NY Times Blog (the quad) - Pulling Rank

[NJTom]

http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/17/pulling-rank/

September 17, 2007,  12:39 pm

Pulling Rank

By Pete Thamel

Tags: jim leavitt, North Carolina, South Florida, West Virginia

TAMPA - In 1997, the South Florida football program was nothing more than a twinkle in the eye of the Coach Jim Leavitt.

In 2002, South Florida went 9-2 but got snubbed from a bowl game - and we all know how many bowls there are - because it lacked a conference affiliation. Until three years ago, the Bulls coaches worked out of temporary trailers on campus.

Capping a rise as swift as it has been improbable, U.S.F. received a national ranking for the first time over the weekend. (Talk about the perfect example of why the polls are so flawed, U.S.F. jumped to No. 23 in the Associated Press poll and to No. 24 in the coaches poll after a bye week. After winning at No. 17 Auburn the week before the Bulls somehow weren’t able to crack the polls. Does that make sense?)

In just their seventh season as a full-time member of Division I-A, now known as the Bowl Subdivision, the Bulls’ rise to national recognition is the second fastest in college football history. The fastest program was Boise State, which also received a national ranking in its seventh season. It took the Broncos 114 polls to get ranked while it took South Florida 124 polls to crack the top 25.

They’re not complaining down here, however. The Bulls play North Carolina on Saturday and a win there will make their Friday game against No. 5 West Virginia on Sept. 28 one of the biggest on that weekend’s college football calender. That game will likely give the Bulls an opportunity to achieve another first - beating a top-5 team for the first time.

[BoozedUpBull]

http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/17/pulling-rank/

In just their seventh season as a full-time member of Division I-A, now known as the Bowl Subdivision, the Bulls’ rise to national recognition is the second fastest in college football history. The fastest program was Boise State, which also received a national ranking in its seventh season. It took the Broncos 114 polls to get ranked while it took South Florida 124 polls to crack the top 25.

Only thing is, Boise State has been playing football since 1933!

[Velcro]

and is in a conference that is aweful.  Pretty easy to go undefeated in their league comparatively.

[Kyle]

and is in a conference that is aweful.  Pretty easy to go undefeated in their league comparatively.

I agree with both of you, but in Boisie's defense, it's not as easy to recruit to their conference.

[MarketingGuy]

NICE article.

[bulls96go]

thanks

we are getting noticed...finally