The Washington Huskies are full of potential, but they can’t quite get over the hump. Steve Sarkisian and his squad have gone 7-6 the last three years, and while they’ll look to improve upon that mark, they’ll also have to prove people wrong who believe they’ve hit their ceiling.
Rutgers is another former Big East member that is just passing through the American Athletic Conference this season. Former coach Greg Schiano built Rutgers into a respectable program but they never quite made it to the top of the mountain to win anything significant – though it was a nice story.
Memphis is one of the few FBS schools driven by hoops, which is why they were happy to join the former Big East. Even though the league has dramatically transformed the football program is still pretty subpar making its chances of being even mediocre probably about the same as in their former league, Conference USA.
Its definitely a new era for the South Florida Bulls. After a decent first season coach Skip Holtz was not able to elevate the program as expected and quarterback B.J. Daniels has graduated, having never lived up to the potential many had in mind for the athletic marvel – now both are gone.
Everyone is expecting the Louisville Cardinals to exit Big East (I had to) on top. They were the best team a year ago and have the best quarterback, coach and roster top to bottom. Everything seems to pointing their way except for the fact that other programs may be highly motivated to beat them given the circumstances.
Darrell Hazell did an amazing job of turning around the Kent State program in just two years. The Golden Flashes went 11-3 and almost went to a BCS bowl game last year. Hazell spent the 2004 through 2010 seasons working as an assistant at Ohio State, so he has plenty of experience in the Big Ten.
In 2012, the USC Trojans were named the preseason No. 1 team in all of college football. Unfortunately for them, they ultimately finish unranked after earning those honors. A six-loss season was beyond disappointing, and as a result, head coach Lane Kiffin has been looked at as potential hot seat candidate in 2013.
In 2011, the UCLA Bruins made the Pac-12 championship game because of a formality. The USC Trojans were banned from postseason competition, meaning that UCLA was given the spot without truly earning it.
The 2012 Arizona State Sun Devils laid a solid foundation for the program moving forward. In Todd Graham’s first year as head coach, he helped improve the team to 8-5. The season was called an “unquestioned success” by ESPN’s Ted Miller (Pac-12 blogger), and it’s tough to argue anything else.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Connecticut participated in a BCS bowl (2010 Orange). Sure they may have snuck in representing the worst of the AQ conference but they were generally having successful seasons with solid 8-5 record under their former coach.
The Cincinnati Bearcats are a very good program trying to find their place amongst a realigned college football world.
When coach Kevin Sumlin left Houston for Texas A&M and was replaced by offensive coordinator Tony Levine there was great hope for a Cougars program to continue to enjoy its recent success. If last year is any indicator the run may be over as the Cougars stumbled in their final season in Conference USA.
To say that Tim Beckman’s first-year as head coach of the Illinois football program was a disappointment is a massive understatement. It was a disaster!
The 2012 season was a massive improvement from 2011 for the Indiana Hoosiers. Kevin Wilson’s team piled up the points last year, and they were able to come out on top in four games. While this team certainly still has lots of room to grow, they are definitely on the right path.
After the massive 11-2 season in 2011, the Michigan Wolverines 8-5 season in 2012 had to be seen as a disappointment. Still, it’s obvious that Brady Hoke has this program continuing on the right path.
Isn’t it about time that Pat Fitzgerald starts getting recognized as one of the best coaches in the country? Northwestern isn’t an easy job to get top notch recruits, so Fitzgerald had to start off winning games with far less talent than almost any other team in the Big Ten.
