TARGET: Big East Championship !

[GarySJ]

they better send us! rules are rules!

Tell it to the 2002 team. "What, we said teams have to be taken by bowls on won-loss record unless there's a conference contract? Oh, we had our fingers behind our backs, you can make a contract any time you want..."

That lingering bitterness aside, you have to understand the conference's position here. A lowly-ranked co-champion in a tie could drag down the average "conference champion" rating to the point where the conference loses its bid. I'm really surprised they didn't make BCS rank the first tiebreaker.

[mutt]

WE NEED THE BIG EAST WIN !!!

[Guest]

There really is no reason to think we might not be able to do this...

Let's look at our remaining schedule:

October 8, 2005... USF (1-0) has a bye week...

Other Big East games:

-- Syracuse (0-1) @ U Conn (0-0)    [Friday night game on ESPN2]... The Huskies will be looking to make a statement and the 'Cuse is still hurting from their trip to Tallahassee...

-- West Viginia (1-0) @ Rutgers (1-0)    [big East GOTW on ESPN+]... WVU should win over Rutgers, helping USF by reducing the number

-- Cincinnati (0-0) @ Pitt (0-1)... Snorefest.  Someone has to win this one, because there are no ties any more.  My guess is that Pitt wins it and 'blows their wad' on this one. Will Panther fans storm the field?

-- North Carolina @ Louisville... an OOC game that would be nice for U of L to win since U Conn, USF, Syracuse, and WVU couldn't win their ACC matchips

---

October 15, 2005... USF @ Pittsburgh... USF should win this game ... might even be favored to win... the Miami fans were talking about just how bad Wannstedt really is... if the game were in Tampa it would be a walk... alas, our team has a 3-game road losing streak to break...

Other Big East games:

-- Louisville is at West Virginia... a win by the Volunteers puts them in the drivers seat for the Big East championship... it also knocks Louisville from the hunt with 2 losses.... A UofL win is actually bad for USF -- if USF finishes tied with WVU and UofL at 6-1, WVU probably goes to the BCS, UofL goes to the Gator, and USF goes to the Insight...  We need to root for West Virgnia in this game, to set up the next game...

-- UConn at Cincinnati... Expect the Bearcats to come out swinging in this one... they need a Big East win and this is the most likely candidate... Huskies could be 2-0 in conference play after this game...

-- Rutgers at Syracuse... This will be a good game... Rutgers will look to bounce back from their WVU loss and Syracuse will just be glad to be back home...

---

October 22, 2005... USF vs West Virginia... if this game were in Morgantown, we might have a problem... it's in Tampa and USF seems to play so much better at home... add to that the Homecoming crowd (might be bigger than the Louisville game) and it's a night game... now, assuming WVU comes into the game undefeated and probably ranked, a USF win puts the Bulls into the drivers seat for the Big East championship.

NOTE: Before the season, most of us hoped USF could go 1-3 in the Lou-Mia-Pitt-WVU stretch... now a 3-1 run is not unreasonable...

There may even be BCS Bowl representatives at this one...

Other Big East games:

-- Louisville @ Cincinnati... Expect Brohm & company to fire on all cylinders... should look as lopsided as their other wins...

-- Rutgers @ U Conn... This could be the battle for the last bowl position, a 2-0 U Conn team facing a possible 2-1 Rutgers team... this would be win #6 for either team at that point...

-- Syracuse @ Pittsburgh... Snorefest, part II... If the 'Cuse loses to Rutgers at the Carrier Dome the week before, expect another loss this week at Heinz...

---

October 29, 2005... USF has another bye week...

Other Big East games:

-- Cincinnati @ Syracuse... The Orange win a game!!

-- Navy @ Rutgers... an OOC game the Knights should probably win...

-- Louisville, Connecticut, & Pittsbugh idle for mid-week games the following week...

---

November 5, 2005... USF @ Rutgers... USF could be playing for bowl eligibility in this one, coming in 5-2 overall and 3-0 in Big East play... it will be a challenge, but USF has the talent to win this one... the motivation just needs to be there... this is the true "trip up" game on the schedule, the one that USF could lose if it is not careful...

Other Big East games:

-- U Conn @ West Virginia... [Wednesday Night game on ESPN2]... U Conn could be 3-0 in the Big East coming into this game... USF fans need to root for a WVU victory (assuming the Bulls beat WVU)...

