Unfair Expectations... and some thoughts

[Griggsy]

Before this season started, I wanted:

-10 wins

-Win over Auburn

-First ever ranking

Be honest...what were you looking for this year? Have we already achieved it, or are we still on path to achieve it?

Rutgers was our achilles heel...they were strong in all the right places to pull out a win (north/south RB, good O-line, decent defense), and odds were against us in many ways (pressure to win big, short recovery week, emotionally draining early season, on the road in hostile stadium). Rutgers was like, well...like a rich man's FAU.

I got caught up in the emotion and NC talk like I suppose most everyone else did. But I can't help but feel like our team had unfair expectations.  USF isn't, and never really should have been, the #2 team in the country. And that's ok! OUR team is good, no doubt, but our rise to the #2 spot had as much to do with other top teams losing as it had to do with us winning.  USF players did what they were supposed to do (kept finding ways to win). Do we now blame the players for getting the program ranked so highly and letting us down?

When USF does win a NC (and they will), I want it to be during a year when the top teams are perceived as DOMINANT. I wouldn't want it to be in a year perceived by many to be a fluke season.

Don't less this loss make you lose sight of the fact that our 11 year old football program is likely going to end the season in the Top 10 with a probably a 12-1 or 11-2 record.

In many ways, I'm more proud to be a bull today than ever. The loss kind of brought me back to reality out of dreamland, and now I can look back at what has happened and say "wow". It feels more real now. We beat WVU, Auburn on the road, got the best start ever for our program (6 wins), DOMINATED UCF, had back-to-back SELLOUT crowds, and made it into National Championship conversations. We had the big boys sweating.

And folks, the season is only just about halfway over.

For any players reading this...WE ARE EXTREMELY PROUD OF YOU GUYS. 

[BoozedUpBull]

Agree.  When the season started, I was hoping for one more win that last season, a better bowl game and a top 25 ranking.  Since that will all happen, I am happy.

[flsportsfan83]

I thought that a Big east crown was possible but predicted

cracking the top 25

and a car Care Bowl.

Now I am predicting either the gator or sun bowl and a top 20 ranking

[Jamie]

Bingo!

I had two expectations this year:

1. Get USF's name recognized nationally. Well, mission accomplished. In fact, it has been for almost a month now.

2. Get into a good bowl even if they don't win the conference. No bowls named after online pizza delivery or companies that change your oil and rotate your tires. Still on track for that - I would consider the Sun Bowl or Gator Bowl to be good, and the Bulls are still plenty capable of doing even better than those.

[GarySJ]

Whatever happens the rest of the season, USF has already won.

USF has reached spots in the polls that all but a few programs haven't seen in decades. Or ever.

USF has been written up by every magazine and sports show in the country.

USF is on the lips of observers who talk only about elite college football teams.

USF has put miles between itself and other aspiring programs.

And, perhaps most importantly, this season has shown that there is no ceiling to what USF football can accomplish. Never again can any opposing coach or athletic director say "USF can't be #1" or "USF can't play for the national title."

We can.

We're not going to this year, but we can. Just like Florida, Florida State, and Miami can.

From now on, recruit bios won't say "considering South Florida, UCF and FAU" but rather "considering South Florida, Miami, and Florida State." And we're going to start winning these battles.

The next time USF gets off to a 6-0 start, pollsters won't be so surprised, won't be so slow to put us in the Top 25, and won't be so inclined to put us behind "name" programs... because we're becoming a "name" program. Who knows, someday good ol' Coach Crowder might even be able to name a player on our team.

Whatever happens the rest of the way, USF football has won something of tremendous value; legitimacy.

[Bullogna]

not unfair, I believe we will exceed everyone's expectations, but why give away victory that we could have won.  If we had been properly prepared this game wouldn't have turned out this way.  We were outcoached and outplayed.  That's why some of us are frustrated.  That said.....OUr guys have done a helluva job and should definitely not let this get them down.  They have a lot more to play for and to prove!!!!

GO BULLS!!

[BullsWinBucsWin]

My expectations were:

1.  Don't get blown out at Auburn

2.  Contend for the Big East crown

3.  Beat UCF again

4.  Go to the "Anything But Birmingham" Bowl

[Rizman]

I want to go the the Gator bowl and play and ACC team.

[TakeItOrLeavitt]

Going into the year my best case scenerio would have been a 9 win regular season, a Gator bowl win, and our first top 25 ranking. Obviously we are still on our way to surpassing all of that and even if we were to lose two more games and end up in the Gator bowl I wouldn't be overly-disappointed. The program has made a giant leap foward this year and no matter how it turns out it has been a success.

[hightechbull]

You know what the #2 ranking and national TV game meant even though we lost?

• Some stud recruit is going to see that USF can contend for a NC crown
  
• He will realize that playing at USF will get players national recognition
  
• He will also see that in our loss that our team still needs more stud players
  
• He will realize that he could be a starter for a nationally recognized team that can compete with USF
  
• He might decide to go to USF if CJL comes knocking at his door
  

As much as I hate the Red Sox, Manny Ramirez was right.  Losing is not the end of the world.

It sucks, but you will get over it.  As a player you have to because there is always a game to play next week, and you need to win that game.