BullyPulpit

UCF has a very impressive 2024 recruiting class. Out of 17 commits, they have 9 four stars and their class is ranked in the top 30 in the country. They had 9 four star recruits in total from 2017 to 2023.  Only Texas Tech has a better class than them at this point. 

The main reason I don't want an early bowl game (Dec. 16th for example) is that it robs the team of additional practice time. The later the date, the better for trying to improve and potentially add a few wrinkles to the offense. It would be awesome for the players if they got to go to Hawaii. What an awesome reward, especially for the guys that stuck through the dark ages. 

Miami, Army, Navy, and, to a much lesser extent, UTSA would be one of our better home slates in quite sometime. 

28 Turnovers?!?! 28 Fouls?!?! 26 Point Win....Insane. These ladies have some work to do, but definitely have the talent to do it. 

3 hours ago, Outlaw said:

Going by rankings ,undefeated conference play,  records over last 4 years,and their coach has the highest win percentage of any of those teams in his career. Army beat them without the 7th year QB. I guess we will find out over the next two games. No one in our conference has a better record in the last four years then UTSA.

I'm going to say that they don't win the conference title. If they beat Tulane on the road, they will lose to SMU in the title game. I still think USF can spring the upset. 

15 minutes ago, Outlaw said:

That is less than I thought.  I was thinking more along -27.5. Utsa is the best team in the conference  at home on a short week. They have a 7th year  star qb, 5th year star receiver,  the best defense in conference, and the best coach team we play all year outside of Saban.  I would be shocked anything short of a beatdown. I am rooting for the Bulls but would not be surprised by an old school @**  whooping. If we want to win we have to play our best game this year. 

Just curious as to what metric(s) you are rating UTSA the best team in the conference? SMU is by far and away the best team in the conference on paper with a FPI of #22 and a SP+ of 28. UTSA is #57 and #48 respectively. In fact, their numbers are more in line with Memphis (#55/#60). Memphis has a better offense, UTSA a better defense. UTSA's best win on the season was against a 6-4 Texas State by 7 points. Don't get me wrong, we aren't at their level, but I don't know that they are world beaters. If 4-6 Army can beat them on the road (Army lost to UMASS and beat Holy Cross by 3), so can we. 

UTSA has feasted on the bottom of the conference. I'm not saying they aren't good, but they haven't played a team with a winning record in the AAC. If the defense from Temple shows up along with the offense from Memphis, we win this one on the road. I won't be disappointed if we lose but I am preparing for the one USF upset of the season. 

6 minutes ago, Jim Johnson said:

Anyone know our record at home all-time under a Waxing Gibbous moon? 

1 hour ago, Outlaw said:

Yes baby. We are playing a night game. The weather should be cooler, so there is zero excuses for the students to not show up.

Current forecast predicts a high of 80 and low of 60, absolutely glorious weather! 

I broke down and dropped $100 on USF to cover. I'm envisioning a performance like we saw against Rice. 

13 hours ago, panchosanchez99 said:

And Levy, who scored a couple baskets and blocked or altered about 4-5 shots down low.

You are so big on her and I'm not saying that she isn't good, but Carla should be starting and the first two games have shown that. She provides the energy and spark that this team needs. 

7 minutes ago, USFBulls12 said:

Let's enjoy this game, but this SC State team is horrible. Massey Ratings has them only winning 5 more games all season (they won earlier in the week against Voorhees by 8.

Massey Ratings - South Carolina State Bulldogs

MASSEYRATINGS.COM

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South Carolina State Bulldogs scores and predictions for each game of the season's schedule

 

Voorhees is no joke! Really hard to stop. 

4 minutes ago, CousinRicky said:

We're playing a JV team. Let's hold judgement until we play someone. But definitely not a slow paced game.

We have made JV teams look like varsity in the past. We are winning how we should be, which is refreshing. Just enjoy it!

Realistically, we shouldn't be worse than 8-3. .500 overall is a very reasonable goal for this squad given the schedule. 

