Zier Gets it Right:  Perception's Everything

[Brad]

Perception's Everything In College Ball Today

It is a game Louisville has to win. To retain credibility as a legitimate college football power, Louisville must beat USF today, just as it must beat Cincinnati, and Connecticut, and Rutgers.

In terms of the program's credibility, a loss to West

Virginia is survivable, maybe even a loss to Syracuse, perhaps even a loss to Pitt.

That's because perception is everything and those three schools are still perceived as playing big-time football whether they do or not. They have established names.

Louisville, on the other hand, represents the new order. It, like Cincinnati and Connecticut, has no history to fall back on. It is making history now.

And of course USF has no history either, having just gotten into the game. Because of that, if USF should upset Louisville, the general perception would be that Louisville is highly overrated, and not that USF has developed into a legitimate major-college team.

It will take years for that to change, and it illustrates the problem facing the Big East Conference.

With the loss of Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College -- although it is still able to compete for the national championship -- the Big East could fall to mid-major status in football, something akin to the WAC or Mountain West.

To prevent that, Louisville, USF, Connecticut and Cincinnati are going to have to step forward.

At times, all have made some progress, but to convince skeptics these schools are going to have to go out of conference and play -- and beat -- teams from established leagues like the SEC and Big Ten.

And they are going to have to do that consistently. That's the only way the Big East will survive as a major conference. So far though, Louisville excepted, they have not done that.

Which doesn't mean they can't. Lousiville has obviously made huge strides the past few years, and must keep it up.

South Florida's program is improving, and Connecticut went to a bowl last year.

But things being what they are, it would have been better, from the standpoint of how the football program is perceived, for USF to have beaten Penn State than to beat Louisville, even though the truth is that Louisville is probably very good and Penn State is probably very mediocre.

It is simply an image problem. USF and the rest have to change that image.

It won't be easy to do.

All of which does not change the reality of tonight's game. Bulls Coach Jim Leavitt says he doesn't know how this Louisville team compares with the one that crushed USF, 419, in Louisville last year.

USF was not at its physical best for that contest with key players playing hurt and some not playing at all. Physically, the Bulls are in better shape this time around.

Practically speaking, USF doesn't have to win to get something positive from this game.

It can do for USF what the Miami game did for Louisville last year. Miami beat Louisville, 41-38, but it can be argued that the loss was the turning point in Louisville's season, because it proved to the Cards that they could play with anybody.

If they play well, this game could do the same for the Bulls. If they don't, well . . .

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