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CLICK HERE TO VIEW MARC LAWRENCE\u2019S PICKS PAGE @ CAPPERSPICKS.COM \u2014\u2013><\/strong><\/p>\n Here is my take on the Big East for 2009.<\/strong><\/p>\n Where to turn in 2009?\u00a0 Our best suggestion would be to concentrate on the better coaches in this conference, while they are still here.\u00a0 There are a handful of real good ones to choose.\u00a0 Despite the fact that no team in the BIG EAST will be a legitimate threat for BCS title honors, there are coaches in this league that make a nice living beating the number.<\/p>\n CINCINNATI – *8 \/ 1<\/strong><\/p>\n Team Theme – THE DEFENSE RESTS<\/strong><\/p>\n What are the odds of a team using five different starting QB’s and winning a conference championship?\u00a0 The odds should be pretty lofty but that’s exactly what Cincinnati did in 2008.\u00a0 The Bearcats are happy that 6’6″ 230 lb SR QB Tony Pike is back.\u00a0 Pike shredded a newly installed 3-4 defense, 69-27, in the Bearcat Bowl (Spring), going 25 of 35 for 210 yards and a touchdown.\u00a0 It’s the defense that will likely be an Achilles heel for head coach Brian Kelly’s club this season.\u00a0 After losing 13 starters from last year’s unit, Kelly was forced to make changes.\u00a0 “I’m really pleased with our defense,” he claimed after the spring game.\u00a0 “We got our defensive coordinator in place.”\u00a0 What did he say?\u00a0 It sounds an awful lot like coach-speak to us.\u00a0 Kelly will have trouble notching another of those double-digit win seasons that he has PLAY AGAINST: vs. West Virginia (11\/13)<\/p>\n CONNECTICUT – 6 \/ 6<\/strong><\/p>\n Team Theme – HABIT FORMING<\/strong><\/p>\n Is it any wonder Randy Edsall’s name seems to pop up annually when new coach searches are underway? To recap, in seven years since moving to Division 1-A football, the Huskies are 49-36.\u00a0 In five years in the Big East, they have made three bowl games and won a conference championship.\u00a0 They are also one of three teams this season that managed to improve their stats both offensively and defensively yet decline both SU and ATS last season. FYI: teams of this pedigree make a habit of rewarding their backers the following season.\u00a0 Six starters are back from a defense that finished 6th in the land last year, including all linebackers. However, they will need to replace QB Tyler Lorenzen and RB Donald Brown, the Big East Player of the Year who rushed for a nation high 2083 yards in 2008.\u00a0 Consider it a done deal.<\/p>\n PLAY ON: vs. Rutgers (10\/31)<\/p>\n LOUISVILLE – 7 \/ 6<\/strong><\/p>\n Team Theme – FIRE AND DESIRE<\/strong><\/p>\n There’s a raging fire in Louisville and it’s centered on the seat belonging to head coach Steve Kragthorpe. Last year’s promising 5-2 start dissolved into an 0-5 finish, resulting in a second straight non-bowl season for the Cardinals. While it certainly is not the reason Coach ‘K’ was hired, it’s important to note that his teams at Tulsa were 12-13 after his first two years on the job.\u00a0 His desire to get the Redbirds back into contention in the Big East has never been stronger.\u00a0 In order to do so, Kragthorpe’s troops will need to outplay 8 opponents that played in bowl games last season, including 5 on the road. The fire in his belly should ignite his troops this season.\u00a0 Let’s hope no one gets burned.<\/p>\n PLAY ON: vs. Kentucky (9\/19)<\/p>\n PITTSBURGH – *7 \/ 7<\/strong><\/p>\n Team Theme – STAIN REMOVER<\/strong><\/p>\n Talk about a buzz-kill.\u00a0 Just when it appeared the Panthers were in full remission from a three-year battle with mediocrity under head coach Dave Wannstedt, Pittsburgh laid an egg a pterodactyl would be envious of when they were shutout, 3-0, by Oregon State in last year’s Sun Bowl.\u00a0 When Wannstedt was hired four years ago, Dennis Dodd of Sportline.com said, “There may be no other coach in the country who knows the very soil beneath him better than “Wanny”.\u00a0 Wannstedt’s blood and sweat literally stain the grass at his alma mater.”\u00a0 The players are in place, with SR QB Bill Stull and his top three targets back on the job in 2009.\u00a0 Stull led his team to 4 come-from-behind 4Q wins last year. We believe that last year’s Sun Bowl disaster was just Wanny being Wanny.