3 Pitt players leaving early, declare for NFL draft

Three members of the Pitt football team will forgo their remaining eligibility and declare for the NFL Draft. Junior receiver Jon Baldwin, junior fullback Henry Hynoski and sophomore tailback Dion Lewis announced their decisions to turn pro Monday.

Baldwin, a two-time first-team All-Big East pick, had 53 catches and five touchdowns this past season. His 2,337 career receiving yards rank sixth all-time at Pitt.

Hynoski was Pitt’s starting fullback each of the past two seasons. He carried the ball only 12 times this season for 33 yards but caught 25 passes.

Lewis rushed for 2,860 yards in only two seasons, eclipsing former standout LeSean McCoy’s school record for rushing yards as a freshman and sophomore. (McCoy had 2,816 yards from 2007-08.) Lewis ranks fourth overall on the Panthers’ career rushing list.

Villanova tabbed as Big East favorite

Villanova, coming off its first Final Four appearance in 25 years, was the pick in the Big East Conference men's basketball preseason poll with West Virginia second and Connecticut third. They were the only schools to receive first-place votes from the 16 coaches.

The Big East held its annual preseason media day Wednesday in New York.

Villanova, which received 10 first-place votes from the league's coaches, boasts a deep backcourt led by senior Scottie Reynolds. West Virginia's No. 2 position is the highest in the preseason poll for the Mountaineers since they joined the league for the 1995-96 season. WVU, which had five first-place votes, has four starters returning.

Notre Dame senior forward Luke Harangody joined Georgetown great Patrick Ewing as the only players to be chosen Big East preseason player of the year more than once.

The 6-8 Harangody, who led the conference in scoring last season and was second in rebounding. He was the Big East player of the year as a sophomore and was the preseason choice last season.

Harangody averaged 23.3 points and 11.8 rebounds as a first-team all-conference pick last season. Joining him on the six-man preseason first team were seniors Deonta Vaughn of Cincinnati, Lazar Hayward of Marquette, Scottie Reynolds of Villanova and Da'Sean Butler of West Virginia, and sophomore Greg Monroe of Georgetown.

Lance Stephenson of Cincinnati was selected preseason rookie of the year.

Connecticut, which also reached the Final Four last season, received one first-place vote. Louisville, the defending regular-season and tournament champion, was fourth followed by Georgetown, Syracuse, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, St. John's, Marquette, Providence, South Florida, Rutgers and DePaul.

20009-10 PRESEASON MEDIA RANKINGS
RANK TEAM PTS
1 Villanova (10) 218
2 West Virginia (5) 215
3 Connecticut (1) 185
4 Louisville 179
5 Georgetown 161
6 Syracuse 152
7 Cincinnati 135
8 Notre Dame 132
9 Pitt 119
10 Seton Hall 110
11 St. John's 82
12 Marquette 78
13 Providence 52
14 USF 44
15 Rutgers 43
16 DePaul 15

Officiating crew almost cost bettors

Big East Conference officials working last Saturday's Louisville-Connecticut football game wrongly allowed the Cardinals to attempt an extra-point kick with no time left on the clock. The move nearly proved costly to bettors in Las Vegas who were backing the Huskies.

Connecticut was 12 1/2-point favorite at kickoff and covering the spread after Jordan Todman scored on a two-yard run with 3:13 remaining, giving the Huskies a 38-19 lead.

Louisville drove down the field on its final possession and scored on a four-yard pass from Adam Froman to Blayne Donnell as time expired, cutting Connecticut's lead to 13 points at 38-25.

The officiating crew then wrongly allowed Ryan Payne to attempt the conversion kick. Much to the relief of those backing Connecticut, Payne missed the extra point, keeping the Huskies a pointspread winner.

Payne should not have been given the opportunity to kick because of Rule 8-3-2a:

If a touchdown is scored during a down in which time in the fourth period expires, the try shall not be attempted unless the point(s) would affect the outcome of the game.

