Colleges

BCS ranks Bulls No. 2

USF is now positioned to have a shot at playing in the national title game on Jan 7.

By GREG AUMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published October 15, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Ross Mantle] USF Football Coach Jim Leavitt fields media questions following a closed evening practice at the University of South Florida on Sunday. Related content John Romano: Here come the Bulls, and critics Bulls rediscover dominant Grothe vs. UCF Photos: Fans | UCF game Blog: USF Sports Bulletin Bulls coverage

TAMPA - South Florida's undefeated football team is only halfway through its season, and even as the Bulls continue to win, the next six weeks may still be a complicated mess of polls and computer rankings.

But this much is true, if somewhat unbelievable: If the season ended today, the Bulls would be playing for the national championship.

That's the news that came Sunday, when the first Bowl Championship Series standings were released, showing USF 6-0 ranked second behind Ohio State (7-0).

"I'm really proud for the kids. It's great for them, for our program, the university, the whole ball of wax," defensive coordinator Wally Burnham said. "It's our job to keep them focused. ... You cannot get beyond today."

That, too, is no easy task. The BCS standings, which use two national polls and six computer ratings systems, are used to select the two teams that will play in the BCS title game, Jan. 7 in New Orleans.

Two years ago, USF had never played in a bowl game, and this time last year, the Bulls had never won one. Now they're halfway to playing in the biggest game a college team can hope for.

"Those things are great," coach Jim Leavitt said of the rankings after a rare Sunday night practice. "It's something I can't control. We're just going to keep banging it out, practice hard, try to get ready for the next game and hopefully play well."

The Bulls, fresh off a 64-12 victory over Central Florida before a sellout crowd Saturday at Raymond James Stadium and moving up three spots to No. 2 in the Associated Press media poll, travel to Rutgers (4-2) for a Big East game Thursday night on ESPN.

It's another high-profile chance to validate their 6-0 start and prove themselves to poll voters hesitant to put stock in a program that launched in 1997 and moved to Division I-A football in 2001. The Bulls are fighting the tradition and name recognition of older programs, but the lingering doubters only serve as added motivation.

"I'm just so tired of watching ESPN, and every second, it's 'Top 10, USF is here?"' senior defensive tackle Richard Clebert said after Saturday's win. "People are so caught up in history. USC has won such-and-such, but those wins in the past aren't going to win them games now. They don't count toward this year at all. Whatever Rutgers did last year, that's not going to help them win this year. It's what we're doing now that's helping us win."

The challenge for the Bulls, on Thursday and beyond, is to hold their position in the polls through a second half of the season that will likely only have one ranked opponent for affirmation. USF has two significant victories, winning at then-No. 17 Auburn and at home against then-No. 5 West Virginia.

"In those two wins, they've accomplished more than any team in the country, other than (former No. 1) LSU," said SI.com columnist Stewart Mandel, one of 11 voters in Sunday's AP poll who ranked the Bulls No. 1. "They're pretty well-known among people who follow college football. The problem is the casual (voter) who might cover all sports and not know as much."

Humans are one thing, but Sunday's ratings also showed that the computers adore USF. Of the six computer-generated ratings, five ranked USF No. 1, with the other putting the Bulls second. That was enough to push USF ahead of Boston College, which is ranked No. 2, one spot ahead of the Bulls, in the USA Today coaches' poll and the Harris Interactive poll, both used to determine BCS rankings.

The last month has produced a ridiculous amount of upsets of highly ranked teams. Nine of the Top 10 teams in the AP poll three week ago have lost, and four of those have lost twice. USF is where it is because the Bulls haven't fallen prey to the upset trend.

"This has been the year of the upset, and South Florida is definitely the poster child for this season," said former Auburn coach Terry Bowden, now an analyst for Westwood One Radio and Yahoo.com. "They've come out of nowhere, but they've been incredible, playing a pretty formidable schedule. But it could all change next week. They still have some bad boys left on their schedule."

USF, which had never been ranked five weeks ago, may be the talk of the bay area and the biggest story in college football, but the Bulls just want to focus on their next film-study session.

"When you get those kind of accolades, recognition, publicity, the thing is to treat it like a bottle of poison," running backs coach Carl Franks said. "It's not going to hurt you unless you swallow it. You just stay away from it, concentrate on what we've been concentrating on. Take it one game at a time, one practice at a time, everything will work out fine."

Greg Auman can be reached at auman@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3346. View his blog at blogs.tampabay.com/usf/.

[Last modified October 15, 2007, 00:43:23]