2009 Power Polls

NBE FOOTBALL BIG EAST POWER POLL (9/15/2009)

Two weeks are complete in the 2009 football season and our voters are in agreeance completely with the top three spots in the Big East conference. Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and West Virginia all rolled this past weekend and all seven voters listed UC, Pitt and WVU 1-2-3 on their ballots. All three will face tests this week as Cincinnati travels to Oregon State, West Virginia hits the road to face Auburn and Pittsburgh will host Navy.

It was also a milestone weekend for South Florida QB Matt Grothe threw for 208 yards and two TDs, becoming the Big East’s all-time leader in total offense, in USF’s win over Western Kentucky on Saturday. Grothe surpassed former WVU quarterback Pat White in the process.

Pitt’s true freshman running back Dion Lewis is off to a great start to his career. Following up his three-touchdown, 129-yard performance in the opening win against Youngstown State, Lewis added 190 yards and two TD’s in a win at Buffalo. Senior TE Dorin Dickerson caught three touchdown passes, all in the first half, from Pitt QB Bill Stull.

WVU quarterback Jarrett Brown completed 24 of 31 passes for 334 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-20 win over East Carolina. The Mountaineer signal-called added 73 yards rushing on 10 carries. His favorite target was Jock Sanders who registered nine catches and 99 yards receiving.

Senior Mardy Gilyard caught six passes for 111 yards and two touchdowns, ran once for a one-yard TD and returned a punt 63 yards for another score in Cincinnati’s 70-3 win over SE Missouri State. The Bearcats had 49 points in the opening half!

So, after digesting the week in the Big East, the NBE Football staff has submitted their votes for the weekly power poll. Everyone ranked the conference 1-8 and we have tallied the results in the same manner of the AP poll. Here are the results (first place votes in parenthesis):

1) Cincinnati (7): 56 points.
2) Pittsburgh: 49 points.
3) West Virginia: 42 points.
4) South Florida: 33 points.
5) Connecticut: 28 points.
6) Louisville: 19 points.
7) Rutgers: 17 points.
8] Syracuse: 8 points.

The NBE Big East Player of the Week is Jarrett Brown of WVU.

Enjoy the football!

NBE FOOTBALL BIG EAST POWER POLL (9/9/2009)

One week is in the books for the 2009 college football season. All eight Big East teams were in action during the first weekend. The team making the biggest statement was Cincinnati, the defending conference champions, who went into Rutgers on Monday afternoon and demolished the Scarlet Knights by the score of 47-15 in the lone conference match-up of the weekend.

Senior QB Tony Pike led the UC efforts with a 27-34-362-3-1 stat line. Other top performers in week one included Pitt freshman tailback Dion Lewis who ran 20 times for 129 yards and two touchdowns and caught two passes for 10 yards and another score. WVU tailback Noel Devine had 112 yards on 17 carries and a score. Jordan Todman (157) and Andre Dixon (100) each rushed for 100 yards or more for UConn in their road win at Ohio. Mountaineer QB Jarrett Brown accounted for 312 total yards in the first post-Pat White era ballgame for WVU. Former Duke point guard Greg Paulus completed 19 of 31 passes for 167 yards and a touchdown. However, his overtime INT in the endzone led to Minnesota kicking a game-winning field goal to defeat the Orange 23-20 on the Carrier Dome on Saturday afternoon.

So, after digesting week one of the Big East, the NBE Football staff has submitted their votes for the weekly power poll. Everyone ranked the conference 1-8 and we have tallied the results in the same manner of the AP poll. Here are the results (first place votes in parenthesis):

1) Cincinnati (6): 48 points.
2) Pittsburgh: 42 points.
3) West Virginia: 33 points.
4) South Florida: 31 points.
5) Connecticut: 20 points.
6) Louisville: 15 points.
7) Rutgers: 14 points.
8] Syracuse: 13 points.

The unanimous NBE Big East Player of the Week is Tony Pike of Cincinnati.

Be sure to check back a little later this morning to see Raphielle Johnson’s look at week #2. For a more detailed review of the previous weekend’s action, Michael Pina had a Big East Monday Morning QB article to catch everyone up on the action!

Enjoy the football!