I'm curious to see how well the original members believe the newcomers will compete in the Big East in 2013

Things to take into account

• Two offseasons of AQ-Tag recruiting
• Previous recruiting trends
• Current Coaches
• Fan support measures (i.e. stadium expansions, city-wide support)
  

Just to name a few. Let's see what you guys think.

(11-06-2011 02:02 PM)Kruciff Wrote:  I'm curious to see how well the original members believe the newcomers will compete in the Big East in 2013

Things to take into account

• Two offseasons of AQ-Tag recruiting
• Previous recruiting trends
• Current Coaches
• Fan support measures (i.e. stadium expansions, city-wide support)
  

Just to name a few. Let's see what you guys think.

It is tough to say right now due to the fact we still are unsure of whether or not the six incoming teams will all be here in 2013 and if so whether or not the three departing teams will stick around for that final year.

2013 East:

Syracuse
Rutgers
Connecticut
Pittsburgh
Navy
UCF
USF

2013 West:

West Virginia
Cincinnati
Louisville
SMU
Houston
Bosie State
Air Force

Wouldn't be surprised if at least one new team plays in the Big East right away (2012).

Assuming Boise, Navy, AF, Houston, UCF, and SMU are in (let's not worry about BYU, or Memphis, or Temple etc right now)....

I see Boise competing right away...obviously Moore is gone so qb is a question mark but Boise will find a way and be good.
Houston will compete right away also...yes, replacing a legend at qb will be hard (see Boise) but I think Houston on the rise.
I see Navy/AF/SMU/UCF holding their own and finishing middle of pack or below.

No reason this league shouldn't have 3 ranked teams any given year and sometimes 4.....


just my input

The only team I can see being able to come in for 2012 is Navy, but that would require the other Big East football teams to assume some of the contracts they are giving up.

The other option is the Big East speeds up the process by taking the money WVU and Pitt and Cuse would pay to get out of the conference early, along with the TCU money and using it to get SMU, Houston and UCF in for 2012.

Edit: I can't read. Anyway, if we add 7 teams for 2013, I think we will let the other 3 teams go with some kind of renegotiated buyout.

As far as who can compete, I'd say Boise State and BYU should be in the top 5 of the conference right away and the 2 academies having a tough go of it week in, week out. The other 3 teams can slide somewhere in the middle, but to be fair, the gap from 2 to 10 in this league looks pretty small.

Of course we don't know if BYU is even considering the BE, though I've named the reasons why I think it's a good fit several times.

But as far as new members competing, remember, UofL won the conference (and their BCS bowl) our first season playing BE football. And Cincy is the prime example of a school that wasn't expected to compete as well, but has stepped up to the plate and won more outright football titles than any other school since they came in (which is why it makes me angry to see people claiming that WVU "dominates" the BE ...tell that to the Bearcats).

I don't think there's a single team that we're going to welcome into the conference that doesn't have the potential to be in the upper half of the conference standings right away - and a couple might even contend for the championship their first couple of years. Remember, too: This isn't the SEC.

Of course, I'm most familiar with UConn and SMU. I'm pretty sure SMU would give UConn all they could handle. That game (if they played right now) could go either way, mainly because UConn has struggled so much at QB.

Boise and Houston would be favored over anyone in the Big East right now.

I don't think we'll have to wait a few years for the new schools to get up to speed.

It will continue to be an average football league with the new additions. They'll compete right away because there's nobody there who will curb stomp them. I'd assume that Pitt, Syracuse, and WVU will be gone in 2013 but even if they were still hanging around the only school I think would pose significant difficulty to all the newcomers would be WVU.

Quote:But as far as new members competing, remember, UofL won the conference (and their BCS bowl) our first season playing BE football.

No we didn't. We won it our second year.

(11-06-2011 06:51 PM)ndlutz Wrote:  It will continue to be an average football league with the new additions. They'll compete right away because there's nobody there who will curb stomp them. I'd assume that Pitt, Syracuse, and WVU will be gone in 2013 but even if they were still hanging around the only school I think would post significant difficulty to all the newcomers would be WVU.

I think someone posted that the new Big East would be the #3 conference based on Sagarin. Since there are six AQ conferences, I guess the Big East will be considered "average" among them.

Any thought of the BCS dropping the #3 conference and keeping conferences #4, #5, and #6 would be laughable. We'll be content in our mediocrity for now.

They aren't going to lose their BCS AQ status. Any talk of this currently or in the past is nonsense.

I'm not going to argue against Sagarin. The numbers are what they are.

I can't speak for anyone else, but here's why I think UCF will compete well in the Big East (not going to be so arrogant as to say we will win the championship, 1 because this is 2 years in advance, and 2 because that would be well beyond expectations)

-Jeff Godfrey will be a senior. He's in his sophomore slump right now
-Our Offense is young. Our best Wide Receiver (in my opinion) is a true freshman, with another starting WR as a true freshman
-Our transfer running back from Miami, Storm Johnson, will be a senior that year.

I have a feeling everything will come together in 2013 for us. We've got a lot of things going our way.

(11-06-2011 02:29 PM)snowycuse Wrote:  2013 West:

West Virginia
Cincinnati
Louisville
SMU
Houston
Bosie State
Air Force

That's a pretty salty division. If we could finish in the top 3 (in our division) in 2013, I think most UH fans would be happy about our first season in the Big East.

An interesting aside -

UH has won or shared titles in three different new conferences the first year they entered: Missouri Valley, SWC, and C-USA.

As a newcomer I have only one expectation, that all BE schools install new turf for 2013. We deserve to have the red carpet rolled out for first year games.