In case you haven’t noticed football in the Big East this year is abysmal. Week five in college football is in the books and the Big East has a total of two wins against BCS Conference teams. The conference power rankings provided by CBS has the “Big Easy” below the Mountain West and even the WAC which has to be embarrassing for the former powerhouse. The main reason for this fall from grace is due to the recent coaching turnover.

Several sharp coaches have moved on to other programs and due to these departures their former teams have suffered. Bobby Petrino left Louisville after coaching the Cardinals to a 12-1 record in 2006 and an Orange Bowl victory. Since his departure Louisville has gone 6-6, 5-7 and 4-8.

Cincinnati has lost two solid coaches in Mark Dantonio (Michigan State) and Brian Kelly (Notre Dame) over the last five years. Last year Cincy was 12-0 before meeting their demise in the Sugar Bowl against Florida. This year the Bearcats have yet to beat a FBS team.

Rich Rod bolted from West Virginia in 2007 after leading the Mountaineers to two BCS bowl wins and three years in a row of winning 11 games. The Mountaineers haven’t fallen quite as hard as Louisville or Cincy, but they aren’t even close to the Rodriguez led teams. West Virginia has lost eight games in just the last two years.

Three coaches that were in the Big East in 2006 have their new teams in the Top 20 yet not a single team currently in the league can say the same thing.