What I'm Hearing from a Reliable Source

[puc86]

It probably has more to do with the six teams we lost to last year than the fact that we beat Louisville.

As much as we want to believe otherwise, when people think about the good teams in the Big East, USF is always the last to be mentioned if at all. The perception throughout the country is that USF is not quite there with the UL and WVU squads-- even if we beat them. Not sure why that is other than we are just so young of a program.

So don't expect ESPN to come to bat for little old USF when it comes to things like this. Nope-- they pick safe teams right of the old ABC/Notre Dame mold. They would consider UL a stretch and they have quite a bit more buzz than we've ever had.

Now beat those teams all the time and suddenly they will trip over themselves to get our games on TV. Not easy, but possible over time.

Like all things USF-- we must be patient and just keep working hard to become what we can. That includes attendance. It is such a shame that we played Miami three weeks after the Louisville beat down as our next game last year. It made it tough to stay on any kind of roll and fans forgot about the win or merely brushed it off as an anomoly. That could have been the game that really put us over the top. Even the run we had towards the latter part of last season got derailed by the loss to UConn.

This season seems setup for a better chance at getting on a big roll. If we can continue to grow and mature each week, we might just roll into the UL/WVU games with 8 or 9 or even 10 wins. That will make people have to take notice. I like our chances for that more so than I did before Matt Grothe took the reigns and started to shine.

[bulls96go]

in UM best intrest to schedule usf (winable) anually

[USFPDiddy]

in UM best intrest to schedule usf (winable) anually

If nothing else, this is just more proof of how far the mighty canes have fallen.

If they play us like they did fsu and UL, I'd pick us...although the over/under would be something like 11 points.

[gobulls83]

The perception throughout the country is that USF is not quite there with the UL and WVU squads-- even if we beat them. Not sure why that is other than we are just so young of a program.

Call me crazy, but it might have something to do with us losing to UConn. Nationally, we're not seen as on par with UL or WVU because, get this, we're not on par with them.

I think *you* are just a tad unrealistic, out of touch and/or dillusional.

[smazza]

The perception throughout the country is that USF is not quite there with the UL and WVU squads-- even if we beat them. Not sure why that is other than we are just so young of a program.

Call me crazy, but it might have something to do with us losing to UConn. Nationally, we're not seen as on par with UL or WVU because, get this, we're not on par with them.

I think *you* are just a tad unrealistic, out of touch and/or dillusional.

we have beaten anybody.if ball bounces wrong usf  is 0-3

we arent even close to ul and wv

ul's third rb is better than our first

these teams are really two deep

we need to beat them regularly

83-hit it on head

last year uconn,year before army,we havent beat pitt since 01

[smazza]

We could be good for a long time too.  Hate to bring this up, but we have beaten UL 2 out of past 3 years.  UL is just the it thing now that they won this game, but if we get some big w's we could do the exact same thing.

and we have to beat them again this year if we want respect

[BullDoug]

Nationally, we're not seen as on par with UL or WVU because, get this, we're not on par with them.

This is a piss poor atitude for Bulls fan.  USF is 2-1 vs UL in it's last three games and 1-1 vs TCU another in vogue Top 25 team.  Leavitt is 1-0 vs Urban Meyer in which the Bull D totally shot down Meyer's O so bad Meyer asked Leavitt what the trick was.  We are on par 'cuz we are conference members of the same conference.  USF may not have the recruiting classes of UL or WVU but Leavitt's teams consistently play above thier ranking beating/upsetting a team or two ea. season.  USF's main issue of not climbing into the national spotlight is the Bulls drop the ball everytime they garner any attention ie UCONN & NCSU.  Leavitt MUST improve his road warrior inconsistences.

[Joe]

BullDoug,

It has to do with talent. We are not deep enough to go week in and out at that level. Now we are not on par with Louisville or WVU. Just like Arkansas isn't on par with LSU or UGA, just like Virginia is not on par with Va Tech or FSU, just like Kansas is not on par with Texas or Oklahoma.

You think the media is going to say "USF was 6-6 and terribly inconsistent last year but they beat Louisville, they're up there" No.

What gofbulls83 said is not a piss poor attitude, it's reality. It's gonna take a few years of winning before the media picks up or buys you as legit. If he had said we'll NEVER get there it would be piss poor...

[Bull Matrix]

I still think USF has a great shot to beat UL again next season at RJS. We are pretty young in some of our key areas right now, which is why I think we are not ready to step up to the challenge of UL or WVU. Getting to a bowl game and winning that bowl game should be a great season for us this year because that will help recruiting. We are taking baby steps towards the right direction. This is why I stated countless of times that I would rather have Grothe be the starting QB this year even though he has very little experience. This season, Grothe will get that experience for next year which will make him and the team better in my opinion. Sometimes you have to crawl before you can walk. I am not saying that we should just give up against UL and WVU this season, but I am just saying that our fans dont need to go into panic mode if we do get beat by WVU and UL this year. Relax USF fans because we will have a great shot at both teams next season when they visit RJS. This year is a building block for a BIG EAST championship in the next few years. Just my opinion on where I see this program right now as a learning team that will have some growing pains.  

[Joe]

From the Louisville Newspaper:

U of L has had trouble scheduling big-time opponents, but athletic director Tom Jurich said yesterday that Miami could remain on the schedule for a while.

"I appreciate Miami for scheduling home-and-home with us, and (Miami athletic director) Paul Dee has said they want to extend it," he said. "I talked to him, and he said they want to play and make it a long-term series."