Realistic outlook: Big East Champions 12/2008 - National Champions 1/2010

[E.T.]

I plan on being at any bowl we get. Real sad I missed our first Bowl win.

Go BULLS !!!

[USFan]

and at the very worst Car Care (NC is nice, acc opponent and we don't have that trophie yet).

I would love to go back to Charlotte.

I had a blast!

Of course I would prefer the Gator/BCS over Charlotte... but still 

[USF-PMR]

Yes Charlotte was a great experience as compared to Birmingham.  The stadium in Birmingham needs updating and major renovations.  Playing in Charlotte, in 2005 - December, was just like Raymond James - Professional, newer, and easily accessed.

I too will follow the Bulls anywhere - Canada, Out West, or right here in Miami/Jacksonville.

[Bullpride08]

I think we are far from a Nat'l Championship and far from a Big East title.. We've never had more than one 5-star recruit in any of our recruiting classes-- we simply don't have the talent.  Kind of ironic, considering one of the [supposed] advantages of this program is its location of being in the best state for football talent.

Well stars on recruits doesn't always mean national championships, and talent isn't gauged exclusively by the stars that someone assigns which have some economic, and media correlations to begin with.  Take Taurus Johnson, he was a commit of Ron Zook and was four star for a while, Zook got fired and his offered waffled and he ended up with us and three stars.  Five star talent is good if they produce but they're not exclusive in the talent base and it doesn't mean guys can't be coached up to be better, or some players that are overlooked.

Two of the most dynamic players in the entire nation, and both coincidentally in the BE and on the same team, were both three star players.  Pat White is electric, to me the best option/athletic style college QB I've seen at least since Vick, or Tommy Frazier.  Pat can do it all, but he was barely three stars....does this mean WVU can't win a NC this year?  I dunno I think they've got the best shot if they've indeed shored up that defense like some are suggesting.  How about his teammate Slaton?  Maryland offered him a schollie then took it away because they thought they found a 'better' RB...that better RB had 30 yards rushing against WVU last year and Slaton had 200 against a very good Maryland defense.

I'd rather put away the National Championship talk because like someone stated above it would take a lot of "LUCK" for a team like USF to be in a NC game, for that matter for any team but more so for USF.  With that being said I remember some conversations with some of our coaches a few years back after the spring of 2005.  At that time they explained a plan that Leavitt had mapped out and the assumption was that by 2008 to be playing for a BCS game, they had expected 2005 to be a losing record but were shocked to make a bowl...much came from the faith in Jim Leavitt as a coach and teacher, also in some of the younger recruits they had landed.

If i had to classify this upcoming season I'd still say transition.  We're developing a program to be competitive in the BE, but winning it might be a stretch and i think it is WVU's ear.  It might even be the year for the NC run for them, providing Slaton and White stay healthy, with Schmidtt, Reynaud, Myles...and four OL returning.  They're going to be crazy good on offense, and defense should be better since almost their entire DB returning and two starting DL...

Maybe 2008 but that will probably be another good year and maybe a run at the BE champship....I still say if everyone sticks around it's 2009, that would be Grothe, Selvie, Robinson, Ford, Spires, Hermann...that could be a real deep and talented senior team. 

I see something close to 2006 this upcoming season probably 9 regular season wins this year...I personally believe we beat Elon, FAU, UCF, UNC, Rutgers, Uconn, Cinci, and Cuse, with a swing among the WVU, Auburn, and UL to get there....I don't know which game I would prefer to win more out of that group...part of me says Auburn so the FL crowd could relate but beating WVU or UL at home would be electric and probably guarantee us a 2nd place conference finish.  In the games I say we should win I believe UNC, and Rutgers are ones to watch that could go the other way.  In envision 2008 being more of the same possibly with 10 wins and actually finishing 2nd, and then 2009 maybe getting that magical 10-2, 11-1 type season and a BCS game (maybe by then the Bay Area fans, and USF alumni will finally have caught up and be supporting the team properly!).

[twillybull]

As far as schedules go, yes 2009 is possible... getting Miami, WV and UL here is a plus.  As far as luck goes (and don't kid youself w/o playoffs winning a NC is more about luck than anything) well I wouldn't hold my breath. 

Luck more than anything? No!

USC went to the National Title game game 2 years in a row because of luck? There have been a few instances where luck has helped along the way, Florida last year; Ohio State in 2002. However, I don't think those teams weren't worthy of at least National Championship discussion?

