Sideline Scouting

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The Top Ten Big East Story Lines for 2004

10. Scheduling Freedom

This year with only 7 teams in the conference, team schedules were virtually left entirely in their respective hands - on a far larger scale then normal with only 6 games guaranteed. True, some schedules are taken care of far in advance, but Big East teams lost games against BCS powerhouses V-Tech and Miami. Obviously, this is ignoring all of the divisional games. Boston College, Connecticut, and Rutgers all stayed as far away as possible from difficult schedules, while the rest of the league actually showed some guts. BC plays Notre Dame and Penn St., good traditional teams, though neither are unbeatable. Connecticut’s only real test is a game down in Georgia Tech, but they will more than likely be coming off back to back victories over Syracuse and Temple, as well as a bye week. Rutgers is clearly showing their desire to get a bowl spot at all costs, again scheduling a Michigan State team they almost beat last year on opening day. Pittsburgh isn’t exactly setting the world on fire with their schedule, but a game against Nebraska early in the year before getting their QB situation settled could be deadly. West Virginia didn’t show any hesitation keeping their rivalry with V-Tech alive by scheduling them a mere two weeks after a Maryland team that is two years removed from an ACC title. Ironically, the two hardest schedules are kept by the two potentially worst teams; Temple steps right into the fire by starting the season vs. the vaunted Virginia defense and traveling to Maryland the very next week. Still Syracuse easily takes the crown with the hardest Big East schedule by far. The Orangemen start out the year facing Purdue and likely first round pick QB Kyle Orton, then travel a mere two weeks to face another highly touted QB in Gino Guidugli of Cincinnati. Syracuse immediately follows that game with an away contest against Virginia. They top it off by playing preseason Top 10 Florida State. All this occurs in the first 6 weeks of the season without a single week off.

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