Bulls earn first ranking in school history

Apparently the ranking committees in college football do care about USF football.
Immediately following the Bulls 26-23 overtime victory at then-ranked No. 17 Auburn, quarterback Matt Grothe said: "I don't think the coaches' poll gives a rat's (expletive) about us, and I don't think we will be ranked."

During the Bulls bye week, the team has been recognized as a top 25 team in the nation by both the Associated Press (No. 23) and USA Today coaches poll (No. 24).

With USF's next two home games slated to be on national television, the Bulls have garnered more recognition across the country in 2007 than any of their previous 11 seasons.

North Carolina visits Raymond James Stadium Saturday at noon on ESPN 2 and the Bulls Big East opener against West Virginia is showcased on ESPN Sept. 28.

Including USF, there are four teams in the Big East included in the week 4 rankings: No. 5 West Virginia, No. 11 Rutgers and No. 18 Louisville.

Coach Jim Leavitt is expected to send out a press release later this afternoon.

Comments

[Windbane]

Awesome day in the history of USF Football.

[Justin]

I have to say I'm happy for CJL and all of his players and coaches. Congratulations are in order but let's not forget we still have at least 10 more games before we can celebrate anything worthwhile.

[cee]

casual USF fans will rejoice up until WVU comes into tampa and slaps some sense into us again, like they did last time they were in tampa. us passionate USF fans see the bigger picture and know this wont last too long.

sliding into the polls after a bye week and a week after only scraping by a very bad auburn team that lost to miss st is hardly anything to hang our hat on. we've got a long way to go before we can be considered a decent team. with our track record, i wouldnt be surprised if one of our players becomes ineligible due to academics or hanging out with the wrong crowd. all in all, we are still a bunch of 1 and 2-star recruits that have beated a 1-aa team and a very bad SEC team.

[Adam]

How about those Bulls! Leavitt has done a tremendous job. I can't wait for a sold out stadium and rolling over WVU. We need to dominate UNC on Saturday and get our offense in a good rythm.

As a casual fan that has only followed the program for the last 11 years, I am proud to be a Bull. CJL will keep our guys focused and ready for any game on our schedule.

Go BULLS!

[jv702]

Too bad UCeeF didnt get a ranking!!!!

[Chuck]

Thanks, Jim. This community loves you. You are the Architect!

Finish Strong, USF!!

[Chris]

Historic day for USF. Pretty ironic that it still took an extra week for everyone to notice USF. It's been that way for years.

Now if the guys can stay focused and take care of business this season could be the best ever.

Also, I would like to also say congratulations to any UCFers out there reading this blog for whatever reason. They looked good this week, keep up the good football.

GO BULLS!!!

[Stephen]

It is a testiment to the schedule. If we played Auburn in October, the win would not have meant anything.

[BA]

Bravo USF!

On behalf of the USF Philadelphia/S. Jersey/Delaware Alumni (1,500 strong) we would like to say how proud we are of the football program and the university

This has been building for 11 years and USF Alumni, Students, Faculty, Friends, and Family should be very proud of not only the football team but of a wonderful university.

Go Bulls!

Brandon Aldridge
President, USF Philadelphia/S. Jersey Alumni
USF Class of 1987

[Dave]

Nice to have the recognition, but did anyone notice that South Carolina went from #23 to #14. The beat a juggernaut South Carolina State team. At the same time, I'm not sure if Georgia Tech should've fallen so far.

It's great to have 1/2 our conference ranked, with Cincy not too far out. And Pitt played Mich State well, and MSU is in the ARV category (although Wanny blew that game with his NFL strategy, although McCoy is a terrifying threat and Stull was hurt).

[cee]

if we drop out of the polls, jimbo needs to get the axe.

[C.R]

Its a great day for the bulls Nation and is only the beginnning.
lets beat the tar Heels!!!

[E.T. Thomas]

Missed you Greg ... LOL

USF Football has started a new chapter. USF ranked, UM not receiving votes & FSU barely hanging on. USF has continued their trek in the right direction.

Beat UNC !

[JD]

cee: "we are still a bunch of 1 and 2-star recruits"

This is known to be inaccurate. I can prove it if that will help get you blown off this board forever.

[Tad]

Awsome!! Is it true that USF is expecting up to 62,000 to show up for the WVU game??

[Mark S]

This is just an awesome achievement.

cee, just stop pretending to be a USF fan already. You are simply disrespesctful to people that truly care about this university and this program. USF and the program that Jim Leavitt has put together is now the fastest team in history to ever become ranked in the polls. For those of us who have been around USF athletics going all the way back to the old Sun Belt days and earler, the days when we were told we would never have football, what Leavitt has done for this school and its' students and alumni in terms of pride and national recognition, our ranking is truly monumental. The only way you can not be proud is if you just don't care about this program.

