No Big East teams in the Preseason Top 25…Not a single one. Pittsburgh came the closest at 28, followed by Rutgers at 30, West Virginia at 32 and Cincinnati at 33. South Florida rounded out the “also receiving votes” contingent at 45. While this will surely ignite a fire around the nation regarding the inclusion of the Big East in the BCS bowl schedule and Orrin Hatch will once again climb atop his soap box, claiming the injustices of the BSC and the non inclusion of Utah and the rest of the Mountain West (which has three teams in the top 25), all of this seams like a complete over reaction. Yes, the Big East begins the 2009 season lacking star status losing players like Pat White, Lesean McCoy, Donald Brown and Kenny Britt to the NFL. Cincinnati’s lackluster performance against Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl also didn’t help the Big East’s position in the BCS conference pecking order. But what everyone seems to overlook though is the tremendous parity that has emerged in the conference as a result of these changes. At the annual Big East football media day, four teams received first place votes to finish atop the Big East. Curiously, Rutgers picked to finish fifth and who several media outlets pick to win the conference, did not receive a single first place vote as determined by Big East media. No coach, whether you’re Urban Meyer, Pete Carroll or Doug Marrone likes dealing with high expectations. High expectations are a very, very dangerous for the kind of teams the Big East has entering the season: young, talented, hungry. There is too much talent in this year’s edition of Big East football. A new cast of stars awaits in the wings to become the next poster boys for the Big East on the national stage. We may not see it right away, but we will see it at some point this season. Time will tell. Having no teams ranked in the preseason Top 25 may end up being the best thing that happened to this conference after all.