10 hours ago, CousinRicky said:

Talked to her about that. She knows she needs to tone down the crazy passes.  

I love the energy that she brings to the floor, but she just needs to learn how to control it a bit more. I think she will continue to grow and improve and be a team leader by her Senior season. 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and a block in just 14 minutes of playing time is impressive. Her one blemish was the bad pass. 

1 hour ago, Rocky Style said:

What if we fumble and spot them 14?

Can still win, but likely won't cover. 

52 minutes ago, Bull Matrix said:

CAG had better not lose at home against a bad Temple team with a bowl game on the line. That to me would be one of that worse losses in USF history. USF must crush Temple. Too bad it is not 12/7 as I would place a bet. USF must crush Temple!!

Temple isn't that bad. That is the point. Their strength, passing game, is our weakness. They are 3-4 with their starting QB healthy and he hit his stride the last two games. They have UTSA all they could handle. If USF can get it to an early lead I like our chances to win by double-digits, but that hasn't been the case of late. 

I'm a bit worried about this one. Temple was without their starting QB, EJ Warner, against SMU and North Texas, two games that they got destroyed in. Last week, Warner returned against Navy and threw for 400 yards and 4 TDs. In his last two games against Navy and UTSA, Warner has thrown for 876 yards, 9 TDs, and 2 INTs. They only lost to UTSA by 15 and they were only down by 8 with 6.5 minutes left in the game. They can't run the ball worth a ****, but that actually helps them against us. Temple is 3-4 with Warner as a starter. We should beat them and ESPN's predictor says that we should actually be 9 point favorites, but I am not certain about this one. 

Played something like 13 players. Definitely our deepest team ever. Really liked what I saw with the exception of about 4 minutes in the 4th quarter, but that's a good lesson to learn. Going to be a fun season. 

15 hours ago, Triple B said:

Men knocked off FAU, jumped past them into 5th place. Should play Memphis in first round of AAC tourney on November 5th.

Totally dominated FAU. Played Memphis close this past week on the road, so definitely winnable. Also played close with SMU 2-1, so anything can happen if the Bulls get hot and play up to their capabilities. 

20 hours ago, Outlaw said:

Utah State . . . Are they any good?

They typically are decent, but they struggled a little bit early on against 3 good teams (Iowa, Air Force, and James Madison). They were 6-6 last year and 11-3 in 2021. Not world-beaters, but UCONN did well to almost beat them. 

In 2018, there were just 24 coaches making $4 million + per season. In 5 short seasons since, that number has ballooned to 51. Saban's salary has gone up $3.1 million per year in that time. Great time to be a college football head coach! 

3 minutes ago, Brad said:

Hope is not a strategy.  Better figure a way to keep a coach.  I know you've already surrendered (on Golesh leaving), but the real coup isn't hiring a first-time ever coach; it's getting a successful one to stay.  In order to do that you can't remain in the minor leagues.  You also need hire high character people.  One that wants to build something, leave their mark or legacy, i.e. Leavitt, WBB Fernandez, Softball's Eriksen.  Others are like Cash Taggart.  We've seen both types.

You nailed it. Until we are guaranteed a seat at the big boy table, we are going to churn through coaches either through successes (CAG?) or failures (CJS, CCS). CAG has no allegiance to USF. As a competitor he is naturally going to want to show that he can coach at the highest levels of college football. Maybe his sense of loyalty gets us an extra year or two, but he will ultimately get an offer that is just too good to refuse. 

Given CAG's attitude and what he is trying to build here, I am glad to jettison any recruit that isn't willing to keep their word. One high 3 star or even a 4 star is not going to be such a difference maker for this team. We just need to continue to build and trust the process. 

15 minutes ago, USF_Bullsharks said:

UConn-Rice could give us an idea about UConn. 

UCONN's QB, Roberson, a Penn State Transfer, has started to show signs of developing into a solid player. They gave Utah State all they could handle last week. We need to play well to beat them but if we can't handle the UCONN's of the world, we are definitely not ready for a bowl game.