Big East Notebook For 09-21-2006 - College Football News And Picks

Big East Notebook For 09-20-2006
By Jeff Zell
Posted: 4:30 am PDT 2006-09-21

For Bobby Petrino's Louisville Cardinals, it was the good and the bad last week.

Now it's going to get ugly.

Louisville trounced the then-17th-ranked Miami Hurricanes, spotting them seven points and then taking the Canes to the woodshed by scoring 31 in a row. However, it came at a cost. Senior QB Brian Brohm dislocated his thumb in the third quarter and will be out 3-6 weeks. The great one-two punch of Brohm and Michael Bush is currently extinct.

Filling in will be Hunter Cantwell, a walk-on who threw for over 7,000 yards in high school, as well as a guy who put the dagger in Miami by throwing a 45-yard bomb to Henry Douglass to set up the game-clinching touchdown.

The Cardinals head to Manhattan, Kan., for a hungry Kansas State team, which would like to get its first big-time win for new coach Ron Prince. We'll find out this week if Louisville's success has been because of great players or because of great coaching. The Cards are favored by 14 at WagerWeb.com against KSU.

Recap: Overall, the Big East went 5-3 last week. The conference could have asked for better performances from Pittsburgh and UConn, which both lost at home in winnable games. Syracuse matched its win total from a year ago with a 31-21 victory over Illinois.

In Good Company: The Big East has two teams ranked in the AP Top 10: Louisville and West Virginia. Only two other conferences in college football can claim at least that many: Big Ten (2) and SEC (4). The Big East always wants respect, now it is are getting some. It doesn't hurt to go 17-7 as a conference through three weeks to warrant that respect.

Good On The Road: So far, West Virginia is 3-0 ATS. And so far the Mountaineers have played all their games at Milan Puskar Stadium. Rich Rodriquez brings his circus on the road this week as WVU faces East Carolina (WagerWeb.com line: WVU -21). The Mountaineers were moneymakers on the road last year, going 5-0 ATS. But beware: the Pirates gave West Virginia a scare last year by only falling 20-15 in Morgantown.

The New Rutgers: After opening up the season by defeating their first ACC opponent in 21 tries (North Carolina), the Scarlet Knights have cruised to a 3-0 record. Part of the reason for Rutgers' success is running back Ray Rice, who is turning into a household name. After rushing for more than 1,100 yards and 5 touchdowns last year, Rice already surpassed his touchdown total with his sixth score in Saturday's game, and he is averaging 166 yards per game. He was a workhorse last week, carrying the ball 29 times for 190 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-7 win against Ohio.

A Look Ahead: Cincinnati's treacherous schedule moves on. After facing off against No. 1 Ohio State, the Bearcats get Frank Beamer's Virginia Tech Hokies in Blacksburg this week (WagerWeb.com line: Va. Tech -26.5). Could Syracuse pass its win total from all of last year? The Orange host an 0-3 Miami of Ohio team that has looked atrocious (WagerWeb.com line: SU -6.5). South Florida and Louisville have the ability to knock out both Kansas schools this week as those teams head to Kansas and Kansas State, respectively.

College Football Betting Line, Upcoming Game Previews & More

Online College Football Betting Sites