If USF runs the table in 2009 and is a candidate for the BCS Championship (which is a little far fetched today), I hope your not saying it was luck more than anything...

Are you even watching the same sport?  ABSOLUTELY luck has a HUGE role in determining the National Champioship?  Did't USC get lucky they got away with the "Bush Push".  I know they didn't win every game by a landslide that two year stretch.  Going through a BCS schedule undefeated means you got lucky at least once or twice, plain and simple.  Loose once and it takes even more luck just to get into the game, just ask Auburn.  Without a playoff, there is no way to accurately gauge which team is "the best".  It comes down to who was lucky enough to get all the breaks and who is lucky enough to get the votes (and even that doesn't guarantee you to get a spot in the game).

IF we get lucky enough to go undefeated, then yeah, there will be a small chance at playing for a NC, but it will take a lot of luck for us to get ahead of any 1 loss teams with greater name recognition.  Like it or not, name recognition means a lot in the polls.  Lets just focus on the BE for now and getting into a BCS game.  If (and that is always a big "IF") we can make that accomplishment one or two times in the next 5 years, then people will start to legitimately consider us for the NC game.  Until then it will take a lot more "luck" than usually required to crack that egg.       

As for this year, IF we can win the first four games, USF will be the "Cinderella story" of the country and we'll see TONS of press, (enough to make the this last season / offseason coverage look non-existant in comparison).  But it still won't be enough to vault us into the national championship conversation. 

[Joe]

How about his teammate Slaton?  Maryland offered him a schollie then took it away because they thought they found a 'better' RB...that better RB had 30 yards rushing against WVU last year and Slaton had 200 against a very good Maryland defense.

I agree with everything you said. The star system can be overrated and what pisses me off is when Rivals does what they did with White and Slaton:

Slaton was originally going to go to Ohio State to run track and play RB (he was 4 star at that time), but he wasn't going to qualify. Thereinafter he commited to Maryland, they got another RB (Morgan Green), not because they didn't think Slaton was good, but because it looked like he was on a highway to Prep School or JuCo.

Rivals demoted his star ranking because of his grades plain and simple. They originally had him as a top 10 back in the country and top 5 player in Penn. After Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin laid off because of academic problems they laid off the kid and eventually dropped him to subpar levels.

White was originally a 4 star WR/ATH who committed to LSU. He had a change of heart wanted to play QB, when he kinda made those intentions known only 2 schools were willing to let him play that position, WVU and Kentucky. Because of his change in position on their database from WR to ATH they dropped him a star.

Stupid. Yes. The star rankings for football are good to know the best of the best most obvious players in the country. Outside of that, I'd take it with a grain of salt. Demoting a player's star ranking because of grades is a really bad way to go about ranking players. I think it's why Claude Davis got the shaft starwise this year.

[BullDoug]

Didn't read all the posts but a NC 010 is a pretty tuff nut to crack - @UF, @UM, @UL & @WVU.  11-1 could get our Bulls to that game though.

[Bullpride08]

How about his teammate Slaton?  Maryland offered him a schollie then took it away because they thought they found a 'better' RB...that better RB had 30 yards rushing against WVU last year and Slaton had 200 against a very good Maryland defense.

I agree with everything you said. The star system can be overrated and what pisses me off is when Rivals does what they did with White and Slaton:

Slaton was originally going to go to Ohio State to run track and play RB (he was 4 star at that time), but he wasn't going to qualify. Thereinafter he commited to Maryland, they got another RB (Morgan Green), not because they didn't think Slaton was good, but because it looked like he was on a highway to Prep School or JuCo.

Rivals demoted his star ranking because of his grades plain and simple. They originally had him as a top 10 back in the country and top 5 player in Penn. After Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin laid off because of academic problems they laid off the kid and eventually dropped him to subpar levels.

White was originally a 4 star WR/ATH who committed to LSU. He had a change of heart wanted to play QB, when he kinda made those intentions known only 2 schools were willing to let him play that position, WVU and Kentucky. Because of his change in position on their database from WR to ATH they dropped him a star.

Stupid. Yes. The star rankings for football are good to know the best of the best most obvious players in the country. Outside of that, I'd take it with a grain of salt. Demoting a player's star ranking because of grades is a really bad way to go about ranking players. I think it's why Claude Davis got the shaft starwise this year.

