Big East Football Preview '07: The Mediocre

With Syracuse and Connecticut occupying the worst two seats at the Big East Bonanza, somebody needs to sit in between the kitchen door and the dais.

This is not to say that either of the following two universities cannot move from their seats on the floor to positions of honor. Recent history has shown that the Big East hierarchy is fluid in nature. 2006 saw Rutgers move from its position as a predictory "mediocre" team to one of the conferences "contenders"; similarly, Cincinnati moved from the "dregs" to the class of "mediocre."

Pittsburgh Panthers

Last year: 6-6 overall; 2-5 Big East

WHY THEY'LL WIN: The Wannstache has been stockpiling the Panther talent cupboard for almost three years now. At some point, all that potential will start paying dividends. 2007 may not see an explosion of contributions from the young talent, but it should see a steady rise of talented play.

Even if Pittsburgh's corps of youth does not immediately raise the Panther's level of play, the schedule should not turn into a Murderer's Row. Having to play at Louisville, Rutgers, and West Virginia is harrowing, but Pittsburgh should be able to accumulate a nice cache of wins in its first seven contests -- Eastern Michigan, Grambling State, at Michigan State, Connecticut, at Virginia, Navy, and Cincinnati. The Panthers should get at least four to five wins from that group and manageable home contests against Syracuse and South Florida may make Pittsburgh bowl eligible.

WHY THEY WON'T: If the offensive line continues its 2006 trend of playing like a sieve, there is no chance that the Panthers will find more success than failure. The proof is in the pudding: when Pittsburgh plays poorly up front, the offense puts on its best Syracuse impression.

In addition to the offensive line play, the loss of Derek Kinder may hamper Pittsburgh's success. One man a team does not make, but Kinder put together tangible production and senior leadership. No matter how good Oderick Turner is, he does not bring to the table Kinder's total package.

PROGNOSIS: Expect Pittsburgh to improve from 2006, even though the Panthers will finally feature a non-Palko under center. The conference record may look ugly, but overall the Panthers should string together six victories.

Cincinnati Bearcats

Last year: 7-5 overall; 4-3 Big East

WHY THEY'LL WIN: Why not? Nobody with operating gunk betwixt their ears expected Cincinnati to win seven games in 2006. Why should anyone question our future Bearcat overlords now?

The offense returns six key starters, including quarterback Dustin Grutza, wide receiver Dominick Goodman, and the entire right side of the offensive line in Trevor Canfield (RG) and Jeff Linkenbach (RT). Except for Linkenbach, all the returning contributors are upperclassmen, which should help stabilize the unit's transition to Brian Kelly's wide open philosophy.

On the defensive side, the Bearcats will feature eight familiar faces. While individually the unit is less than stellar (save Mike Mickens and Terrill Byrd), the unit as a group is very strong. Things should not change much for Cincinnati's defense in 2007.

WHY THEY WON'T: The list is long:

New coach in Kelly (former coach Mark Dantonio left for greener pastures at Michigan State);
New offensive philosophy;
Loss of Brent Celek, the most underappreciated player in Big East history, is bound to effect offensive production;
Unsettled quarterback situation; and
A pretty unrelenting conference stretch of: at Rutgers, Louisville, at Pittsburgh, and at South Florida.

PROGNOSIS: The out-of-conference schedule is almost criminally easy, so a six or seven-win season should be reachable. If the offense fails to grasp Kelly's new philosophy, however, four or five wins is more likely.