<\/p>\n PLAY ON: as a dog vs. Rutgers (10\/16)<\/p>\n RUTGERS – 8 \/ 6<\/strong><\/p>\n Team Theme – PICKUP STICKS<\/strong><\/p>\n Sometimes, starting over can be a good thing.\u00a0 Given a choice, Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano would rather not restart.\u00a0 2009 looks to be a year of transition for the Knights.\u00a0 With the loss of QB Mike Teel, they will be starting a new signal caller for the first time since 2005.\u00a0 In addition, WR Kenny Britt, became a first-round draft choice of the Tennessee Titans. The coaching staff also has a fresh look with new coordinators on both sides of the ball and a new special teams coach.\u00a0 Good news is that incumbent QB Domenic Natale, a Michigan State transfer, enjoyed a fine spring game.\u00a0 He joins a backfield that features all 4 top RB’s back in 2009.\u00a0 The bottom line is Schiano’s been here and done that. PASS<\/p>\n SOUTH FLORIDA – *5 \/ 6<\/strong><\/p>\n Team Theme – YOUNG BULLS<\/strong><\/p>\n It used to be when the big boys scheduled obligatory non-conference cupcake games against in-state lightweights it was an automatic “W”.\u00a0 That’s not the case this year when Florida State and Miami, Florida take on in-state stepchild USF.\u00a0 The red-headed Bulls have made their mark under head coach Jim Leavitt and are a force in the Big East Conference these days.\u00a0 All-conference QB Matt Grothe returns along with 5 running backs that enjoyed breakout games last year.\u00a0 However, other than a deep backfield, this year’s roster borders on delicate with 28 newcomers participating in the spring game.\u00a0 Worse, 6 of the final 7 games are against foes that played in bowl games last season.\u00a0 If you intend on riding this bull, makes plans to hop on early.<\/p>\n PLAY AGAINST: vs. Pittsburgh (10\/24)<\/p>\n SYRACUSE – *6 \/ 7<\/strong><\/p>\n Team Theme\u00a0 – COO, COO, CA-CHOO, MR. ROBINSON<\/strong><\/p>\n A long-awaited new era is in finally place at Syracuse.\u00a0 Greg Robinson and his 10-37 record was pink-slipped and replaced by Doug Marrone, the offensive coordinator with the New Orleans Saints for the last three years. His first edict was to establish a new image.\u00a0 No facial hair, collared shirts for all interviews and mandatory effort in the classroom and on the field were right at the top of the list.\u00a0 “We’ve changed,” WR Mike Williams said. “We have a new coach. Everybody wants to win. We’re working harder. We’re practicing harder. We’re doing stuff we didn’t do before. We’re getting up by 6 a.m. and working out. It’s great playing for coach Marrone. He’s all about winning. He wants to change now. He said he’s not into rebuilding programs, that he wants to win now.”<\/p>\n PLAY AGAINST: vs. West Virginia (10\/11)<\/p>\n WEST VIRGINIA – 7 \/ 8<\/strong><\/p>\n Team Theme – FADE FROM WHITE TO BROWN<\/strong><\/p>\n West-by-God’s streak of three-consecutive Top 10 finishes came to a halt last season in Bill Stewarts’ first-year at the helm in Morgantown.\u00a0 That’s not to say the Mountaineers underachieved.\u00a0 That’s hardly the case.\u00a0 Expected to flounder by many pundits following Rich Rodriguez’ evacuation to Michigan, WVU performed admirably last year, especially after opening the campaign 1-2.\u00a0 The turning point was the 31 unanswered points scored in a win against shell-shocked Auburn.\u00a0 That victory sustained an eventual 5-game win steak and put Stewart on the coaching map.\u00a0 With QB Pat White off to the NFL, Jarrett Brown (2-0 as a starter) will fill his shoes.\u00a0 Brown completed 16 straight passes in the spring game and appears ready for the challenge.\u00a0 With dynamic Noel Devine (1289 rush yards last year) entrenched in the backfield, a 5th straight bowl win could be in the offing for the stump-jumpers.<\/p>\n PLAY ON: vs. Pittsburgh (11\/27)<\/p>\n Coming up next: the Big 10 Conference.<\/p>\n Note:\u00a0<\/strong>Marc Lawrence<\/strong> is a 30-year veteran handicapper. He finished No.1 in the nation (88-63 +25.7 Net Units) in MLB during the 2007 season as documented by Sports Watch in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/banners.bmaker.ag\/images\/book_misc_250_250_0.gif?cmpid=3052_856\")
<\/a> He’s just starting over, again.<\/p>\n