USF in rare group with four ranked opponents

When USF takes the field tonight against No. 20 West Virginia, it will be the fourth time the Bulls have faced an opponent ranked in the Associated Press top 25. USF has never faced more than three ranked opponents in a season, and will likely face a fifth next month when Miami comes to Tampa.

By the end of the weekend, USF will be one of only eight teams in Division I-A football to have faced four ranked opponents this season, joined by Miami, USC, Oregon, Virginia Tech, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt.

Of the eight, USC has the best mark against ranked opponents, with a 3-0 mark entering Saturday's game against Oregon, which is 2-1 against ranked teams. Miami is 3-1, with its loss against Virginia Tech, which is 2-2 against ranked teams. A win tonight for USF (which beat Florida State but has lost to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh) would put them ahead of Oklahoma (1-3) and Arkansas (1-3), as well as Vanderbilt, which is 0-3 entering a game against Georgia Tech.

USF is also facing a ranked opponent for the third week in a row, another first in Bulls history. In all of college football this season, only three teams have faced ranked teams in three straight weeks -- Kentucky went 0-3 in one stretch, Missouri just finished an 0-3 stretch after a 4-0 start, and Miami opened the season with four straight ranked opponents. Vanderbilt is in the middle of a stretch of three straight ranked opponents, with No. 1 Florida ahead next week. We also should give credit to Arkansas, which played a stretch of four ranked opponents in five weeks.

USF's schedule of four ranked opponents is more impressive when you consider that the other seven Big East teams have combined for just six games against ranked opponents, with the only win in those six being Cincinnati's win against then-ranked USF. West Virginia, Rutgers and Pitt, it should be noted, haven't faced a ranked team yet this season.

Which conference has the best record against ranked teams? The ACC is 10-13 this season -- seven of those 10 wins are against other ACC teams -- followed by the Pac-10 (7-10), the Big 12 (7-15), the SEC (7-21), the Big East (2-6) and the Big Ten (4-13). The rest of college football outside the BCS is a combined 5-63 against ranked opponents, with Boise State, BYU, Houston, UTEP and TCU getting the victories.

Off to Raymond James Stadium for tonight's game. Check back for the live blog tonight ...

Comments

[Mr. Snrub]

Talk about strength of schedule!

[Ken]

I'm thinking we should be back in the top-25. Beating WV makes our losses the last two weeks not look so bad--we lost to the #5 and #15 (or so), and beta the #20 (also beat FSU when they were in the lower rankings. Tells you about where we are: Not NC material, or even BCS game, but belong around #20.

Our best prospects, I'm thinking are for Cinc and Pitt to win out, with Cinc winning their game, and enough teams losing for Cinc to get in the NC and Pitt to get in a BCS. Unfortunately, ND will win their game today to seal stealing the Gator from the BE.

[Joe]

Very good perspective. Thanks. We'll see what happens tonight. If they win, they deserve to be ranked. They just lost to two higher ranked teams. If not, well it will be three years in a row now.

[G.A.]

Thanks, Chalko. Records were right, result was wrong. Fixed.

[Chalko]

Since when did Miami beat Vtech.... Last I heard Vtech stomped them 31-7. Come on GA, get it together!