#5

[WWMJD]

Glad I could spark some reminiscing.  It really is great to be the ones who MAKE tradition and history rather than FOLLOW it.

Go Bulls

[MarketingGuy]

  I just hope that in reading this, you take just a few moments to sit back and realize that this is an incredible time to be a Bull.  I, for one, have never been prouder.

[glow=green,2,300]GO BULLS[/glow]

Well said (whole post). I couldn't agree more.

[slbpsi63]

I would have never thought this would be our reality when I was at our first game. USF as a whole has come so far the since 1995. I went to USF from 95-00, I guess you can say I was in the first part of the transition phase from a commuter school to what we have become now. I recently went back to campus for the first time in 4 years, and I was amazed how much it has changed. I am now and have always been proud to have been a BULL!

[HOT Sax99]

I remember being at the first game we had in Ray Jay.  I have that ticket stub somewhere.

I remember running out of the tunnel for the first time (Obviously I was in HOT)

I remember that Bowling Green game

I remember having the 2nd longest Home winning streak... and I remember when it ended.

I was at the press conference when USF was invited into the Big East!

... and not too long ago I remember trying to find ANY reference to us on ANY of the major sports media outlets.

I now live no where near Tampa, but everyone around me (mostly VT and UVA fans) is talking about USF! 

GO BULLS!

[mikebeau]

... and not too long ago I remember trying to find ANY reference to us on ANY of the major sports media outlets.

I now live no where near Tampa, but everyone around me (mostly VT and UVA fans) is talking about USF! 

GO BULLS!

I second that.  We used to be on ESPN only on Saturday night when they fast forward scores on the bottom ticker for teams like errrr Morehead State.  Now we are on every day.  Also, reading every newspaper blog because it was the only news you could find(having not discovered THEBULLSPEN.COM until a month ago!)

[jstewholymoly]

To those who are just tuning in, we are ranked as the 5th best college football team in the world right now.

If you don't mind, I just wanted to take a moment to reflect.

Although many of you have been following the team for much longer than I, I have the feeling, as I'm sure many people do, as though I have been a part of this team since darker days.  I remember when we went 9-2 and couldn't get any love for a bowl.  I had just "committed", if you will, to be a USF Bull.

I was there in 2003 when ESPN said Louisville and TCU would be undefeated when they played each other.  We beat Louisville in OT (my first field-storming experience), and almost beat TCU if not for a few questionable calls.  I remember Huey's seemingly 573 ft. vertical leap when attempting (and often succeeding) to block field goals.  I remember thinking that this was the start of something big.

I was there when we lost to Army at homecoming.  It was a painful wake up call that we still had a long way to come as a team, as a program, and as a fanbase.  2004 was a painful year that I have chiefly blocked out of memory completely.  We went 4-7 that year.  And you better believe I remember the postponed game vs. Pittsburgh that left a **** near permanent scar on my psyche.  My friends and I arrived about a half hour before game time and ended up in the front row of the student section.  Imagine that today?

2005.  The year we started to turn heads.  We absolutely trounced Louisville.  Amarri was a god among men.  Boy, I remember that day like it was yesterday.  It was the closest thing to ecstasy and disbelief I have ever experienced.  I remember looking up at the scoreboard every 2 minutes just to make sure I wasn't dreaming.  Not even a year ago we had gone 4-7 and got the **** kicked out of us by Army, and now we are beating a team that many people picked to go to the N.C. by 31 points.  And as for the Car Care Bowl... yes, I was there.  Our first bowl game ever.  I still remember that I was amazed at how cold it was (what was it, 65 degrees when we left Tampa?).  We got our asses handed to us by a defensive line that ended up having two first round draft picks.

Of course, many of us remember 2006 well.  I do remember distinctly that little ******* #1 for FIU.  He was a sneaky one.  Of course, we pulled it out against him, and ended up beating WVU on our way to our first ever bowl win.  A couple bounces one way or another that season, things could have been very, very different.  I guess that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Now here we are, in 2007.  Our best start ever.  Our first ranking ever.  Our first top 10 ranking ever.  Our first sellout.  Our first top 5 ranking.  Our name is being mentioned in the same breath as the words "national championship".

I apologize for the long post, and apologize again if anyone things this is a ridiculous exercise talking just to talk.  There has been plenty said on this board lately, by old and new, good and bad, fans and haters.  I just hope that in reading this, you take just a few moments to sit back and realize that this is an incredible time to be a Bull.  I, for one, have never been prouder.

[glow=green,2,300]GO BULLS[/glow]

that's the exact time I, myself, became a Bulls fan... it's like you took my thoughts and experiences (hell, even down to the freaking games you attended -minus the car care bowl) and put it all in a thread that I didnt even start.

???

[bulls96go]

2005 UL ...espn national updates on the radio. unbullieveable

great memories

we are SOUTH FLORIDA

[Guest BasketBull.]

WWMJD,  :clap :cheers