BRUTAL SCHEDULE

[E.T.]

ONE OF TWO TO FACE FOUR CURRENT TOP 25 

USF and Arkansas are the ONLY TWO FBS schools (out of 130) that have faced four opponents ranked in the current Associated Press top 25 poll. The Bulls have taken on No. 22 NC State, No. 20 Florida, No. 19 BYU and No. 23 SMU. Arkansas has faced No. 25 Texas, No. 21 Texas A&M, No. 1 Georgia and No. 13 Ole Miss. Four other FBS schools (Wisconsin, Indiana, Rutgers and Arizona) have played three ranked opponents each.

Two of USF's first five opponents on the year were ranked in the Top 15 at the time of the meeting - No. 13 Florida and at No. 15 BYU.

USF opened the year at NC State, which in Week 4 upset No. 9 Clemson, 27-21 (2 OT). n The Bulls’ first four FBS opponents on the year are a combined 179-4 after Week 6.

USF was one of five programs nationally to open the 2021 season taking on two Power Five opponents.

[E.T.]

Going into Week Six, USF's schedule was No. 16 nationally in the ESPN Power Rankings.

[jg233]

We schedule like it is ten years ago.  At this point we should play one p5, one CUSA, one Sun Belt/MAC, one FCS.  In the future, we should be scheduling to get bowl eligible and not to impress anyone with how many P4 teams can kick our asses in one year.

[USFRaider]

The brutal schedule excuse has run its course. The schedule gets much lighter starting Saturday. No more excuses for Coach Scott and company. Get the Win!!!

[widerberg]

3 minutes ago, jg233 said:

We schedule like it is ten years ago.  At this point we should play one p5, one CUSA, one Sun Belt/MAC, one FCS.  In the future, we should be scheduling to get bowl eligible and not to impress anyone with how many P4 teams can kick our asses in one year.

I like the idea of focusing on getting bowl eligible every year. If we schedule a bunch of P4/P5, I agree, for the next couple of years we're probably looking at a bunch of losses. Any publicity is good publicity, I guess, but I'd rather fight in our own current weight class and maybe start collecting hardware again. Then work in some better teams once we're back on our feet and getting good.

[E.T.]

I like scheduling the P5 Teams! You never know how good they will be when you schedule t6hese games years in advance. Next year isn't scary . . . Florida will most likely be Top 25 and doubt L'ville will be. Not sure about BYU in Tamplona and we'll have an easy time with Howard. 

And I don't think anyone is using this schedule as an excuse ... it's a tough schedule and we are not good enough to beat them . . . simple facts.

Go BULLS !!!

[jg233]

5 minutes ago, E.T. said:

I like scheduling the P5 Teams! You never know how good they will be when you schedule t6hese games years in advance. Next year isn't scary . . . Florida will most likely be Top 25 and doubt L'ville will be. Not sure about BYU in Tamplona and we'll have an easy time with Howard. 

And I don't think anyone is using this schedule as an excuse ... it's a tough schedule and we are not good enough to beat them . . . simple facts.

Go BULLS !!!

Hoping you can go 2-2 in the OOC is not ideal for us right now.   That looks like 1-3 again next year unless things change drastically.  Having to win 5 conference games just to get bowl eligible looks like it might be a tall task for a while.

[jjlovecub]

18 minutes ago, widerberg said:

I like the idea of focusing on getting bowl eligible every year. If we schedule a bunch of P4/P5, I agree, for the next couple of years we're probably looking at a bunch of losses. Any publicity is good publicity, I guess, but I'd rather fight in our own current weight class and maybe start collecting hardware again. Then work in some better teams once we're back on our feet and getting good.

I just don’t think is a mentality that will get you anywhere. We scheduled Oklahoma and Alabama and oh yeah Auburn before we turned the corner way back in our beginnings. Keep expectations high and then reach and exceed them. I’m not in favor of lowering them So people feel better when we beat inferior opponents. 

[hm101]

Average ranking using F+, OF+, DF+, FEI, SP+, and Colley:

Florida: 8.0

BYU: 31.8

NCSU: 38.5

SMU: 41.0

 

Tulsa is a much more reasonable challenge at 77.2, about as average as they come but still a stretch for the 112.0 Bulls. 

Temple is our nearest competition at 101.3, followed by Tulane at 97.0 and ECU at 87.3

 

Jeff's points are spot on that we have only played longshots, we haven't had a fair or even just a mild stretch assignment yet. 

Edited October 13, 2021 by hm101

[CousinRicky]

27 minutes ago, widerberg said:

I like the idea of focusing on getting bowl eligible every year. If we schedule a bunch of P4/P5, I agree, for the next couple of years we're probably looking at a bunch of losses. Any publicity is good publicity, I guess, but I'd rather fight in our own current weight class and maybe start collecting hardware again. Then work in some better teams once we're back on our feet and getting good.

Schedules are done years in advance.  People complain that we get no good teams coming into RayJay and then when we get good teams people complain.  Pretty difficult running a college athletic department.