I know this will be a shock, but the Sports Illustrated preview of the Big East picks Louisville to finish #1 and Pitt #2 in the Big East.

If anyone can stand up to the Cardinals, it’s the Panthers, who return the bulk of what was truly a young team last season and are now under the direction of former NFL head coach and Pitt alum Dave Wannstedt. If anyone else emerges as the champion, it will be a surprise. West Virginia, after losing 14 starters, and Syracuse, with new coach Greg Robinson, are both teams in transition. Upstart Connecticut must replace four-year QB and NFL Draft pick Dan Orlovsky. And Rutgers, though it should field its best team in years, still only won one conference game a year ago.

They also do a slide-show thing of the 10 best players in the Big East. Louisville placed 4 players at numbers 2, 4, 8 and 9 (Brohm, Leffew, Dumervil and Bush). Pitt had 3 — Greg Lee #1, Tyler Palko #3 and H.B. Blades #6. Running Backs Andre Hall of USF, Cornell Brockington of UConn and Fullback Brian Leonard from Rutgers were the others.