Syracuse.

But Turnley said he expects the offensive line to play better against SMU because it will have had the same unit playing together for the third straight game, and through all bowl practices. Expect Greg Gaskins, Ryan Schlieper, Turnley, Lucas Nix and Jordan Gibbs to start the game. Also, the Panthers have slimmed down their playbook and are not going to rush the offense.

"I think it's a good plan," Turnley said. "At times this year, we were a little out of control with our offense. If we slow down a little bit, that should allow us to execute a lot better."

Pitt interim head coach Keith Patterson has been hired as Arkansas State defensive coordinator, the Red Wolves announced Wednesday night.

Patterson spent this past season as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach before taking over as interim head coach Dec. 14 when Todd Graham left for Arizona State. He will lead Pitt against SMU in the BBVA Compass Bowl on Saturday and will assume his duties as Arkansas State defensive coordinator afterward.

“I am excited to bring Coach Patterson on board and we welcome him to our Arkansas State family,” coach Gus Malzahn said. “We are getting one of the nation’s top-tier defensive coordinators and one of the top defensive minds in college football.”

Let's see what West Virginia's got.

• Ralph David Abernathy IV played the role of hero in the Liberty Bowl win for Cincinnati.
• UConn has begun a search for a permanent athletic director.
• Prep linebacker James Burgess commits to Louisville.
• Pitt players are still a little bitter over what Todd Graham did. OK, a lot bitter. You have got to really give Tino Sunseri credit for taking the high road.
• Rutgers coach Greg Schiano is encouraged by next year's team.
• Is Shamarko Thomas' return the start of a good January for Syracuse?
• Can USF hold on to Sean Price?
• Athlon Sports previews the Orange Bowl. Big games are needed from the West Virginia wide receivers. Yes, folks, a shootout could be looming.