Bet on the Big East

According to a study done by Ed Gunther of The National Championship Issue, Big East Conference football teams covered the pointspread an average of 56.3% from 2000-2008. This is the best winning percentage of any conference.

Because of the 10% vigorish Las Vegas sportsbooks charge for wagering on college games, a bettor has to pick winners at a rate of 52.4% to break even. The only other conference to exceed that threshold was the Pacific 10, whose teams covered at a rate of 55.1%.

The best team against the spread was Boise State, covering 63% of the time, followed by Utah (59%), Iowa (58.9%), Oregon State (57.3%) and USC (56.8%). Connecticut was the best ofr the Big east schools, covering at a 55.8% clip.

The worst at covering the spread, among teams that were Division I-A members from 2000-08, was Indiana at only 34.7%.

Big East preseason rankings

1. Rutgers
Th Scarlet Knight finished tied for second with Pitt and West Virginia last year and they won their final six games, including the PapaJohns.com Bowl. All-time leading passer Mike Teel and receivers Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood are gone but it's not outlandish to say Rutgers still has the most talent in the conference. All five starters on the offensive line return and left tackle Anthony Davis is one of the best in college football.

Rutgers opens its season versus Cincinnati on Monday, Sept. 7 at home. Pitt, South Florida and West Virginia all play at Rutgers. That's what makes them the favorite.

2. Pitt
Media selected the Panthers as conference favorites in a preseason poll and it's understandable. The Panthers won nine games a year ago – the first time that's happened at Pitt since 1982. Four starters return on the offensive line and the defense should be the best in the Big East. Questions at quarterback and on special teams could cost the Panthers a spot in the BCS.

3. West Virginia
Wouldn't be shocked if West Virginia won the conference or turned into the league's biggest disappointment. Running back Noel Devine is the Big East's most dynamic offensive player and quarterback Jarrett Brown is a capable replacement for Pat White. The Mountaineers need playmakers on defense. Don't see many there.

4. Cincinnati
The Bearcats represented the Big East in the BCS last year, losing to Virginia Tech at the Orange Bowl and looking overmatched in the process. Quarterback Tony Pike is back and, with all apologies to South Florida's Matt Grothe, the league's best at the position. No doubt Cincinnati is improving under head coach Brian Kelly but it lost too many top players to repeat last year's performance.

5. South Florida
Sure, the Bulls have quarterback Matt Grothe and All-American defensive end George Selvie, but this team plays its best football in September. There's no reason to believe South Florida breaks the trend.

6. Connecticut
If there's a team in the second half of these rankings which could make a major move upward, it's the Huskies. All-American running back Donald Brown is with the Indianapolis Colts but senior Andre Dixon rushed for 828 yards in 2007. Trinity High School graduate Cody Endres is the Huskies' No. 2 quarterback.

7. Louisville
The Cardinals went from emerging national power – they won the Orange Bowl three years ago – to Big East stepping stone the minute current Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino left campus for the Atlanta Falcons. Head coach Steve Kragthorpe is on the hot seat.

8. Syracuse
The Big East's worst team made its biggest headline during the offseason when former Duke point guard Greg Paulus joined the Orange for one year of football. He's the starting quarterback and was once considered one of the top high school players in the country.

No Big East in BCS?

Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News has five ideas for improving the Bowl Championship Series. At the top of Cowlishaw's list is dumping the Big East champion's automatic berth and giving it to the Mountain West champion. He writes "But the conference headed by Utah, TCU and Brigham Young is currently more competitive than the one West Virginia has mostly owned for the last five years."

It's amazing what one bowl win can do for the image of a conference. After Utah upset Alabama in the Suagr Bowl last year, everyone jumped on the Mountain West bandwagon, saying the conference is a major player in college football. Nobody was saying as much only a year earlier when Mountain West champion BYU limped to a one-point win over a 6-6 UCLA team in the Las Vegas Bowl. No conference that has Wyoming, UNLV, San Diego State, New Mexico, Colorado State and Air Force among its members can be considered a major player in college football. Utah is good. TCU can beat most teams on any given day but the rest of the conference is simply isn't very good.

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