Bulls break into BCS standings at No. 25

After just missing the cut for the AP, coaches and Harris polls Sunday, USF made it into the BCS standings at No. 25, buoyed by a 30-19 victory over then-No. 20 West Virginia on Friday.

Big East rivals Cincinnati and Pittsburgh have moved up to No. 6 and No. 13, respectively, with West Virginia at No. 27 and Rutgers at No. 36. The highest of USF's remaining four opponents is Miami at No. 17.

-- USF women's soccer took a 5-0 loss at top-seeded Notre Dame on Sunday in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. The Bulls finish the season with a 9-8-3 record, the program's best mark since 1999.

-- USF men's soccer finished the regular season with a 12-3-2 record, including a 6-3-2 mark in Big East play. The Bulls are awaiting their seeding and opponent for the Big East tournament, which starts Wednesday. USF has the third seed in its division, which means the Bulls won't have an opening-round bye but will host an opening-round match.

Comments

[VOR]

I foresee USF having a strong showing against the Rutgers offensive line.

The worst I have seen USF’s defense play against was Pitt.
I went back to Rivals to see what our defensive line was up against.
Turns out Pitt’s starting offensive line was composed of two (2) four star recruits and three (3) three star recruits.

Doing the same for Rutgers you find:
Two (2) four star recruits, two (2) star recruits and one (1) 0 star recruit.

Not inferring that the star rating system is the end all of player performance but it’s a good starting point.

[Jupiter Bull]

Richard, I can't speak to your level of hope or expectations, but RU will not be a walk. RU has a strong O-line, and is 6-2 (6-1 since Cincy). They aren't a pushover...they lost to Pitt by 7 in Jersey...the same Pitt that crushed us.

We SHOULD beat them, but I felt that way the 2 meetings, and look how that story ended. Some think Shiano seems to have our number...hope our team doesn't feel that way. If we play like we did at WVU (minus the drops), I think we should win by 10. But it's a hostile area, and they WILL be up for us, like Pitt was. If we show up flat or get out slow, there's a possibility it'll snowball.

Don't get me wrong...I see us winning. But we MUST play at least a B game. As for deep threat, I see Griffin emerging big time. Bogan may be as fast as Mitchell, and has made big plays. And Love & Hester are guys we cannot forget. If we give BJ time, these guys can find gaps and BJ can hit them. I actually worry more about BJ getting too confident, and being Favre-like, thinking he can squeeze in any pass. Still, he's got a laser, but still showed poise in not overthrowing the deep balls. Very encouraged at BJ's complete game...better than FSU, even.

[Turd Ferguson]

We will beat Rutgers. Levitts already said he has something special planned for the Rutgers game.

Posted by: Jxenik | November 02, 2009 at 10:19 AM

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I'm on the edge of my seat.

[G.A.]

Sandro, Theo Wilson missed the Pittsburgh game with a family health issue. He dressed for the West Virginia game, but I don't remember seeing him in the game.

[Sandro]

Does anybody know what happened to Theo Wilson? That guy played the first 4 games good and that after that I don't I have seen him on the field. Actually one time against Cincy but not at all after that.

GO BULLS !!!

[Mr. Snrub]

What about Sterling or Theo? They were good deep threats at FSU.

[Jxenik]

We will beat Rutgers. Levitts already said he has something special planned for the Rutgers game.

[Richard Todd]

Jupiter - If Rutgars is a huge test for the Bulls I fear we are not as good as I hoped. This should be a lock win. Biggest issue is Carlton Mitchel - he may be gone the rest of the season - See Mike Ford last year. Who is our deep threat ? Griffin ? Bogan ? Hester ? i don't know.

[Turd Ferguson]

My read is we now have Tier 1: Pitt/Cincy; Tier 2: USF, RU, UConn & WVU and Tier 3: Cuse & Lville.

Posted by: Jupiter Bull | November 02, 2009 at 09:46 AM

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Ditto.

[Bulliever]

What won that game was NO turn overs and also limited penalties! We did not self destruct...

When we had a big running play or catch (and did not drop the ball) and it was not called back, we were able to build on our momentum.

If we play that kind of game at Rutgers, we should pull off the win!

[Jupiter Bull]

Steve, I didn't mean to call you out, and am just back in town reading all the posts so I likely forgot who posted the "Leavitt's back!" theme. What I meant to target is those that fired back at those questioning CJL's ability to get us to the next level.
I agree with you that coaching was good this week (as Ari pointed out, had the 4th down tries failed, people would be calling Leavitt an idiot...but it's all about execution in those cases). I think Turd's point was: Are we that much better, or was it more of a reflection in the drop of quality(WVU, v Cinci and Pitt)?

My read is we now have Tier 1: Pitt/Cincy; Tier 2: USF, RU, UConn & WVU and Tier 3: Cuse & Lville. That's subject to debate, and will work itself out over the next 5 weeks.

My apologies Steve...you're clearly a fan, and seem fairly open minded. Clearly Turd irks you, and I get that. But he's a fan, with very high expectations. That's OK. Honestly, I'm thrilled to be able to go to a blog that's fairly balanced and open to dissenting opinions. That said, a little less sarcasm & sniping would improve the experience (this coming from an admitted lover of sarcasm!).

RU will be a huge test of our Bulls. Hope Leavitt, Canales and Tresey have our guys PUMPED & PREPPED.

[Mr. Snrub]

USF may end the season 9-3 AND in the St. Pete Bowl. The Pros- USF could easiliy get its 10th win, end ranked, and have recruits watching. This is a scenerio even Schiano would love. Con- St. Pete Bowl, and more trash talk from AM radio geeks.

