Wow the Big East is one broke conference in college football. Metaphorically speaking, not financially of course. The South Florida Bulls are a solid team; as are the West Virginia Mountaineers. And they’re the only two teams in conference that have a chance of cracking the national rankings this year. Everyone else is kind of….uhhhh….Last year’s UConn BcS appearance gave us the worst team in BcS history.
Maybe the Bulls can make an appearance this year? And perform much better than the Huskies did. Since joining the conference in 2005, USF has made use of the top-level recruiting area right in their backyard. With six straight bowl bids (one of just four programs nationally to win their last three postseason appearances) they have a lighter version of the early 1980s Miami Hurricanes thing going on right.
Indeed, they are mid-majors no more.
2010 was: a sub .500 year in conference, but overall another successful run for the Bulls. But it was an 8-5 season capped by a win over Clemson in their bowl game. USF was solid on D but need to improve their passing game which was 101st. They were 105th overall and 85th in scoring.
BMOCs: QB B.J. Daniels is as explosive a dual threat as you’ll find anywhere in the country. His improved his completion percentage last year but he needs to cut down his interceptions. RB Darrell Scott, a Colorado transfer, was the #1 rated running back coming out of high school in 2007. This is his chance to live up to the hype. Fellow transfer Dontae Aycock will join Demetrius Murray in adding depth to the position. Terrell McClain is gone, and the Bulls will look for someone to follow in his (and Jason Pierre-Paul) footsteps as a dominant pass-rusher. DE Ryne Giddins? or maybe Patrick Hampton, who mans the other end?
2011 will be fruitful if: the receivers step up big time and Daniels has a steady hand in guiding the offense. The running game and defense should be solid
2011 will be awful if: Daniels turns it over, and the Bulls front aren’t able to generate consistent pressure.
Bottom Line: Getting to 8-4 or better with this schedule and in the very weak Big East in general should be a snap. The last two recruiting classes have been vastly underrated.
USF Rankings: #35 Athlon, #33 Lindy’s, #35 Phil Steele
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Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site that generates millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports You can follow him on Twitter