-- Pittsburgh @ Louisville... [Thursday Night game on ESPN]... I bet this game looked a lot nicer before the season started... will Pitt be able to score 10 like FAU did??

-- Syracuse & Cincinnati idle...

---

November 12, 2005... USF @ Syracuse... the Bulls love to spoil opponent's Homecoming games, and this will be no different... The Orange are rebuilding, so USF might have caught them at the right time...

Other Big East games:

-- West Virginia @ Cincinnati... a Wednesday Night game on ESPN2... This will be the game where WVU looks to make a statement to the rest of the country... the chance for them to show their offense and score some points...

-- Rutgers @ Louisville... Rutgers has a better team than their recent past... but not good enough to win this one at Papa John's...

-- U Conn @ Pittsburgh... Dogs vs Cats... it would be interesting if the Panthers weren't such kittens...

---

November 19, 2005... USF vs Cincinnati... Do the Bearcats know the ancient Klingon proverb that revenge is a dish best served cold??  At least this last home game of the season will be more fun to watch... Breakfast tailgating can be fun...

Other Big East games:

-- Syracuse @ Notre Dame... How early will the Irish 2nd string get into the game?

-- Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, & West Virginia are idle

---

November 26, 2005... USF @ U Conn... This may be the only game that could really go against USF... if UConn has a solid year and the weather turns colder -- expect USF to face a challenge... the good things is that our running game is solid and our defense is better than U Conn's...

Other Big East games:

-- Pittsburgh @ West Virginia... [Thanksgiving Night on ESPN]... The Backyard Brawl may look more like a backyard whipping this year... can the Panthers get UP for this one?

-- Cincinnati @ Rutgers... At least 2005 will be over for UC after this one...

-- Syracuse @ Louisville... At least 2005 will be over to SU after this one...

---

December 4, 2005... USF has a bye week

Other Big East games:

-- Louisville @ U Conn... The people in Hartford might see this as being for the Big East championship... but, alas, it does not look quite so from here..

-- Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, & West Virgnia are all idle

---

USF could go undefeated... or probably 4-3 at worst... either way, USF will probably be a bowl team in 2005!!

Rankings of the remaining games in terms of degree of difficulty:

@  U Conn  (only because it's on the road and in late Nov)

vs WVU

@  Syracuse

@  Rutgers

@  Pittsburgh

vs Cincinnati

[TyBull]

LMAO.......

[Goldenbuc]

I wouldn't overlook Rutgers...they're a decent team and well coached.  Too add you have to go up there.  Good defense, as well.

[CyberBull]

I wouldn't overlook Rutgers...they're a decent team and well coached.  Too add you have to go up there.  Good defense, as well.

Good defense?

Well coached?

huh?

[GarySJ]

Yeah, really. I watched the Pitt-Rutgers game, and Rutgers didn't impress me. In fact, they got so ultraconservative in the third quarter and had so much trouble finishing, that I thought Wannstedt was coaching both teams.

It is a road game, however, and may be important to RU's postseason aspirations as well. There are no gimmes.

[USFFan]

Nice rundown, Jim.  A few things, though...

Notice that we're winless away from RJS this year?  And that 4 of our remaining 6 games are on the road?  That's a tough road to hoe.  

Also, notice how each of our final three opponents has the weekend off prior to facing us...  I don't know, but that extra preparation time is a scary proposition...

I might be biased, but I'm not convinced UConn is for real.  That said, I'm kind of hoping that UConn wins on Friday.  If Syracuse wins that game, I think they'll be favored at home against Rutgers (seriously did you see how bad they were in the 2nd half against Pitt?), at Pitt (who has to realize they're not going bowling with 4 losses already) and against Cincinnati, which would put them at 5-3 coming into our game in the Carrier Dome where, if I'm not mistaken, they're retiring Jim Brown's number.  I'd really prefer that they drop their 4th game, thus knowing that, with trips to Notre Dame and Louisville, the season's over.  

USFFan

[DENVERBULL]

I think the Big East champ. this year is not impossible, but extremely unlikely.  Pitt will be ready to play, the Carrier Dome is a very tough place to play, Uconn, a pretty good team, in late November won't be easy.  But the number one thing that will hurt USF is our talent at QB.  I think Julmiste has improved a lot this year but he still can't get it done when it counts.  I think that once again became obvious at UM the other night.  Our vertical passing game consists of throwing it deep and hoping for a pass interference call.  Please Pat, show me I don't know what I am talking about and lead USF to the promise land.