Louisville is a heavy favorite to win the Big East/American Athletic Conference in 2013. With quarterback Teddy Bridgewater returning, along with one of the conference’s best defenses, the Cardinals have a good opportunity to finish the season with a perfect 12-0 mark.

While Louisville is a clear No. 1, there’s a lot of debate about which team should be projected to finish second.

The Big East doesn’t have many household names returning at running back for 2013.

Houston’s Charles Sims is one of the best all-around backs in college football and leads the way for the Big East in 2013. Joining Sims atop the rankings is UCF’s Storm Johnson, Connecticut’s Lyle McCombs and Rutgers’ Savon Huggins. McCombs had a disappointing 2012 season but should top 1,000 yards in 2013.

The first round of the NFL Draft monopolizes coverage in the media and fan’s minds alike. While the first 32 picks are important and generally feature the most elite talents, the best organizations in football are competitive year after year because of quality middle round work.

Change has seemingly surrounded the Big East for the last couple of years. And the conference is undergoing a massive makeover later this offseason, as it will officially change names to the American Athletic Conference.

Houston, Memphis, SMU and UCF join the Big East from Conference USA, with UCF expected to be the best team out of the newcomers.

With all of the teams coming and going in the Big East, the conference is clearly one in transition for 2013.

Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater is clearly the No. 1 quarterback in the Big East for 2013 and should be one of college football’s top 10 Heisman contenders. After Bridgewater, there’s a drop-off to the No. 2 option.

Most college football fans associate the word “hot seat” with coaching changes. While that term mostly applies to the men on the sideline, it can also factor into the discussion of quarterbacks. Every coach preaches competition under center in the spring, but the reality is only a handful of quarterback battles are really open.

Coaching is one of the driving forces in building a national championship team or program. No matter how much talent a program has, it can’t win a national title if the coaching is questionable.

Considering how important coaches are to teams or even making preseason predictions, Athlon is taking a look at how each conference stacks up with its head coach rankings for 2013.

With spring practice underway across college football, most of interest will focus on quarterback battles or incoming freshmen that enrolled early to get a jumpstart on making an impact for 2013.

Another year brings more changes for the Big East. And if you are having trouble keeping up with the changes, you certainly aren’t alone. West Virginia departed for the Big 12 before the 2012 season, while Pittsburgh and Syracuse are joining the ACC in time for 2013. Louisville and Rutgers will have new homes in 2014, as the Cardinals are joining the ACC, while the Scarlet Knights are joining the Big Ten.

With spring practice kicking off across the nation, the race to win college football’s 2013 national title has officially started. Although it’s hard to learn everything about a team in spring practice, the next few months are a good opportunity to get a look at how some of the open position battles are shaping up, along with how some of the underclassmen have improved since the end of 2012.