Next up in my look at each conference's fantasy prospects is the Big East. You can see all my draft-centric fantasy analysis here.

On to the analysis:

Here are my Big East college fantasy football sleepers. Some of these are meant for use in small leagues (such as Big East-only), while others could be useful for matchup or every-week play in all leagues:

Hazelton is my pick for the Bearcats. I think some of your league mates might me down on their offense, with the departure of Tony Pike, Mardy Gilyard, and HC Brian Kelly. Don't fall for it. I think the offense will still put up numbers, and I think USC transfer Hazelton is part of the explosion. Noteworthy: the year he sat out because of the transfer was spent catching passes and developing chemistry with then-backup, now-starter QB Zach Collaros.

UConn's Todman and Frazer are a little too well-known to be called 'sleepers', so I'm going with Griffin as the pick here. Despite his recent injury in fall practice (he's supposed to be fine), I think Griffin is an interesting player to watch. It doesn't hurt that HC Randy Edsall is already having to move defenders over to TE late in practice because of a lack of depth- Griffin should benefit from this sort of position security.

Adam Froman (not to be confused with Abe Froman of Ferris Bueller fame) is going to be the QB to get first crack at the Urban Meyer spread coming to Louisville (HC Charlie Strong brought Meyer's former OC at Utah, Mike Sanford, with him to Louisville. Sanford washed out as a HC at UNLV). Consider yourself warned.

Pitt has a big hole at TE thanks to the departure of Dorin Dickerson. While it's yet to be seen if Mike Cruz can replace his athleticism, I highly doubt the offense will completely wipe all those TE plays from the playbook. Here's a lesson for you: fantasy value, while obviously tied to ability, is mostly tied to opportunity. If Pitt is going to keep those plays in throwing to the TE, and Cruz is the TE, he's going to have the opportunity to make catches, get yards, and score TDs. Let's see if he has that sort of ability.

There are many reasons to look at freshman Jeremy Deering to break out for Rutgers. The first is that they have a recent history (Mohamed Sanu, anyone?) of having a fantasy breakout from a freshman WR. The second is that they lack an established threat opposite Sanu. Third, seemingly every other WR on the roster seems to be injured. Finally, there's Rutgers status as having the most experience QB in the league combined with their being the top Big East offense of 2008. There should be value in the receiving corps beyond Sanu. I'm betting Deering fills that void, as everyone seems to like his talent and potential.

I'm going out on a limb here, and thinking USF's new coaching staff knows what they are doing.  After running off RB Mike Ford, they fought for a sixth year of eligibility for RB Mo Plancher (when they could have easily brought in one of 'their guys' with that scholarship instead).  We aren't real sure how the new staff will distribute carries, so my early pick is to go with the experienced RB.  Of course, they could easily go with redshirt freshman Bradley Battles (because of his youth or his awesome name) as he'll be a bigger part of their future.  But that's why I get to call Plancher a 'sleeper'.

I really don't have a reason to pick Carter other than his potential to be the greatest running back in the history of ever.  On a serious note, if he finishes in the top half of Big East RBs... well, he likely won't.  But I'd be fine taking someone with that sort of opportunity, after top Big East options Todman, Devine, Pead, and Lewis are off the board.  And if he does ever live up to that 84 TD potential...

West Virginia seems to always be a useful fantasy offense... but I haven't seen many people talking about Geno Smith.  Sounds like the definition of 'sleeper' to me!  As CBS' 41st ranked option in CBS leagues, I'd take him over guys like Scott Tolzien in BCS Leagues.  I'll get to it in the Big Ten preview, but Tolzien is pretty much the definition of boring QBs who are much better in real life than in fantasy, while guys like Smith at least have the potential to breakout (meanwhile John Clay and Co. pretty much guarantee Tolzien will never put up the stats to compete with the Jerrod Johnson's of the world in BCS Leagues).

Position Scarcity

The Big East should provide quality fantasy contributors across the board this season.  Nearly half the league has serviceable fantasy options at QB, depending on the league.  I wouldn't be surprised if as many as six of the eight Big East QBs are chosen in tomorrow night's Gatorsfirst.com BCS League draft (it's a 16 team league).  Collaros, Daniels, and Savage should be considered the cream of the crop, while Shinskie, Smith, and Froman are intriguing for different reasons.  Frazer is solid and can't be forgotten, though I question how often UConn will throw the ball.

The Big East is loaded at RB, even before I make more unsuccessful Delone Carter jokes.  Jordan Todman just might end up the top RB in all of college fantasy football.  Even casual college football fans know Noel Devine.  Martinek, Pead, and Lewis are also very solid options.  We've already talked about Carter and Plancher, which leaves only Louisville.  And I wouldn't bet against the new offensive staff getting production out of those guys, either.

Wide receiver is thin across the board, but the Big East has a couple of good options.  Sanu, Baldwin, and Binns are the elite options, but guys like Hazelton and Deering could emerge as well.  Jock Sanders, Kashif Moore, and Sterling Griffin are other guys who should be drafted in BCS Leagues.  Just the fact that the Big East has those three elite guys to point to separates it from many of the other leagues, where wide receivers in general will be hard to come by.