Orlando Sentinel College Football "Ranks"

[bullsmeanbusiness]

Laughable that they have us as #30 in their preseason ranks.

 

[BDYZR]

Writer was just confused. He was talking about how many points we would win by this year.

[Triple B]

He does have us as the highest ranked G5 going in, one spot ahead of Duck Nation .... the Kanigits the 3rd highest G5 at #48 with the Fightin' Mike Whites in between at #43.

 

Quote

The USF Bulls are No. 30 in the Orlando Sentinel 2017 preseason college football rankings. Coach Charlie Strong inherits a team favored to win an American Athletic Conference title if the Bulls can avoid injury issues.

Our ranking: No. 30

Coach: Charlie Strong (0-0, entering first season; 53-27 overall)

2016 record: 11-2, 7-1 in American Athletic Conference, second in East Division

Look back: Former USF coach Willie Taggart went from the hot seat to hot coaching prospect after three years of work turning around the Bulls program paid off in a big way. QB Quinton Flowers won 2016 American Athletic Conference offensive player of the year honors after passing for 2,807 yards and 24 touchdowns and rushing for 1,530 yards and 18 touchdowns. The Bulls set a school record with 11 wins while setting 40 team and individual records, including single season total yards (6,650), rushing yards (3,714), touchdowns (77) and scoring (569). An October 46-30 loss at Temple during which the defense struggled and Flowers suffered hamstring injury prevented USF from competing for an AAC title. The Bulls rebounded by closing the year on a five-year win streak, including a 46-39 overtime victory against South Carolina in the Birmingham Bowl.

Taggart accepted the Oregon head coaching job and the Bulls landed coach Charlie Strong, who was fired by Texas despite protests by loyal players.

Offensive starters returning: 9

Offensive starters lost: 2

 

Defensive starters returning: 4

Defensive starters lost: 7

Key losses: RB Marlon Mack, WR Rodney Adams, OT Kofi Amichia, OG Dominique Threatt, LB Nigel Harris, S Nate Godwin

Top returnees: QB Quinton Flowers, WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling, C Cameron Ruff, LB Augie Sanchez, DT Bruce Hector,DT Deadrin Senat, DC DEatrick Nichols

Strengths: Strong inherits a team that is loaded with talent, including six 2016 All-AAC performers, and is favored to win the American Athletic Conference title.

“It’s very humbling, just because from where we came,” USF senior LB Auggie Sanchez told the Tampa Bay Times during AAC media day. “When I first got to USF, we were in the rebuilding stages and many people wrote us off. I think what you're seeing now is a product of hard work, a lot of people coming together and a senior-run team.”

The strength of the team is a potent offense that has the potential to break numerous records set last season. Flowers is back running the Bulls’ attack. USF, which thrived last season running Taggart’s Gulf Coast Offense, has since switched to a variation of Baylor’s prolific scheme during the Art Briles era and expects to go even faster by snapping the ball every 12 to 15 seconds. Flowers, a potential Heisman candidate, said he’s fired up by how much the offense has improved since last season.

Weaknesses: Sanchez is an ideal leader on the defensive side of the ball, but the group has the most room to improve. The Bulls return just four starters on defense and the lineup is expected to be challenged by Strong, who has spent his entire career building hard-nosed, tough defensive units. With extensive talent on the offensive side of the ball, the defense will likely dictate whether the Bulls earn the first conference title in school history.

Outlook: Strong, Flowers and the rest of the Bulls know they will be targeted by AAC teams eager to knock off the team projected to win the league title. While the players were thrilled by an 11-win season, the inability to win a conference title leaves many of the veteran USF players highly motivated to realize expectations and win big this season. While he took over a talented and deep squad, Strong and his staff should have no trouble keeping the roster stocked thanks to the former long-time UF defensive coordinator’s strong recruiting ties in the state of Florida.

