Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett
The mailbag is a little light here in my second week. I know you can do better than this, Big East fans. Let's get some questions and comments percolating, or those fans of other leagues will start questioning your passion.
Here's a topic to discuss for next week: What have been the five best games in the Big East since the league reconfigured in 2005? I'm talking about conference games only. My top candidates would have to include Louisville-West Virginia in 2005, West-Virginia-Rutgers in 2006, Cincinnati-South Florida in 2007, Pittsburgh-Connecticut in 2006 and Rutgers-Louisville in 2006. But I want to know what you think. Send me your nominations.
Also, thanks to the West Virginia fans who invited me to their tailgating parties. I'm going to try to hit at least one or two tomorrow in Morgantown before the game and share my experiences with you in the blog. I won't be in a Big East town in Week 2 because I'm covering Cincinnati at Oklahoma. But if any Bearcats fans are making the trek to Norman and would like to show off their pre-game prowess, please drop me a line. If any Oklahoma fans are reading, please pass along some recommendations for my first visit to Sooner Country.
On to the mailbag.
Dave from West Palm: Brian, I know you're a UofL guy but you don't have to show it so much. UC has the 3rd best WR core in the BE, really? I understand RU at 1 but how can you Pitt ahead of them. Kinder is coming off an injury and Turner had a whopping 36 grabs for 5 td's. Baldwin might be good but he is a freshman. UC on the other hand has Goodman (8td) and Barnett (13td) and Mardy Gilyard who had better numbers than Turner yet had only 1 catch in the last 4 games. They also have Armon Binns, Charley Howard, DJ Woods, and Nick Trusdell who should see a good deal of playing time as well. Who else in the league has 8 legit WR's?
Brian Bennett: Dave is talking about my wide receiver rankings from last week. Cincinnati and Pittsburgh were a real close call for my No. 2, and I know the Bearcats have the superior numbers. Here was my reasoning: Cincinnati plays in a spread offense with three and four wide receivers on the field at all times and has a quarterback who is going to throw 35-40 times a game. Their numbers are going to be inflated by this. Pittsburgh didn't have an experienced quarterback who could throw accurately last season, so their receivers' numbers were down. I'm basing my ratings on talent, and I like the Kinder/Turner/Baldwin group better as pure receivers. That's no knock on the Cincinnati guys, whom I like a lot as well.
By the way, I love the "You're a Louisville guy" references. Yes, I covered the Cardinals for two seasons as the beat writer, and I live in the city. I also covered a minor-league hockey team in Columbus, Ga., many years ago. Does that make me a "Columbus Cottonmouths guy?"
Joey from West Virginia writes: Why is the general consensus that WVU will not be as good this year because of their defense? WVU's defense never lost a game for them last year (21pts to USF, 13 to Pitt). I understand that they lost many starters, but who on the defense did they lose that would be difficult to replace? They had a good defense last year, and they did so without any big name talented players that I would consider hard to replace. I would think USF would have the bigger question mark having to replace two NFL caliber cornerbacks (although no one seems to question their defense). WVU did lose a great lineman in Dingle, but the NCAA granted former lineman Pat Liebig another year so I consider that void filled. With the offense being even better this year, even if the defense is not quite as good as last year (as long as it doesn't completely flop), I don't see the defense costing them any games this season either.
Brian Bennett: Well, Joey, let's not gloss over the players West Virginia lost. Dingle and Keilen Dykes were excellent defensive linemen. Safeties Eric Wicks and Ryan Mundy were among the best in the conference, and pretty much the entire secondary is new this year. It's not easy for anybody to replace seven defensive starters, especially when almost all of them were first or second team All Big East selections. Experience is huge in college football. That doesn't mean West Virginia can't be just as good this year. It just means they have some work to do.
