The Big East, coming off a 5-0 bowl record, will open up the 2007 season with each of its eight teams in action this week. Sadly, the marquee matchups of the week are Syracuse and UConn, two of the team’s bottomfeeders over the past two seasons, battling fellow BCS bottomfeeders Washington and Duke. Three teams will do “battle” with sub-D1A teams, while three other Big East squads will face teams from the MAC. UConn will be the only BE team opening the season on the road, as they travel to Durham to play Duke.

Let’s take a quick look at the week 1 games:

Buffalo at Rutgers (Thurs. Night - 7:00 PM EST) — The sequel to Rutgers’ Cinderella season will begin unceremoniously, as they play the University of Buffalo–a team that won just two games in 2006. Look for the Scarlett Knights to shut down the Bulls’ offense in a big way, as Buffalo totalled just 10 points against its three BCS opponents in 2006. On the offensive side of the ball, Ray Rice will get his yards, but look for head coach Greg Schiano to air it out early, so that quarterback Mike Teel can gain some early confidence. Rutgers has talent across the board on defense and its offensive line and ground game are very good, but Teel is the big variable on the team. Rutgers 34, Buffalo 3

Southeast Missouri State at Cincinnati (Thurs. Night - 7:00 PM EST) — This should be a pretty interesting game for Big East fans and coaches. New head coach Brian Kelly will try to build on the moderate success the Bearcats enjoyed under Mark Dantonio. Dantonio left a solid defense and Kelly’s forte is offense, so it will be exciting to see how Kelly will line up on offense and whether or not Cincy has enough athletes to truly spread it out and show some improvement. The Bearcats have a big out of conference matchup against Oregon State on Sept. 6th, so they will probably try to keep it fairly vanilla against SE Missouri State. Cincinnati 28, Southeast Missouri State 10

Murray State at Louisville (Thurs. Night - 7:30 PM EST) — This nationally televised game (ESPNU — 7:30 PM EST) will give Heisman candidate Brian Brohm and new head coach Steve Kragthorpe an opportunity to showcase the new-look Cardinals. Look for Brohm to put up big numbers in the first half and spend the second half with a clipboard. My friends in Louisville tell me that they expect this to be the fastest Louisville defense ever, so keep an eye to see how they flow to the ball and whether or not they are able to create a lot of turnovers. Louisville 44, Murray State 6

Washington at Syracuse (Fri. Night - 8:00 PM EST) — The first really interesting Big East matchup of the season, not so much because it will be a great game, but it will be a great measuring stick to see how the bottom half of the Big East stacks up against a bottom half team from another BCS conference. The Huskies went just 5-7 last season, but they did beat UCLA and most of their losses were to bowl teams. Syracuse’s Greg Robinson needs to show that the Orangemen are moving forward in his third season and this game, being at the Carrier Dome, is one of the more winnable out of conference games on the schedule for the ‘Cuse (they also play @ Iowa, have Illinois at home, and play @Miami, OH). I’m going to be a Big East homer here and take the Orange to win the home, night game. Syracuse 21, Washington 17

Connecticut at Duke (Sat. - 2:00 PM EST) — Similar to the Syracuse-Washington game, this is another BCS measuring stick game for the Big East. Duke was wretched in 2006, going 0-12 with the lowpoint being a 13-0 loss to D1-AA Richmond to open the season. The Blue Devils were shut out in three of their first four games last season and were one of only two teams to lose every game (Florida International was the other). I actually think UConn will be a little better than folks think in ‘07. They appeared to be moving in the right direction prior to last season, before being completely drilled by injuries that led them to a 4-8 record in ‘06. UConn 17, Duke 7

Western Michigan at West Virginia (Sat. - 3:30 PM) — Western Michigan (8-5 in ‘06) was one of the better teams in the MAC last season, but travelling to Morgantown should prove to be a pretty big challenge for the Broncos. Like Louisville, the Mountaineers are hoping that their defense has improved enough to keep up with its high octane offense. Look for Steve Slaton and Pat White to get their work in early and then check out to watch the second half from the sidelines. West Virginia 44, Western Michigan 13

Eastern Michigan at Pittsburgh (Sat. - 6:00 PM) — Eastern Michigan (1-11) had trouble putting points on the board in 2006, so it will be tough to judge whether or not Pittsburgh has improved its defense from the past two seasons. What we know about Pittsburgh is that it will be without its four best players from ‘06 (LB H.B. Blades, QB Tyler Palko, CB Darrelle Revis to the NFL and WR Derek Kinder — injured and out for the season). However, head coach Dave Wannstedt has recruited well over the past two seasons and the time has come for some of his prized recruits to step up. Keep an eye out for converted linebacker Dorrin Dickerson, a former wideout with great agility, to make his first appearance on the defensive side of the ball. QB Billy Stull, a junior, is a veteran of coordinator Matt Cavanaugh’s system, but made very limited appearances over his first two seasons. Stull’s development will play a big part in the successes and failures of the Panthers in ‘06. Pittsburgh 24, Eastern Michigan 10

Elon at South Florida (Sat. - 7:05 PM) — My how times have changed! Just ten years ago, South Florida was a D1-AA team that was playing against the big boys for a paycheck. Now, the Bulls will welcome in Elon (who may well be better than half of the D1-A schools in North Carolina this season) for a payday and a beating. Matt Grothe, USF’s exciting dual-threat quarterback will return for his sophomore season, but Bulls’ fans will be more excited to finally get to see running back Mike Ford, who enters the season and school’s highest profile recruit in its short existence. South Florida, after knocking off Louisville and West Virginia over the past two seasons, is one of more popular dark horse teams in the nation, so it will be important for them to come out early, establish their dominance, and then get their starters off the field early, so they will be healthy for their Sept. 8th matchup at Auburn. South Florida 31, Elon 3