It wasn’t long ago the Atlantic Coast Conference desired to expand, targeting three teams: Boston College, Virginia Tech and Miami (Fla.). Those three schools had one thing in common: They were members of the Big East conference, and during football season, they were the best of the bunch.

The Big East feared the ACC was conspiring to destroy the conference. Nothing could keep the schools from switching allegiances. With just five football programs left, the Big East expanded, adding three football schools – Louisville, Cincinnati, South Florida – and two others for basketball only.

Just one year after the Big East debuted its new members, national title hopes surround two teams, Heisman hopes burn in as many four players, and potentially six teams could go bowling come winter (The Big East has deals with the BCS, Mieneke Car Care, International, Gator, Texas, Birmingham and Sun Bowls).

Louisville and West Virginia top the list of contenders. Both teams garnered rankings in the top 15 and are staring down possible undefeated seasons.

‘Louisville and West Virginia obviously are the talk of the conference and they should be the talk of the conference,’ Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt said. ‘They both finished up the season strong and they both, I think, are deserving of being top-15 pre-season rated.’

The Mountaineers return most essential pieces from their Sugar Bowl champion team, including super sophomores quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton. Both enter the year with enormous hype, and Slaton’s name has been mentioned in the same breath as the Heisman Trophy.

In 2005, Slaton ran for 1,128 yards and 17 touchdowns, good for third and second in the Big East, respectively. White took over the starting job for good after Adam Bednarik suffered an injury in the season’s seventh game. White went on to run for 952 yards on the ground and pass for another 828 through the air. West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez attributed the freshmen success to maturity, also believing such accomplishment won’t get to his players’ heads.

‘We mentioned [not getting big-headed] early several times back in the spring, and mentioned it briefly when camp started,’ Rodriguez said. ‘I thought maybe I’d have to do more of it, but I really haven’t.’

Coming off a 9-3 season, Louisville’s been hit with national title buzz in 2006, with preseason magazines predicting a possible undefeated year for the Cardinals.

Led by offensive stars and Heisman candidates, quarterback Brian Brohm and running back Michael Bush, head coach Bobby Petrino’s squad has three big tests: At home against Miami (Fla.) and West Virginia and on the road at Pittsburgh. Even so, Petrino’s hesitant to put much faith in preseason hype.

‘We cannot even come close to worrying about that,’ Petrino said. ‘It makes a good magazine – good things for people to talk about in the preseason, but we have to play one game at a time.’

With the hype about the Big East’s top two contenders, the depth of the conference gets lost in the shuffle. Half the league played in bowls a year ago and the opportunity for six teams remains open in 2006. Wannstedt’s Panthers boast quarterback Tyler Palko and a top linebacking core led by Bronko Nagurski Award candidate H.B. Blades.

Greg Schiano’s Rutgers team had only its fifth winning season in 25 years in 2005, but returns Heisman candidate Brian Leonard at fullback. But Schiano doesn’t worry about hype from last season, just hoping to be successful from day one in 2006.

‘I think all that stuff plays its way out during the season,’ Schiano said. ‘We don’t talk a lot about preseason stuff. We know that that all can blow up in your face. Last year was last year; this year is a whole different team. That’s one of the neat things about college football.’

Beyond those four squads lie South Florida and its top linebackers, Cincinnati (which returns 17 of its top 18 tacklers), UConn with the return of stellar running back Terry Caulley to full strength, and Syracuse, rebuilding from its 1-10 debacle.

The bottom line is that the Big East was not destroyed. Whether it’s the conference it once was is debatable, but it is a conference with a presence and an impact on the nation’s greatest football stage.

Game of the Week

Marshall at No. 5 West Virginia

Saturday, 3:30 p.m., ESPN Regional

After a nine-year hiatus, this in-state rivalry resumes Saturday in Morgantown, W.Va., following the signing of a new seven-year agreement in March 2005. The deal was announced from the state capitol by West Virginia governor Joe Manchin, who promised the matchup’s revival in his most recent election campaign. This meeting marks the sixth all-time, and first since 1997.

Around the Conference

Pittsburgh will honor its 1976 national championship team during Saturday’s opener against Virginia. Head coach Dave Wannstedt, who was a part of that team, said he hopes to have a few members of the ’76 squad address his team before Saturday night…Moise Plancher has won USF’s starting tailback job — for now. South Florida coach Jim Leavitt said he almost used the redshirt freshman as a fill-in for Big East leading rusher Andre Hall at times last season…Big East coaches were asked about their feelings toward NCAA rule changes this week – among them, running the clock between possession changes, starting the clock when the foot hits the ball on kickoffs and the institution of instant replay – and Petrino was very dissatisfied. Petrino said he doesn’t understand why the NCAA would make those changes and ‘screw it up.’

Published on August 29, 2006 at 12:00 pm