Yes, there is a long way to go, but right now, this is truly one of the proudest days to be a USF Bull.

[DELdaBULL]

This is great. Now we just need to build upon it. All games left are winnable (A defenseless UL, a suspect WVU D, a badly coached Pitt, a talentless UConn and Cuse, a bad UNC, and a well balanced but beatable RU). This could be the greatest season ever!
Cee,
If CJL gets us to a BCS game (meaning we win the Big East) what would you say then?

[JD]

cee would want Leavitt to be fired if USF lost the Orange Bowl.

[BullBard]

This is not only a weekend to savor because the Bulls should be ranked; The COWBOYS also get an awesome win over the "Stinkfins" with much of that success due to our one and only ANTHONY HENRY with his two interceptions. GO BULLS and HOW 'BOUT THEM COWBOYS!!!

[UCF Fan]

Posted last week, that I thought you guys got robbed, and should have got a ranking....Well deserved, congrats...Good Luck against WVU, they look good, just don't look past UNC.

This should set-up a good USF/UCF matchup, as I think UCF proved it can play with the big boys.

[AnhVu Nguyen]

Thanks UCFfan. Should be good matchup in Tampa. UCF earned respect with the Texas game.

[D.T.]

Greg, look at this disclaimer from ESPN put in place to get rid of people like Cee:
User comments may be used on TV and other ESPN media platforms. Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

[G.A.]

Hey, guys. Back after two days with the family over at Disney. Lots to get to, but I'll address some here:

First, my site doesn't have any policies regarding "trolling." And it's rare that a user or IP address is blocked, typically after multiple messages are deleted. In truth, I've deleted more messages about Cee than I have by him. Again, for you guys to be mentioning him and calling him out on posts he hasn't even commented on, it only encourages him to do more of what's bothering you.

Again, if you find any comment you think is in violation of our policies, send me an e-mail at auman@sptimes.com and I'll address it as soon as I can.

[Jason]

cee attracts viewers, its why he hasn't been blocked

[Adam]

Greg- time for my weekly injury update request. Obviously if you were off a few days, and it being a weekend, you probably haven't heard much. Let us know what you find out when you get some news on the guys that are banged up.

Our D will be absolutely scary when Chris Robinson is 100%.

[Windbane]

All cee does is attack Leavitt, no matter what USF does. He hates Leavitt and always will.

cee can't ruin a great day in history, however.

[D.T.]

I know your site doesn't have such a policy and that's why I posted ESPN's, so you can see that it might be ok to have such a policy. Why tolerate blatant trolling?

[G.A.]

D.T., I appreciate your thoughts in passing along another site's policy. It's just a decision made well over my head. The prep boards here have had more flagrant problems and posters have been blocked there.

I see a lot of comments where Cee's posts are allowed because he boosts traffic. I think he boosts the comments here, but I'd be surprised if he's had any real impact on the traffic. Again, I don't get paid anything extra based on this blog, so self-interest really doesn't come into play here. Honestly.

[Ari]

I don't even read Cee's comments..

I can't believe how upset you guys get by an opinion..

The guy can say the moon is made out of cheese for all I care.

One thing is for sure though, our kicker stinks. And you can take that to the bank fellas.

Very pumped about the Top 25 ranking. Great news.

[Ari]

Greg...

Any love on the Stan Heath front?

Can't wait for basketball season.

I think im the only guy looking foward to Cleveland State on Nov. 9th.

Can't wait for Gransberry to become our first --- First Team Big East.

[Jason Strickland]

Congrats USF! Now, the celebration ends because what happened in the past doesn't make any difference to what awaits the future. I am glad the ranking came the week of the UNC game vice the WVU game...players may have developed a big head right before hosting the Mountaineers - something we definitely don't need.
Greg: continued GREAT coverage of the Bulls - keep it up.

#1 Bulls Fan in Colorado Springs

[EW]

I think cee is a UNC fan... US long time USF fans know this is well deserved. We shut down White and Slaton up at Morgantown last season and the same thing will happen in two weeks at a sold out RayJay.

GO BULLS

cee is trolling. nothing more, nothing less.

[cee]

Greg, I appreciate you preserving our AMERICAN right to a freedom of speech. I guess some casual USF fans are still living in the Hitler era where free speech did not exist.

I just hope casual bandwaggon fans are able to stumble upon this blog and see opinions of passionate USF fans.. the fans that know what is actually going on behind the scenes. the fans that know leavitt is building this program with partial qualifiers and kids who get in trouble with the law. maybe then, will the issue be addressed and we can finally get something who can push us over the top.

[Al]

Being ranked in the polls... Nice, but unless we win the conference...CJL still hasn't won a single title.