This time, there are no rogues, no culprits, no conspirators. This time, it was not because of faulty computers or misguided voters or greedy men in gaudy sports coats. This time, it wasn't because South Florida was too new to notice.
This time, the Bulls just weren't good enough.
Because of it, the bowl season will manage without them.
Think of this as the biggest fizzle in the short history of a program. USF lost 22-19 to a mediocre UAB team. For one of the few times, you can accuse an overachieving USF program with underachievement on the field.
No, the Bulls don't deserve to go to a bowl.
Not after this.
USF had every advantage. It was home. It was favored. It had more on the line. It had an early lead and late momentum. It had the nation's No. 13 defense against UAB's No. 3 quarterback and No. 4 tailback.
And it lost.
How big a game do you need? For USF, a team eternally on the verge of the postseason, this one would have kept alive a chance to go to a bowl. It would have assured USF of a winning record in Conference USA. It would have kept alive the image of USF as a program going somewhere.
Now, it doesn't appear to be going anywhere. Not to New Orleans. Not to Fort Worth. Not to Mobile.
Frankly, it's hard to argue with the notion.
If you wish, you can find consolation in the late, furious comeback in which the Bulls scored two touchdowns and two two-point conversions to tie at 19. Or you can find frustration in the late, Buc-like defensive collapse as UAB drove to kick the winning field goal.
In reality, the game shouldn't have come down to either. If USF had shown the same crispness, the same energy in the first three quarters as it did in the final minutes, it would have won handily.
Despite the comeback, this ranks as one of the Bulls' worst performances. In a game you would have expected USF to take the field as if it were playing for championship, it walked through a day's work. It was one of those sloppy, undisciplined efforts that made you question how USF has managed its six victories.
On offense, the Bulls couldn't find open receivers. Even worse, the defense couldn't find open receivers. USF had six turnovers and 16 penalties, and by the end of the third quarter, a dozen bowl reps in brightly colored blazers were leaving the Raymond James parking lots so fast they were leaving skid marks.
For three quarters, the Bulls seemed as if they never were mentally into the game. They had 10 penalties in the first half, and when they added three early in the second, coach Jim Leavitt was so angry he jumped up and down and marched toward the field to vent his frustrations.
There was the 60-yard punt return negated by clipping. There was the UAB drive restarted by a roughing the passer call. There were the wasted opportunities by an offense that never has meshed this season. There was the clock that expired early at the end of the first half, and so the officials called UAB back onto the field, and still the Bulls missed the field goal.
Final grade: Is USF a team worthy of a bowl? Even a teeny, forgettable bowl such as the ones that had been flirting with it?
No, it isn't.
That's a shame, because all of us remember how USF was jobbed out of a bowl last season. For much of this one, USF has looked like a nice little treat for a nice little bowl. If the athletic director's office were a little more resourceful, the Bulls still might have a chance.
The truth is, the athletic office didn't leave the team a lot of wiggle room. In February, when USF was unceremoniously dumped by Baylor and Eastern Michigan, what it needed was deft, decisive work by Lee Roy Selmon and his assistants to fill the holes. It didn't get it.
Instead, the Bulls were left with 11 games while the rest of the nation was playing 12, including games against Nicholls State and Charleston Southern. In other words, USF had to win six against eight conference opponents and Alabama. If the Bulls had added a I-A team, or even a better I-AA team, it still could go to a bowl by beating Memphis next weekend.
Considering the way the Bulls played Saturday night, however, it's hard to work up a good fight in their behalf. They waited too long to do so themselves.
This was one of those games where the Bulls had their followers thinking of how good this season could be, and when it was over, they were thinking of how bad it could have been if C-USA weren't having a mediocre year - Tell me: Is there a defining victory by a team in this league? By anyone? - and if the Bulls weren't 3-0 in overtime games.
USF always has been a team spoiling for a bigger fight, a brighter light and a better opponent. This was its opportunity. This was a game with a cause. The shame is that, too, was lost.
When the Bulls remember this year, this is the game they will think about.
The night, like the season, should have been more.
