Gat-Rat Bull

Hopefully it wasn't before the Houston game.

1) USF 2) 9 3) Da Silva: 15: 4) Da Silva: 8 5) 75%

Love me some Bulls hoops!

It's just a name, not a statement of latitude. Anyway, most people in the country think all of Florida is pretty much the same... beaches, palm trees, sunshine, college football, weird people, and alligators. Last time I checked, Tampa has all of those things, so...

Love it! That dude gets it.

I agree. Plus it has the added benefit that people nationwide will not think USF stands for University of Southern Florida.

Another example or two.... People in North Carolina refer to NC State (which is actually North Carolina State University) as simply "State." Everyone knows which school you mean. Also, people in NC use both "Carolina" and "UNC" interchangeably to refer to the University of North Carolina.

Does this still hold true? The media guides used to make a big point of "USF" being the official moniker, but I think most fans could care less. I like both names. The only time I get ticked off is when a sportscaster slips and calls us UCF or when an idiot reveals their ignorance and calls us Southern Florida or refers to USF as a small commuter school.

I barely remember thinking about UCF while I attended USF. Of course that was almost 30 years ago, and now it's my son's University. Things have definitely changed. I can actually sort of buy into this rivalry now and hope the Bulls can take a turn at crushing some dreams for once instead of the other way around. Go Bulls!

1) USF 2) 15 3) DaSilva - 15 4) DaSilva - 7 5) 75%

Love seeing the Bulls in that building. Halftime lead is nice too.

There are currently 9 teams in FBS (1A) with zero or one loss. I know, I know... strength of schedule, just beat UCF, Houston is a team "with a pulse", and USF does not execute. {yawn} College football is funny. I mean, where else does winning = losing?

1) Indiana 2) 18 3) Da Silva: 16 4) Da Silva: 7 5) 70

True. But "knowing" it does affect their outlook as fans in a positive way. Just like Bulls fans "knowing" we won't be this good again for a long time affects our outlook as fans in a negative way. I for one hope UF, FSU, Miami, and Orlando U. are terrible every season for the rest of my life and that all the Florida 4 and 5 stars come to USF instead, but I think we all "know" that isn't happening.

I think most of us long-time Bulls fans feel the same way. It is hard to describe actually. I'm sure the FSU and UF fans are feeling dissatisfied this year too, but the difference between them and Bulls fans is that they know that their future seasons will be better. We, on the other hand, all recognize from past experience (NCAA basketball tournament 20 year gap for example) that our opportunities for great seasons only come along every decade or two. When it appears that the team is set up for one of those rare great seasons, nothing short of that is satisfying to true fans like us. Even though we are 9-1 (stupid 4th & 24!) us Bulls Are We types tend to default to our normal expectations and start to see the real possibility (probability?) of not getting to enjoy a "great" season (i.e. AAC championship, big-time bowl game). Performances like last night's last 3 quarters only reinforce those feelings of here we go again... another USF "what could have been."

I'm sure Tulsa was not that upset about it either. Coaches get paid to make those types of strategic decisions, but I think a lot of coaches would try for points in that situation. We won, so Strong was correct (this time).

If you enjoyed tonight's game here are some other things you may enjoy...

It can't hurt.

This seems like a bad joke to me. Would USF be ranked by this CFP committee if that 4th & 24 pass had been incomplete? Would BSU or Memphis be ranked if USF was undefeated? Our SOS would still be the same. Our lack of "brand" perception would still be the same. The bias would still be the same. Do wins and losses even really matter? We can all agree that beating Tulsa this week won't convince the committee to include USF in the top 25 next Tuesday, but how many 4 loss teams (or 2 loss "G5" teams) will be ranked next week? If we beat UCF they will probably have just one loss. Would we both then be unranked? Let's see...

USF 3 Da Silva 12 Da Silva 7 89

USF 32-17 Flowers MVS 495

If we don't get the big prize, this might be fun to watch. Any chance it might happen? https://articles.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2017/11/willie_taggart_to_florida_afte.amp The comments at the bottom of the article sound very thebullspen-like. I guess fans are fans regardless of the team.