Big East Football: Who Will Challenge Louisville In The Big East? An Athlon Discussion

I contributed to a discussion with several other writers with Athlon about this question: Who will be the biggest challenge to Louisville in the Big East in 2012? Obviously, the question assumes that Louisville will be the favorite entering the season. My contribution to the discussion is below, you can read the entire thing here. Many thanks to the guys at Athlon for letting me participate.

Mark Ennis, Manager of Big East Coast Bias (@Mengus22)

I'm tempted to say that this is finally the year that South Florida puts it together on both sides of the ball and contends for a Big East title. After all, the Bulls return virtually everyone on both offense and defense. Nevertheless, until B.J. Daniels plays consistently and can make plays throwing the football, the Bulls will never be able to compete with the upper echelon teams in the Big East or outside the conference. The team most likely to challenge Louisville for the Big East title in 2012 is Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights return most of the offensive line, a solid stable of running backs led by Savon Huggins who should have a much better sophomore season, a talented receiver in Mark Harrison, and the new coaching staff seems determined to pick a quarterback and stick with him.

Add to it that the defense returns almost entirely intact from a unit that finished first in the Big East in total defense and scoring defense and Rutgers can play with just about anyone. When new head coach Kyle Flood sprinkles in some of his highly rated freshmen like defensive end Darius Hamilton or wide receiver Leonte Carroo, he should have more than enough pieces to compete for the Big East title. Obviously there will be an adjustment period for the players to get used to the new coaching staff, but, Flood is not a totally new voice and he knows the team he's inheriting. Even if the Scarlet Knights struggle in the early non-conference schedule, they'll have their footing in time for Big East play and will be a tough out for the rest of the league.

It also helps that Rutgers gets Louisville at home in the final week of the season on Thursday night on national TV. Will it give Rutgers fans a repeat of 2006?