[dalatorr]

They have 2 weeks to prepare for US? WE have 2 weeks to prepare for THEM. We can beat Rutgers. We can beat louisville. We can geat Miami. I don't know about UConn. I don't know that we WILL beat any of those teams, but we CAN. SO LET'S DO IT! Go Bulls!

[Turd Ferguson]

Excellent comments, Jupiter.

You are an officer and a gentleman.

[Steve O'Neal]

Where did I post anything regarding CJL? I just thought werbito's post was funny. I have no problem with a fan stating their opinions and expressing their views on the strenghths and weaknesses of their team. Just don't need all the sarcastic BS along with it. Do you think I only post positive things about the Bulls, then you don't read all my posts. And for people that choose to post positive comments that should be their choice without a certain poster making sarcastic comments on all of them just to irritate. You question whether it was coaching or just the opponent. You stated yourself that you liked the more aggressive play calling and the calls to go for it on 4th down. Those decisions were made by a coach, not our opponent. Everyone, myself included, wanted a feature back and that happened in the last game. That was a coaches decision, not our opponents. One game does not mean everything is OK, but showed improvement in areas that fans have questioned. I've stated before that you offer thoughtful criticism of the Bulls but still hope for the best for them. Many fans have criticized the Bulls when it is warranted and do you see me saying anything about them? NO! Hopefully we can defeat RU and take another step in the right direction. Finally getting a win against RU and on a thursday night also! GO BULLS!

[Jupiter Bull]

Werbito & Steve, I don't think the questions re: CLJ's ability to take USF to the next level were a) unwarranted, b) echoed by national press and c)resolved by the WVU game.

While I love the 4th down calls, and the more aggressive play calling, it's too early to declare the ship righted. Trust me...I was surrounded by WVU fans, and had a great time watching a team that resembled the FSU game v. the last 2 (Turd's question is legit: is it more a function of the opponent OR coach adjustments?).

Rutgers will be a HUGE test. Leavitt & Shiano both have nearly 2 weeks to prepare for a key game for two 6-2 teams. We've clearly been outcoached the last 2 meetings, and this will be telling. We have at least as much talent as Rutgers. It will be an ugly venue with a loud, nasty crowd. Huge gut check for players & coaches. Rutgers WILL be ready, and they think they OWN us. We'll see if we can turn that tide. Beat RU, and Lville should give us 8-2, and Top 20 heading into the UM game.

I'm hoping we gel as a team, and run the table, and make this a 9 or 10 win season. NO ST. PETE BOWL!

And, all...just because some of us have some concerns, and even criticism, of some players/coaches, doesn't make any less of a fan that those who either don't post, or only post silver linings. I love the Bulls...anyone who knows me know that. And I try to temper my expectations. But nonetheless, I support our Bulls, and will continue to do so. GO BULLS>>>SMASH RUTGERS!

Let's make this statement: The only good thing to come out of New Jersey is a victorious Bulls team!

[Jim]

I did not want us to be ranked we tend to get hosed when we do. Going into Rutgers ranked they will want to bring us down a notch.

[Steve O'Neal]

Just keep winning. I'm not worried about a bowl game yet, just hope they keep winning. Werbito, pretty funny! Doesn't take much to get him going. GO BULLS!

[werbito]

I knew that would start -someone- off!

haha

[Turd Ferguson]

Fire the coach!

(crickets)

Posted by: werbito | November 01, 2009 at 07:53 PM

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Is he no longer a career .500 in conference play? Did I miss something??

[Ken]

If by real bowl game, PI, you mean a BCS game, I don't see that happening, even if we run the table. We'd have to crush everyone, have Miami and FSU continue winning, and have a hand-picked set of losses from the top 24 teams that are there now. And if you mean the Gator Bowl, forget about it, no matter the critique of ND's wins (and losses). Can't the Gator take them if they want with the 6 wins they have now, and ND will be favored against Navy, even if they lose the final three (which I hope).

But even squeaking out a win at Rutgers, beating Louisville handily, and beating either Miami or UConn, would give us a 9-3 season, either 5-2 or 4-3 in the conference, and decent chance to return to Charlotte, which would be a good bowl game for us this year.

[cg]

Winning at Rutgers would be huge. Please please please please please beat rutgers

[Cat]

All righty! We really have something to play for. Looking for better bowl placement should be incentive. The bonus with a win on Thurs. night is it's a national audience & our big east opponent has the same record. Let's go Bulls.

[Bill B.]

I will take it right now. We can go up but not to the BCS bowls. At least not likely. Meineke is cool by me as it was a party there our first bowl. Papa is better that St. Pete. Of course we are not sure of what else might be open outside of BE commitments. Too early to speculate.

[politically incorrect]

25 really? I would have guessed that the polls were going to kiss us goodbye once we started our usual Oct slide. I'll take 25 and if we can crush,not beat, but crush Rutgers in NJ and then beat Louisville at homecoming,we might just solidify some good looks for a real bowl game.
No offense to Charlotte, Birmingham or St. Pete, but your games don't interest me.

[werbito]

Fire the coach!

(crickets)

[USFShep]

We will take it! Now let's go take care of business at Rutgers. Let's prove this team can play consistent ball two games in a row against good teams.

[David Weber]

It looks the computers really like us at 25- we're .05 higher than WVU in the computer rankings. Strength of schedule is probably what has us ahead of BYU, and rightfully so.