This may come as a shock to fans of the Chicago Bears and the Miami Dolphins….

Dave Wannstedt is a genius.

The Pittsburgh head coach was the only one from a major college program to offer one special player a scholarship.  After the stellar season this player had, you get to be called a “genius”

That player, RB Dion Lewis, led the Panthers to one of their better seasons in years, and, Pitt was just seconds away from winning the Big East championship.  Lewis (photo, thanks IconSMI) also wins our 2009 Fantasy College Blitz – Big East Conference Fantasy Player of the Year.

The redshirt-freshman from Albany, NY (Blair Academy HS, NJ) rushed for nearly 1300 yards and scored 14 total TDs (stats quoted are through November 21st games), leading the Panthers to a 9-3 overall record and a 6-2 mark in the Big East.

Joining Lewis on the Big East All-Fantasy Team are….

Note:  All statistics quoted are through November 21st games.

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QUARTEBACK

Tony Pike – Cincinnati: Although he missed a few games due to an arm injury, Pike still threw for over 1600 yards and 17 TDs….and also rushed for 2 more TDs as the Bearcats won the Big East, and, completed a perfect regular season.

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RUNNING BACKS

Dion Lewis – Pittsburgh: The redshirt-freshman set the school record for most rushing yards in a season by a frosh….a pretty huge deal when Heisman winner Tony Dorsett and other great RBs played at Pitt.

Noel Devine – West Virginia: The Mountaineer RB had his best season yet, with nearly 1100 yards and 10 TDs rushing…making WVU fans and Deion Sanders proud.

Jordan Todman – UConn: At times he shared carries with Huskies teammate Andre Dixon, but Todman still rushed for nearly 1000 yards and 13 TDs for bowl-bound UConn.

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RECEIVERS

Mardy Gilayrd – Cincinnati: Gilyard (photo, right, thanks Zimbio.com) could single-handedly break a game wide-open, and led the Bearcats with 930 yards and 8 TDs receiving.  Gilyard is also one of the nation’s best kick returners.

Armon Binns – Cincinnati: Binns’ season took off as he became the top target for UC backup QB Zach Collaros when filling in for Tony Pike…finishing with nearly 700 receiving yards and 8 TDs.

Jonathan Baldwin – Pittsburgh: Pitt’s big-play threat kept defenses honest against Dion Lewis, with Baldwin collecting over 800 yards and 5 TDs receiving.

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KICKER

Dan Hutchins – Pittsburgh: Led all Big East kickers with 82 points scored.

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DEFENSE

Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights defense was quite fantasy-friendly, totalling 29 sacks and 5 defensive TDs.

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Stay tuned to Fantasy College Blitz as Daniel Freer keeps running down the top fantasy players from every conference.   Well, we mean “running down” as in mentioning them….not harming them.

Related posts:

1. BIG EAST 2008 ALL-FANTASY TEAM
2. 2009 ACC ALL-FANTASY TEAM
3. 2009 PAC 10 ALL-FANTASY TEAM
4. 2009 BIG XII ALL-FANTASY TEAM
5. 2009 C-USA ALL-FANTASY TEAM

Tags: Big East, Cincinnati, Dion Lewis, Pittsburgh, Tony Pike, West Virginia