2009 Big East Predictions: Who Will Win the Tight Big East Race?

The Big East looks like it will be totally up in the air again this year. Unfortunately some people will say this is a bad sign and since nobody is dominating, they lack great teams. The truth is the Big East will be a tight race because there are good teams. Who will come out on top of the tough Big East?

Pittsburgh Panthers
Dave Wannstedt has done a great job of recruiting and keeps adding more and more talent. Lesean McCoy was a big loss for the Panthers but they'll find a replacement that is good enough while Bill Stull picks up the slack.

Cincinnati Bearcats
The Bearcats have the top quarterback-receiver tandem in the Big East with Tony Pike and Mardy Gilyard. The offense will score a lot of points but the defense is changing schemes and breaking in 10 new starters.

West Virginia Mountaineers
The loss of Pat White might be the biggest loss in the Big East. The Mountaineers offense does have a lot of potential but other than Noel Devine I'm not sure if we'll see enough offense this season.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Rutgers could definitely be in the race for the Big East championships since they return almost all of their defense and offensive line. The defense is the best in the Big East and normally I like the team with the best defense. The problem is they have to find a new quarterback and receiver. Maybe the protection will help the new offensive players but ultimately I don't think they score enough points to win the Big East championship.

South Florida Bulls
When Matt Grothe first started college football some people were saying he was going to be the best quarterback in the state. So much for that. Grothe is a talented player but hasn't turned into the megastar that was expected. The Bulls also don't have much of a running game or offensive line.

Louisville Cardinals
The Cardinals are usually led by a pretty good quarterback but that isn't the case in 2009. The offense has some talent but there probably won't be a lot to be excited about this season.

Connecticut Huskies
New coordinator, bad offense and Donald Brown is gone. All the Huskies have to look forward to in 2009 is a game against Syracuse.

Syracuse Orange
New coach. Same outcome. Maybe coach Doug Marrone will make an impact at Syracuse but nobody can turn them around in one season.