USA Today- Big East Preview: South Florida Bullish on Winning

[BurghBull]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/bigeast/2007-08-20-big-east-preview-USF_N.htm

Enjoy,  Feature article in USA TODAY

[Jake_Ryan]

Saw this today while travelling.  Nice pub.

[BullsWinBucsWin]

There's a poll on the left side of the story that we could stampede as well.

[TyBull]

S. Florida is bullish on winning Big East USA TODAY

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S. Florida is bullish on winning Big East

By Jack Carey, USA TODAY

South Florida coach Jim Leavitt pays little attention to preseason prognostications that call his Bulls a sleeper pick in the Big East.

"I don't like to give us too many accolades because I don't feel like we've gotten there," says the only coach in South Florida history as he embarks on his 11th season at the Tampa school. "I feel like we're kind of hanging around."

But the Bulls have proved in their decade of existence that they can hang with the best. Few start-up programs have achieved as much in so short a period. As recently as 1998, the Bulls were competing against Slippery Rock and Valparaiso. By 2005, they were opening at Penn State. The past two years have resulted in bowl invitations, and this season's schedule includes a trip to Auburn.

Moreover, USF is winning.

Consider: In 1996, when current NFL star Donovan McNabb was a sophomore at Syracuse, USF had not yet started competing in football. In the past two years, the Bulls beat McNabb's old team by a combined score of 54-10.

There's little doubt the move to the Big East two years ago bolstered the program, giving the Bulls a high-profile platform and a shot every year at competing for a BCS bowl.

But they've also done a good job of taking advantage of it. USF has beaten Big East heavyweights Louisville and West Virginia in its first two years in the league and last season earned its first bowl victory, knocking off East Carolina in the PapaJohn's.com Bowl to finish a 9-4 season.

With season tickets for home games at Raymond James Stadium approaching 19,000 in an area where many fans grew up rooting for Florida or Florida State, the buzz around the program is building.

"I live about 25 miles from the campus," says sophomore quarterback Matt Grothe. "And now I see a hundred times more USF bumper stickers and T-shirts than I used to."

With more than 41,000 students, USF is the biggest school in the Big East, and in football-mad Florida that means there will be plenty of alumni around to enjoy future success, buy tickets and make contributions.

Leavitt quickly points out that starting a program in an area with so many big-time recruits gave the Bulls an advantage on other schools that have attempted to make the jump to major-college football in recent years. Ninety-six players from the Sunshine State are on the preseason roster.

"Our location helps us; we've got a lot of players (nearby)," says Leavitt. "We're getting more and more good (recruiting) feedback in Tampa.

"We're starting to bang away at the SEC and ACC more and more, especially the ACC. I can see that happening in recruiting. Your North Carolinas and N.C. States come into Florida, but you're seeing people stay with us longer (in the recruiting process). We compete with them head-to-head longer."

And Leavitt and his program are broadening their recruiting horizons. "We're going into Georgia a little more, so we're going right into the ACC and SEC areas right there."

It's a far cry from the start-up days of a little more than a decade ago when the program had no weight room or practice field to call its own. The school in 2004 opened a $15 million facility that houses athletics department offices, as well as headquarters for academic counseling, strength and conditioning and sports medicine. A new on-campus athletic village that includes nine new or renovated competition and practice facilities is in the works.

"It's amazing to see where we've come from in the short amount of time," says senior linebacker Ben Moffitt, from Bushnell, Fla., about 55 miles from campus. "It's been a commuter school for years, but there's more of a sense of fellowship and campus unity, now, and it's cool to be part of that, and as a football player, helping bring that."

The new national face of the program could soon be Grothe, who had an eye-opening freshman season, passing for 2,576 yards and running for 662 on the way to being named Big East rookie of the year.

"I knew I could play, and I knew if I did what the coaches wanted and ran the offense, I could set myself up in good position," says Grothe.

And USF could be in good position to make a run for the top of the conference. Both West Virginia and Louisville must come to Tampa, although Grothe is just about as excited over the Sept. 8 Auburn game, which falls on his 21st birthday.

"The way people are working this year, you can see something being built with a real purpose," he says.

And it wouldn't be the first time that's happened at USF.

[BigShoop]

HEY!

THERES A POLL!

LETS WIN THIS!

[BullAdrian]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/bigeast/2007-08-20-big-east-preview-USF_N.htm

[Sunil]

Nobody turns around a poll like the 'pen.... >