Yesterday, ESPN.com and Blue Ribbon Yearbook put out the conference predictions and all-conference teams (hat tip to Jamie for the e-mail).
Big East
1. Louisville
2. Pittsburgh
3. Syracuse
4. West Virginia
5. Rutgers
6. Connecticut
7. USF
8. CincinnatiAll-Big East Team
Offense
WR: Tres Moses, Rutgers
WR: Greg Lee, Pittsburgh
OL: Dan Mozes, West Virginia
OL: Travis Leffew, Louisville
OL: Jason Spitz, Louisville
OL: John Glass, Rutgers
OL: Charles Spencer, Pittsburgh
QB: Tyler Palko, Pittsburgh
RB: Andre Hall, USF
RB: Cornell Brockington, UConn
TE: Clark Harris, RutgersDefense
DL: Ryan Neill, Rutgers
DL: James Wyche, Syracuse
DL: Elvis Dumervil, Louisville
DL: Shawn Mayne, UConn
LB: Brandon Johnson, Louisville
LB: H.B. Blades, Pittsburgh
LB: Jerry Mackey, Syracuse
DB: Jahmile Addae, West Virginia
DB: Mike Lorello, West Virginia
DB: Josh Lay, Pittsburgh
DB: Anthony Smith, SyracuseSpecialists
K: Josh Cummings, Pittsburgh
KR: Larry Taylor, UConn
P: Adam Graessle, Pittsburgh
PR: Montrell Jones, LouisvilleOffensive Player of the Year
Andre Hall, RB, USFDefensive Player of the Year
Ryan Neill, DL, RutgersNewcomer of the Year
Rashad Jennings, RB, Pittsburgh
None of this is exactly shocking. There might be a little too much hype on Jennings just based on spring practice. I realize he looked very good, but there is going to be a lot of competition for the starting tailback job come August. Hopefully I’m wrong, I just don’t like to see that much pressure put on a freshman.
BRY has Pitt at #18 in its preseason rankings.
CollegeFootballNews.com also has its BE preview. It’s 1st team all Big East is virtually the same with only a couple players swapped out on defense and, putting UConn’s kicker, Nuzie, ahead of Josh Cummings.
In CFN’s BE Top 5s, Pitt is well represented under breakout players (Rashad Jennings and Mike Phillips) and top 5 pro prospects (Palko, Lee, Blades). They also warn Pitt against looking past the Ohio game to the Nebraska match-up. It’s a fair warning. The game will be the Bobcat’s season opener under new coach Frank Solich, a Friday night game, a short week for Pitt after Notre Dame.
They also rank the units. Pitt ranks 1st on defense and 2nd on offense. Pitt’s lowest rank is #5 at running back unit.