Fourth and goal to go

Newport, R.I. - A half-dozen tape recorders were placed on a table in front UConn football coach Randy Edsall, but the Connecticut press contingent already knew what was coming when Edsall was asked about being picked to finish fourth in the Big East preseason poll.

"My comment is the same as last year," he said. "Who cares. … We've got to go out and play the games. I don't get too enthusiastic about where we're picked in any preseason poll because it's about what we do on the field."

There was some significance about this preseason ranking, however.

Tuesday's announcement, which came during the Big East's annual media day at the historic Viking Hotel, marked UConn's highest ranking since it joined the conference. The Huskies are coming off an 8-5 season that ended with four straight wins, including an upset victory over South Carolina in the Papajohns.com Bowl, and they return 17 starters.

Still, they finished behind Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and West Virginia in a preseason voting of media members who cover the conference.

The Panthers, who return Offensive Player of the Year Dion Lewis and Defensive Player of the Year Greg Romeus, were the overwhelming choice to win the Big East with 22 of a possible 24 first-place votes and 190 points.

Defending champion Cincinnati and West Virginia tied for second with 142 points and UConn was close behind with 131. The Mountaineers and Huskies each received a first-place vote.

"It doesn't really mean anything," said senior linebacker Scott Lutrus, one of four captains in attendance Tuesday. "It's just a number on a piece of paper. The guys we have returning are very experienced and we have great depth, so we're very confident in our team."

There was less talk about the lack-of-respect factor that has followed the Huskies in previous years, partly because more people are beginning to take notice of UConn's accomplishments, which have included three straight bowl appearances and three straight seasons of at least eight wins.

Edsall, for instance, was invited to spend last Thursday in the ESPN studios in Bristol, where he appeared live on television and radio.

"Any time you have success, people want to talk to you," Edsall said. "It's good to see other people recognize the job you've done."

That list includes Edsall's predecessor, Skip Holtz, who made his first appearance at media day as South Florida's new coach.

"I have great respect for what Randy's done," said Holtz, who led the Huskies to their only Division I-AA playoff appearance in 1998 before leaving to join his father Lou's coaching staff at South Carolina. "When you look at what they've done in 10 years, it's incredible, and the Big East has helped that progress tremendously."

Still, there is one thing missing from that résumé: an outright Big East championship and the program's first BCS bowl bid.

UConn's best opportunity could be this season.

"The guys we have returning are very experienced and we have great depth, so we're very confident in our team," said Lutrus, who added his teammates expect to carry the momentum from last year's season-ending four-game winning streak into 2010. "We want to get back on the field. We want to get rolling again. The entire team and the entire program wants to get back out there.

"There's a lot of competitiveness and a lot of depth. Kids want to win spots and everyone's eager to play. Every day these kids go out and work. We're becoming a great football program now and they want to become a part of it. We know what we're made of here. We get great support from our fans and that's really what matters to us."

c.banning@theday.com

Rank Team Pts.

1. Pittsburgh (22) 190

2. Cincinnati 142

3. West Virginia (1) 142

4. Connecticut (1) 131

5. Rutgers 99

6. USF 79

7. Syracuse 41

8. Louisville 40

(First-place votes in parentheses)