Colleges

USF a national sensation

As the powers continue to tumble, USF is even more squarely in the title picture.

By GREG AUMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published October 14, 2007

TAMPA - Chaos continues to reign atop college football's national polls, and just as consistently, undefeated USF continues to rise in those rankings.

The No. 5 Bulls' dominating win against Central Florida, combined with No. 1 LSU's triple-overtime loss at No. 17 Kentucky and No. 2 Cal's loss to unranked Oregon State, could have USF ranked as high as second when the first official BCS standings are announced this afternoon.

"I think South Florida is more likely third than second," said Jerry Palm, publisher of collegebcs.com, which tracks the rankings that contribute to the BCS standings. "You never know what the voters will do. Boston College wasn't overly impressive, and South Florida certainly took care of business."

The official BCS standings, used to place two teams in the national championship game, will be unveiled at 4:15 p.m. on Ch. 13. Fans can also see the standings online at bcsfootball.org and can get a sneak preview of projected standings at sites such as bcsguru.com.

LSU, Cal, Missouri, Cincinnati and Connecticut took their first losses Saturday, leaving only six unbeatens, including the Bulls (6-0), and pending No. 14 Arizona State's late game against Washington. USF, which may jump ahead of No. 4 Boston College in the AP poll to third, still lacks the clout with voters to be sure that even a 12-0 team would play for the national title.

"They're going up against Ohio State, which is a blue blood in college football," Palm said. "Right or wrong, it's going to take voters time to get used to South Florida as a top-five team. The computers like USF, but computers don't care how long you've been playing football."

USF has made a rapid rise in the last month. The Bulls earned their first ranking at No. 23 four weeks ago, then jumped from No. 18 to No. 6 after beating then-No. 5 West Virginia. USF moved up one spot last week after Wisconsin was upset.

Bulls coach Jim Leavitt has barely commented on the rankings, saying his only priority is winning his next game. He conceded after Saturday's win that he can't keep his players from being aware of their high position in today's BCS standings.

"No matter what I say they're going to see it, they're going to notice it," Leavitt said. "They don't live in a cave.

"I'm not going to talk much about it. What good does it do?"

USF has a national spotlight Thursday night when the Bulls play at conference foe Rutgers, a team ranked as high as No.10 before consecutive losses to Maryland and Cincinnati. A solid win there would help solidify the Bulls' position ahead of Boston College in the battle for the No.3 ranking in the polls.

TITLE RACE

LSU's turn ends

The No. 1 Tigers lose at SEC foe Kentucky in triple OT. 2X

First BCS release

The BCS rankings will be announced at 4:15 today on Ch.13.

[Last modified October 14, 2007, 00:01:45]