I agree to an extent but Pat white was always a three star guy.  Scout had him as two star if you want to pull hairs, although he did change his mind at the last minute with WVU instead of LSU...and LSU offered QB too.  So truly everyone missed the boat on this kid...maybe not as much with Slaton, I've never heard about running track, and four stars either...Slaton from early on was labeled a speedster athlete and never was ranked any higher than 40th in PA, guys at that level sign with Lehigh and William and Mary...Slaton had some solid offers but I've never seen either ever ranked as four star.  In fact most would say when signed Slaton was probably the third or fourth most talented RB signed by WVU that year...Gwaltney, and legacy boy Goulbourne were easily more highly touted and anticipated among the WVU hopefuls.

Both are so dynamic and their talents, while not necessarily overlooked by many schools, were missed by most rating agencies.  Which this illustration explains that I don't necessarily believe five star athletes are not worth their ranking, most are especially with all the poking and proding in today's day and age, what I don't believe is that the rating websites uncover all the top talent, or necessarily always rank kids appropriately and thereby saying we need to, or don't have enough five stars to win more is a loaded comment.  Maybe Selvie is a diamond most wish they found, and Ford is five star, TJ was four before decommitting from UF...production is always the best measurement.

[PingBull]

I think we are far from a Nat'l Championship and far from a Big East title.. We've never had more than one 5-star recruit in any of our recruiting classes-- we simply don't have the talent.  Kind of ironic, considering one of the [supposed] advantages of this program is its location of being in the best state for football talent.

Well stars on recruits doesn't always mean national championships, and talent isn't gauged exclusively by the stars that someone assigns which have some economic, and media correlations to begin with.  Take Taurus Johnson, he was a commit of Ron Zook and was four star for a while, Zook got fired and his offered waffled and he ended up with us and three stars.  Five star talent is good if they produce but they're not exclusive in the talent base and it doesn't mean guys can't be coached up to be better, or some players that are overlooked.

Two of the most dynamic players in the entire nation, and both coincidentally in the BE and on the same team, were both three star players.  Pat White is electric, to me the best option/athletic style college QB I've seen at least since Vick, or Tommy Frazier.  Pat can do it all, but he was barely three stars....does this mean WVU can't win a NC this year?  I dunno I think they've got the best shot if they've indeed shored up that defense like some are suggesting.  How about his teammate Slaton?  Maryland offered him a schollie then took it away because they thought they found a 'better' RB...that better RB had 30 yards rushing against WVU last year and Slaton had 200 against a very good Maryland defense.

I'd rather put away the National Championship talk because like someone stated above it would take a lot of "LUCK" for a team like USF to be in a NC game, for that matter for any team but more so for USF.  With that being said I remember some conversations with some of our coaches a few years back after the spring of 2005.  At that time they explained a plan that Leavitt had mapped out and the assumption was that by 2008 to be playing for a BCS game, they had expected 2005 to be a losing record but were shocked to make a bowl...much came from the faith in Jim Leavitt as a coach and teacher, also in some of the younger recruits they had landed.

If i had to classify this upcoming season I'd still say transition.  We're developing a program to be competitive in the BE, but winning it might be a stretch and i think it is WVU's ear.  It might even be the year for the NC run for them, providing Slaton and White stay healthy, with Schmidtt, Reynaud, Myles...and four OL returning.  They're going to be crazy good on offense, and defense should be better since almost their entire DB returning and two starting DL...

Maybe 2008 but that will probably be another good year and maybe a run at the BE champship....I still say if everyone sticks around it's 2009, that would be Grothe, Selvie, Robinson, Ford, Spires, Hermann...that could be a real deep and talented senior team. 

I see something close to 2006 this upcoming season probably 9 regular season wins this year...I personally believe we beat Elon, FAU, UCF, UNC, Rutgers, Uconn, Cinci, and Cuse, with a swing among the WVU, Auburn, and UL to get there....I don't know which game I would prefer to win more out of that group...part of me says Auburn so the FL crowd could relate but beating WVU or UL at home would be electric and probably guarantee us a 2nd place conference finish.  In the games I say we should win I believe UNC, and Rutgers are ones to watch that could go the other way.  In envision 2008 being more of the same possibly with 10 wins and actually finishing 2nd, and then 2009 maybe getting that magical 10-2, 11-1 type season and a BCS game (maybe by then the Bay Area fans, and USF alumni will finally have caught up and be supporting the team properly!).

hell yeah man, great post

sometimes i wonder why i even read the other ones

lol  just kiddin

[USF-PMR]

Enough Said - Get on Board and listen up NOW....

USF will dominate the BE this year - no questions asked.  I am not saying that many games will be decided at the goal line (or by less than 5 points) but hear me....

Bulls win BE this year - get on board!