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South Florida is 24-9 in its first three seasons in Division I-A but has no bowl games to show for it.
USF has a 72.7 winning percentage in that span, better than, among others, Florida (70.3) and Florida State (71.1). Yet in a sport where almost everyone above .500 goes to a bowl, USF is 0-for-3.
Georgia Tech, by comparison, is 3-for-3 while going 21-17 the past three seasons. Ouch.
USF's primary obstacles to a bowl this season were scheduling shortcomings and a faltering offense. If the Bulls had finished 8-3 overall, 6-2 in Conference USA instead of 7-4, 5-3 (and one I-A win shy of bowl eligibility), things still would have been dicey. That would have made six bowl-eligible C-USA teams for a league with five bowl tie-ins.
Third-place USF or sixth-place Houston, because of their lack of clout, would have been the odd team out. The Bulls probably would have gotten a bid over the Cougars.
When TCU declined the GMAC Bowl bid and opted for the hometown Fort Worth Bowl, it set in motion a chain of events that likely would have resulted in USF going to the GMAC Bowl or Hawaii Bowl (with snubbed Houston possibly snaring an at-large bid to the Houston Bowl). Instead, Houston ended up in Hawaii.
That's two straight years USF came within one game of going to Hawaii. There's one surefire way to rectify the specious bowl situation: win the league title. The C-USA champion is guaranteed a bid in the Liberty Bowl. Anything less guarantees nothing except politics, back-room deals and shenanigans that have nothing to do with football.
USF's 2004 motto: Give us Liberty or give us ... any other bowl.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bulls graduate 14 seniors and the obvious voids are at safety (J.R. Reed, Kevin Verpaele), linebacker (Maurice Jones, Courtney Davenport) and outside receiver (Huey Whittaker, Elgin Hicks, Chris Iskra).
At safety, rising junior Johnnie Jones has played extensively and is primed for a starting role. Senior Javan Camon also has significant experience, and redshirt freshman Mike Jenkins, whom coach Jim Leavitt raves about, is sure to be a factor at cornerback or safety.
Junior Devon Davis and sophomore Pat St. Louis enter the spring as top replacement candidates at linebacker, but a trio of 2003 recruits, Josh Balloon, Ben Moffitt and Ronnie McCullough will contend. The position appears well-stocked.
Outside receiver has more questions. Sophomore S.J. Green and junior Joe Bain will get first crack, and junior C.J. Lewis, sophomores Willie Williams and Darren Haliburton and redshirt freshmen J.B. Garris also figure in the mix.
USF's strength next season will be in the trenches. The entire starting offensive and defensive lines are expected back. Leavitt said the quarterback job is wide open, but intimated that Pat Julmiste's performance in the season finale gives him a slight edge.
TOO LATE NOW: At least three other I-A teams played only 11 games and all had mutual open dates with USF. Stanford and San Jose State had byes on Sept. 13 (a week after playing each other) and Utah had a bye Sept. 20. Stanford had six home games and might have been willing to travel to Tampa this season if the Bulls went to Palo Alto in 2004 or '05.
GOOD STUFF: The Bulls are third nationally in yards allowed per play (4.10) and could finish second if USC has a big day today against Oregon State (4.08).
- Pete Young covers USF sports. He can be reached at 813 226-3346 or via e-mail at young@sptimes.com