Where does this season rank for you in terms of hype?

[TheUpperHand]

The Oracle football preview calls the upcoming season 'arguably the most anticipated season in USF football history since first kicking off in 1997.' Now, this might be true for a Staff Writer who thinks VooDoo 5 is an energy drink and that Big East is a TikTok star. But for those of us who have been following the Bulls for a while, how would you rate this season on a scale of 1 - 10 in terms of preseason hype (NOT the actual outcome of the season itself)? Where would you place compared to other seasons?

1.       2008: The 2007 season is still the stuff of legend, not just for Bulls fans but for college football as a whole, as it was one of the most chaotic in the past few decades. USF pulled off six straight wins including at No. 17 Auburn in overtime, vs a sellout crown in Tampa against No. 5 West Virginia, and a 64-12 drubbing of C-USA Champion UCF in the War on I-4. After rising to #2 in the FBS polls, the Bulls suffered 3 consecutive heartbreaking losses by an average of five points to fall out of the rankings completely. Thanks to a late-season surge, USF was welcomed to the Sun Bowl where a close 14-18 first-half ultimately saw the Oregon Ducks pull away for a 56-21 final. The season was full of triumph and heartbreak that hasn’t been matched since and the expectations were sky-high for 2008 to be a repeat.

Hype: 11/10
2.       2010: For the first time in program history, USF would be without head coach Jim Leavitt. After a much-publicized investigation of a players allegations as well as an alleged obstruction and coverup by Leavitt, fans were sharply divided both on the decision to terminate the father of Bulls Football in addition to the hire of Skip Holtz. On one hand, Holtz had won two conference championships, something South Florida had failed to do. He was savvy, had a good pedigree, and worked well with the media. On the other hand, Big East football was seen as a different beast, as evidenced by the 7-24 loss Holtz suffered in his head-to-head match against USF in the Birmingham Bowl a few years prior. Was he really the answer for a program that needed a big push to get over the hump in its national aspirations? With dynamic quarterback B.J. Daniels under his wing, answers would need to come fast with USF’s first-ever game against the Florida Gators, a loaded Big East slate, and a late-season away game against the Miami Hurricanes.

 Hype: 10/10
3.       2017: Coming off a 2016 campaign in which USF capped off the season with a Birmingham Bowl win over SEC opponent and finished the year ranked No. 19, the fanbase looked forward to the introduction of new head coach Charlie Strong, who was expected to continue to build on the recent success of the Willie Taggart years. It was hoped that Strong would shore up a defensive-unit that gave up more than 30 points a game to complement explosive playmakers Quinton Flowers, D’Ernest Johnson, Darius Tice, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling and help the Bulls to their first conference championship.

 Hype: 9/10
4.       2005: The 2004 campaign was a rough stretch. The team managed their first losing record since the inaugural season, suffering frustrating blowout losses to the top elements of the conference and OOC opponents South Carolina and Pittsburgh. USF struggled to find an answer at quarterback with Pat Julmiste throwing more interceptions than touchdowns and managing less than 150 passing yards per game. While Andre Hall proved to be a human highlight reel, his 200 yard, 2 TD effort wasn’t enough to prevent an embarrassing 35-42 loss to 2-9 Army. However, the Bulls meteoric rise to prominence prompted an invite to the Big East conference following the departure of Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College. In 2005, USF was set to play big-time BCS football as well as their first ever matchup against a Big 3 opponent (Miami) in addition to the beginning of the War on I-4 series against UCF. The question was how Jim Leavitt would answer the struggles of 2004 while stepping up a level in competition.

 Hype: 8/10

 5.       2001: In only their fifth-ever football season, USF managed to make the move to the I-A (FBS) level of college football, a seemingly unthinkable feat. In 2000, the Bulls defeated 3 Top-25 I-AA opponents and played against four I-A opponents (Kentucky, Baylor, No. 18 Southern Miss, Connecticut). The 2001 schedule would include a full slate of I-A opponents, including matchups against high-profile teams like Pittsburgh and Utah. Marquel Blackwell was primed to follow-up his prior two successful seasons while Kawika Mitchell and J.R. Reed were set to lead the I-A transition on defense.

 Hype: 8/10

 6.       2003: Only two years after its promotion to the I-A level of football, USF was aligned with its first ever conference: Conference USA. Not only would the path to a bowl game be much easier, but the opportunity to be crowned with a conference championship seemed likely following a 17-5 record as a I-A Independent. Although the Bulls would have to say farewell to dynamic quarterback Marquel Blackwell, it was hoped that with an aggressive defense, there’d be enough pieces in place on offense between backup Ronnie Banks, newcomer Pat Julmiste, and running backs DeJuan Green and Clinton Crossley.

