The long wait is over, and USF is in high spirits. Conference play begins this season, and the potential rewards are many.
By PETE YOUNG
Published August 28, 2003
[Times photo: Bob Croslin]
‘‘We’ve been talking about it for what seems like 50 years,’’ says USF coach Jim Leavitt. ‘‘Everybody’s excited.’’
[Times photo: Bill Serne]
USF has performed well against C-USA teams, thus far. The Bulls’ first win against a league foe was a 45-6 rout of Houston, above, on Nov. 3, 2001.
What does joining Conference USA mean to the South Florida Bulls?
a. It helps them get to a bowl game.
b. It raises their national identity and profile.
c. It is the culmination of a long-term goal and the beginning of an era.
d. It is another motivating variable - playing for a conference title - for a team thirsting for recognition.
e. All of the above (and then some).
If you don't know the answer, you just haven't been paying attention.
USF is in Conference USA, and the benefits are many, the wait agonizing but worth it and the anticipation uncontainable. (Psst: The answer to the question is "e," as in "elation," "excitement," "electricity" and "ecstasy.")
"We've been talking about it for what seems like 50 years," coach Jim Leavitt said. "Everybody's excited."
The start was delayed by two years, two excruciatingly long years for USF, because the league wanted to make sure the brand new Bulls, who started play in 1997, would be prepared for the challenge.
That was the fall of 1999, when C-USA's powers that be said 2003, not the desired 2001, would be USF's starting point.
Now that the moment is here, the question is inverted. No longer is it, "Is USF ready for C-USA?" It is, "Is C-USA ready for the Bulls?"
USF is 12-5 against Division I-A teams during the past two seasons. Last season, USF went 4-0 against C-USA teams.
Bulls to C-USA: How do you like us now?
"They know who we are. We're not sneaking up on anybody," senior safety J.R. Reed said. "That's okay because we play every team like it's the best in the country."
USF's burgeoning reputation will provide a boost to C-USA, and C-USA helps USF tremendously.
As an independent last season, USF went 9-2 but was denied a bowl bid essentially because it did not have a conference affiliation. Eleventh-hour loophole negotiating by the major conferences squeezed out the Bulls. The last hope was C-USA wouldn't have five bowl-eligible teams so USF could claim C-USA's final bid. But Cincinnati won its season finale to grab it.
Now that it's in C-USA, USF has much more control. The league's top five bowl-eligible teams (a winning record plus six Division I-A victories) go to a bowl.
"I thought we'd get in there (last season)," Leavitt said Aug. 6 at media day. "I hope I don't think too far ahead. I believe it will (happen). But we've got a ways to go.
"If our team is not better than last year, we're not going to a bowl game. (But) I'm not thinking those thoughts at all. I'm thinking about practice tomorrow."
C-USA also gives USF a consistent, quality schedule, a big deal because copping out of games with USF has become popular. Eastern Michigan and Baylor dropped 2003 games in February, leaving USF scrambling.
Now, USF has a minimum of eight games a season taken care of, four home, four away. So instead of needing to arrange 11 or 12, USF needs to take care of three or four while it builds annual rivalries within its league.
The C-USA slate already has helped at the gate. With three of the six games at Raymond James Stadium this fall against bowl teams (Oct. 4 vs. Louisville, Oct. 10 vs. TCU and Oct. 31 vs. Cincinnati), season ticket sales have surpassed 15,000, up about 1,300 from last season.
C-USA also puts TV dollars in USF's coffers. The league helped broker an additional televised game, the homecoming tilt against Cincinnati on ESPN2. The Bulls have three games on ESPN or ESPN2 (at Alabama, vs. TCU and vs. Cincinnati), plus two on Fox Sports Net.
During their first six seasons, USF made one national TV appearance, last season at Oklahoma. Yes, membership clearly has its privileges.
Playing for a conference title and simply proving they belong are factors Bulls players, especially seniors such as Chris Iskra, Maurice Jones, Vince Brewer and Ron Hemingway, have mentioned as motivating them. An undercurrent of disrespect fuels the Bulls. The past two seasons, USF has far exceeded preseason projections by national magazines. Now they also seek to prove the league wrong for denying them membership for two years.
C-USA is the next big step for a nascent program that has made setting and achieving goals, and moving on to bigger goals, seem routine.
Next up: a bowl bid and league title.
TCU is the consensus league favorite (and is No. 25 in the Associated Press preseason poll) and Southern Miss the consensus No. 2. The Bulls are in the mix anywhere from No. 3 through No. 9, depending on what polls, publications or power ratings you peruse.
"It's up for grabs," said Southern Miss All-America linebacker Rod Davis, C-USA's preseason defensive player of the year. "A lot of crazy, freaky stuff can happen on Saturdays."
For the Bulls, that's what it's all about: the chance to play on national television, the chance to play for a conference title, the chance to play for a bowl bid.
To be a part of that crazy, freaky stuff.
"We're ready to go," Leavitt said.
Conference USA, here come the Bulls.
- Correspondent Rob Brannon contributed to this story.
