Among the usual outrage that accompanies the release of the pre-season college football rankings and the first weekend of the season was the annual talk about how the Big East is disrespected in the polls.
The only BCS conference without a team in the top 25 in the pre-season poll, the Big East cried foul and tried to prove once more that they belong and deserve to be considered among the SEC, Big 12 and even the ACC.
The answer remains: they don't - and this weekend made it very apparent.
UConn looked unimpressive in its 23-16 win over an Ohio team that finished 4-8 last season. Most concerning about the Huskies' performance was the fact that, despite jumping out to an early double-digit lead, the usually stout UConn defense allowed the Bobcats to climb back into the game. The near-collapse of the defense, coupled with three interceptions from Zach Frazer and the home opener against a dangerous North Carolina team may not end so well.
The conference's flagship school the past five years has been West Virginia, thanks in large part to Pat White. Even though he's now gone, many are still picking the Mountaineers to compete for the conference title, though they did not look like a contender against Liberty Saturday. West Virginia won the game 33-20, which is much too close for a supposed perennial powerhouse against an FCS opponent, especially because it took a late interception to seal the victory when Liberty was closing in.
The team that looked the best from the Big East this opening weekend was defending champion Cincinnati. They humiliated their opponent 45-17 at home and their offense looked every bit ready to repeat. When the new poll was released on Tuesday, they were ranked. There's only one problem, though - the opponent they embarrassed was in-conference foe Rutgers, a team that was supposed to compete for the title thanks to an easy schedule. So much for that.
The fact is, the Big East has not been nationally relevant since early in the decade when Miami and Virginia Tech were still in the conference and were among the best teams in the country. South Florida, West Virginia and Rutgers have all briefly scraped the top 10 in the past decade only to fall back shortly thereafter following, say, a loss to a team desperate to storm the field.
That the Big East still receives an automatic bid to a BCS championship game and mid-majors only get one-at-large bids is ridiculous at best and unfair at worst. The Mountain West has as much of an argument for an automatic bid as the Big East does, and recent history proves it.
Utah's perfect season last year culminated in an upset of Alabama, who had been ranked No. 1 for much of the year. It was not only Utah who had a chance at a perfect season in '08; TCU finished the season ranked No. 7 giving the MWC two teams in the top 10. Noticably absent from the top 10? The Big East. In fact, the only two Big East teams to even crack the top 25 in the final poll were Cincinnati at 17 and West Virginia at 23.
The MWC has been turning heads in the early 2009 season as well with BYU edging out Oklahoma 14-13 in the opening weekend to move up to No. 9.
The Big East can keep playing the disrespect card, but until they do anything to earn it and can provide a deeper conference than a mid-major, they won't get it.
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