In the first two years of the SAMD, traditional Big East powers West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Rutgers held a decided advantage over Syracuse and South Florida in terms of raw talent, but recent data suggests that may be changing-albeit at a glacial pace.
As the league enters year three, Syracuse saw the greatest jump in overall talent, followed by USF. In fact, only one other team (Pittsburgh) even saw improvement, as the other squads declined in overall talent.
Could this signal a changing of the guard? Perhaps, but Syracuse is still the only team that doesn’t have an overall average in the 70′s and will be forced to start some freshmen in key positions this year. The real challenger to the throne looks to be Jack Virostko’s USF Bulls. The squad is now the 4th highest ranked in the conference and boasts the leagues best QB. Anything less than a Big East title will be considered an underachievement.