2017 Schedule

Aug. 26 at San Jose State

Sept. 2 Stony Brook

Sept. 9 at UConn

Sept. 15 Illinois

Sepet. 21 Temple

Sept. 30 at East Carolina

Oct. 14 UMass

Oct. 21 at Tulane

Oct. 28 Cincinnati

Nov. 4 Houston

Nov. 18 Tulsa

Nov. 24 at UCF

Iliana Limón Romero, ilimon@orlandosentinel.com

Previous Rankings

• No. 31 Oregon
• No. 32 Arkansas
• No. 33 Iowa
• No. 34 West Virginia
• No. 35 Arizona
• No. 36 Kentucky
• No. 37 Nebraska
• No. 38 NC State
• No. 39 Arizona State
• No. 40 Mississippi State
• No. 41 Baylor
• No. 42 South Carolina
• No. 43 Western Kentucky
• No. 44 Minnesota
• No. 45 North Carolina
• No. 46 UCLA
• No. 47 Vanderbilt
• No. 48 UCF
• No. 49 Colorado
• No. 50 Michigan State
• No. 51 Missouri
• No. 52 San Diego State
• No. 53 Memphis
• No. 54 Ole Miss
• No. 55 Maryland
• No. 56 Houston
• No. 57 Wyoming
• No. 58 Toledo
• No. 59 Navy
• No. 60 Louisiana Tech
• No. 61 Boise State
• No. 62 Appalachian State
• No. 63 Indiana
• No. 64 Old Dominion
• No. 65 Wake Forest
• No. 66 Cal
• No. 67 Tulsa
• No. 68 Troy
• No. 69 Miami (Ohio)
• No. 70 Boston College
• No. 71 Texas Tech
• No. 72 Army
• No. 73 Middle Tennessee
• No. 74 Ball State
• No. 75 Arkansas State
• No. 76 Syracuse
• No.77 New Mexico
• No. 78 Georgia Tech
• No.78 New Mexico
• No. 79 Western Michigan
• No. 80 Oregon State
• No. 81 Southern Miss
• No. 82 Pittsburgh
• No. 83 UTSA
• No. 84 Nevada
• No. 85 Duke
• No. 86 Purdue
• No. 87 Northern Illinois
• No. 88 Georgia Southern
• No. 89 Marshall
• No. 90 Eastern Michigan
• No. 91 FIU
• No. 92 Virginia
• No. 93 Rutgers
• No. 94 Colorado State
• No. 95 Central Michigan
• No. 96 Hawaii
• No. SMU 97
• No. 98 Air Force
• No. 99 ULM
• No. 100 North Texas
• No. 101 Ohio
• No. 102 East Carolina
• No. 103 San José State
• No. 104 Bowling Green
• No. 105 South Alabama
• No. 106 FAU
• No, 107 Tulane
• No. 108 Louisiana
• No. 109 Iowa State
• No. 110 Rice
• No. 111 Temple
• No. 112 Idaho
• No. 113 UNLV
• No. 114 UTEP
• No. 115 Coastal Carolina
• No. 116 Akron
• No. 117 Utah State
• No. 118 Cincinnati
• No. 119 Kansas
• No. 120 Illinois
• No. 121 UConn
• 122: Kent State
• 123: Fresno State
• 124: Georgia State
• 125: UMass
• 126: Charlotte
• 127: New Mexico State
• 128: Buffalo
• 129: Texas State
• 130: UAB

 

[NewEnglandBull]

The writer should eat another donut and rethink his position. 

[USFBULL_08]

Just about every team on our schedule is from 97-125...

Shout out to Lovie and his 120th Big Ten Illini lol. I hope Strong doesn't hold back and we beat them by 50.

[BullyPulpit]

Take what the writer says with an absolute grain of salt, as he thinks we only return 4 starters on defense. We literally return 4 starters on the defensive line alone. Add in Sanchez, Nichols, McGee, and Fullwood, and we essentially have 8 returning starters. I really can't believe that people get paid to write this crap. Literally the only starters we lost on defense were Nigel Harris, Nate Godwin, and Johnny Ward. 

[usfbullrider]

How many teams without a clear starting QB is he going to put in front of us LOL hack

[Triple B]

6 hours ago, BullyPulpit said:

Take what the writer says with an absolute grain of salt, as he thinks we only return 4 starters on defense. We literally return 4 starters on the defensive line alone.

This is one of the downsides of having a hack, small town publication.... incompetence. You've got 2 "writers'" opinions on display there. The writer of the piece, Iliana Romero, apparently didn't watch the video that accompanies the article, which is commentary by Matt Murschel. She totally missed that in the video Murschel said that we returned 8 or 9 starters on defense and that was a big positive to him

[JoeB]

8 of our opponents ranked 102 and worse.  I think these rankings are way off btw.  Temple should be higher and there should be about 10 more G5 schools better than the Tinmen

[TExpress]

Yet every major media outlet has us ranked in the top 25...