 Hype: 7/10

 7.       2016: After a 7-21 start to the Willie Taggart era, the 2015 Bulls stampeded to a 7-2 run capped off by the programs first bowl appearance in five years. The Gulf Coast Offense came together under the three-headed monster of Quinton Flowers, Marlon Mack, and Rodney Adams. Tom Allen built a new defensive identity with the Bull Shark defense and little-known Raymond Woodie would be tasked with maintaining it. With a manageable schedule and a home date with Florida State, USF looked poised to make a run for a conference championship.

 Hype: 7/10
8.       2013: The Holtz New Era had ended with a whimper at USF. A reboot was welcomed but the fanbase was on the fence about the smooth-talking Willie Taggart. He said the right things, had connections to the area, preached hard work and trust, but many felt that a higher profile hire was necessary to bring the program back to the lofty expectations of the Jim Leavitt era.

 Hype: 6/10

9.  2023: This is about the highest I would put this season, but I'd have no problem dropping it a few more spots. With a weakened AAC, the stakes are a lot lower. We're coming off 4-straight losing seasons. It's always fun to see what a new head coach can do at the helm, but three of the last four guys left us in a worse position than when we started. The preseason hype for Jeff Scott was there, too. As much as we want to argue that this is different because CAG called plays, ran a more exciting offense, hits the recruiting trail better, works harder, and relates to the players better, I thought the same thing about CWT before we lost to McNeese State 21-53. You can easily put 2020 in this spot -- we were debuting a young promising coordinator after giving dusty CCS the boot (and looking for normalcy following 6 months of COVID-19).

 Hype: 6/10

[Brad]

That's a great write-up...I think the "hype" for this season doesn't hinge on a solid and hopeful team en route to a championship, but just wondering if we can pull the program from the abyss.  

It seemed a lot like genuine hype in some of those seasons you mentioned in the Leavitt era.  So much up and down and coaches in and out, not been able to build a foundation worthy of the same type and volume of hype.

[Outlaw]

Only plus is jeff scott is gone and we have no idea what to expect.

3/10. I'll wait to halfway to evaluate the staff. 

Edited August 28, 2023 by Outlaw

[M50_BULL]

Excellent topic friend!

I'm surprised last year wasn't on the list. We had all sorts of hype going in to the BYU game. The block party, the USF night at the trop, last game against clowns from the east just to name a few really made that season sound like this was finally it. The schedule looked good, new QB with proven experience and the entire transfer class, all made it seem that Scott was finally going to turn that corner and make it click. 

Last year was also the first year that the urgency was being turned up after the announced departure of some AAC teams. So the hype was there, the need was there, but insert wet fart here.

So this year I feel is less hyped than last. Yes it's important but the reward is blurry and hard to see with realignment cooling down and the conference being so watered down.

Either way in my bulls heart I'm excited and ready for this season to start and hope we kick some ass!

Rating:

Last season 10/10

This season 4-5/10 and that's being generous

[Sk00b]

I'd go 5/10. Really just ready to watch Bulls football with reservations on hype I guess. Pretty spot on with 08/17'. I would put 17' at 10/10 because i thought for sure we would win championship that year.

 

[Bull Matrix]

Seems that we now have people picking USF to win the AAC and others including McMurph picking USF to go bowl game. Wow!!

[Triple B]

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Where does this season rank for you in terms of hype?

Considering I've basically ignored any preseason hype for my own sanity, this one is ranked 0/10, along with seasons 2 thru 25 ........ Season 1 was 10/10.

[SquishaBull]

Hope is 10/10. Hype is a 7/10.

I just want to be relevant again. I want to piss a few teams off that just knew they were going to win the game. I like being the underdog. I want to become a solid, consistent team that doesn’t get their coach poached. That’s all. 

[WoolyBully]

Hmmmm...pre-season hype.

Not very high, subjectively speaking. Vegas has the O/U @ 4.5, which - if it comes to fruition - would be winning 1/3 of our games. Very, very good coming of the abysmal previous four years.  But it's still under .500. Excitement over a new coach, maybe to a degree, but I would prefer the term 'hopeful' more so than excited.  I don't know that I'd rate this season's hype much above 5 on the above scale. The reason I say that is because if we look back at the level of hype associated with '01 and getting out of 1-AA play, then look at '05 playing the Big East schools, I think the hype level was greater for those sorts of milestones. As it is now, truthfully, similar to where we were in the '19-'20 transition: previous losing season, new coach. Seen this movie before. Hopefully they've changed the ending. 

Edited August 29, 2023 by WoolyBully
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[USFBULL_08]

3/10

Really can't be too hyped with how the defense has played. If they can show they are average or below average on defense and not a complete dumpster fire then I will be around 6-7.

Edited August 29, 2023 by USFBULL_08