Dave from Parts Unknown writes: You pretty much nailed it in our opinion on the Big East. The only exception would be that South Florida is 8 and 0, but 7 and 1 is real. The Big East is the worst conference in football and will never get a BCS title game until they get at least one more conference member. Other than Pitt, and we agree they will win the Big East, there is no national power talent in the conference. 7 conference games is a joke and gives them and artificial record as they get 1 to 2 more wins than every other BCS school.
Brian Bennett: The Big East will never get to a BCS title game? All West Virginia had to do was beat Pitt last year and they were in. Louisville probably would have made it in 2006 if they didn't lose to Rutgers. I'm afraid your argument makes little sense. It's much easier for a Big East team to get to the title game because there are only seven conference games, making it easier to go undefeated. But I do agree the Big East needs a ninth team, for scheduling purposes more than anything. There just isn't an obvious candidate right now.
Keith from Fairmont, W.Va., writes: Have you heard anything about Wes Lyons? I thought he'd be a breakout wideout this year with us passing more and his size but haven't heard anything about him. I haven't even seen his name anywhere since like back in April or June.
Brian Bennett: I've heard Bill Stewart and Jeff Mullen mention Lyons, who's an intriguing guy because of his 6-foot-8 frame. Right now, he's listed as the backup at the "X receiver". The Mountaineers are trying to break in a lot of receivers right now. We'll have to see how it all shakes out. I'll be watching that group closely tomorrow in Morgantown.
Jay from Pawleys Island, S.C., writes: I would like to know why WVU never gets any respect from anyone. The last 3 years they beat SEC champ, ACC #2 (with Big East #1 beating ACC #1) and the Big 12 Champ -- spanked them. Yet -- according to some at ESPN -- OK just does not play well in bowls -- giving no credit or respect to WVU. Whats up with this -- when will due credit be given to WVU and the Big East?
Brian Bennett: Ah, yes, the inevitable "Why doesn't West Virginia get respect?" question. Dave from two questions ago sure isn't giving you any respect. He can't even remember that you were almost in the BCS title game last year!
Here's what I know, Jay. I've picked West Virginia to win the league several times this summer, and the Mountaineers were chosen by the Big East media as preseason favorites. West Virginia is ranked eighth in both major polls. That sounds like pretty decent respect to me.
Craig from Philly writes: How can you not have a guy with 20 career sacks in Jamaal Westerman on either you 1st or 2nd team Def?
Brian Bennett: That's a fair question. Westerman definitely received heavy consideration for my second team, but I decided to play a hunch on the potential of Greg Romeus from Pittsburgh. I could be wrong. The good news is, only the postseason teams really matter.
Kelly from Royal Oak, Mich., writes: Do you think UL can make a meaningful bowl game this year or any at all? Will be moving back home to Louisville very soon, Miss it tons.
Brian Bennett: Let me be the first to welcome you back home, Kelly. First pint at Molly Malone's is on me. As for the Cardinals, I think their absolute ceiling is eight wins. In my 'Best Case' scenario, I had them going to the Meineke Car Care Bowl. If they get some breaks and stay healthy, I believe they'll go 6-6 or even 7-5, which should be good enough for one of the Big East's second-tier bowls.
Gary from Syracuse writes: Brian, I could understand the rest of the nation using Syracuse (one of the top 10 football programs of ALL TIME) as a punchline, but as the resident Big East blogger, are we going to have to listen to you do the same thing all year? Lets hope not.
Brian Bennett: Yes, I took a little shot at the Orange in my Week 1 picks, and I'm going to be a little whimsical in my predictions columns every week. I've tried to be positive about the Orange mostly, though, and even wrote a piece about tackle Arthur Jones and his optimism for this year. Try finding something like that on another national site. But in all seriousness, what's been happening at Syracuse is sad for such a proud program. The Big East really needs Syracuse to be good. Maybe things will start to turn around this year. It's just hard to see how.
Bennett joined ESPN.com in August 2008 after nine years at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., where he covered college sports and the University of Louisville beat. He lives in Louisville.
