Colleges

USF sees stream of bowl positives

It's official: The Bulls are headed to the Sun Bowl.

By GREG AUMAN
Published November 28, 2007

TAMPA - USF's 6-0 start gave the Bulls their first dose of national exposure this fall, and they've earned another shot at that on Dec. 31 when they play in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, and make their first national network TV appearance on CBS.

"It's huge. You go coast to coast," coach Jim Leavitt said Tuesday. "You get a team on the East Coast facing a team on the West Coast, and everybody in between's going to see it. That's a whole lot of area. You think about the University of South Florida being shown all over the country ... it's very powerful, and we're fortunate to be a part of it. These things are historical."

USF celebrated its formal invitation Tuesday, and the Bulls will watch this weekend's games to find out which Pac-10 team, likely Oregon or UCLA, they'll face. For now, it's a week to savor the rewards of a 9-3 season that included September wins against ranked Auburn and West Virginia teams.

"It's going to be huge, especially for recruiting the future teams we'll have here," quarterback Matt Grothe said. "It's only going to do us good, and a win would make it that much better."

Three Big East teams finished with 9-3 records, but the Sun Bowl cited USF's No. 21 BCS ranking and its win against West Virginia, the league's BCS representative. That overcame head-to-head losses against Connecticut and Cincinnati.

"They deserve to be here," Sun Bowl selection committee president John Folmer said in a statement. "USF had an exciting season and they handed West Virginia its only loss this season."

USF is only in its 11th season of football, so the Bulls are proud to be associated with a bowl that trails only the Rose in age. Leavitt remembered 30 years ago, when he was a freshman at Missouri and returning players spoke about their trip to El Paso the previous winter.

"It shows something we've accomplished. Not everybody gets to go bowl games as powerful as the Sun Bowl," he said.

The Bulls have proven themselves as a Big East power and have wins against teams from the SEC (Auburn) and ACC (North Carolina), so the bowl is a chance to have wins against four of the six BCS conferences.

"We're certainly honored to represent the Big East in one of the most prestigious college bowl games," athletic director Doug Woolard said. "We heard from everyone that's gone to El Paso and participated in the Sun Bowl and had great reviews from coaches and fans and players. ... It's a terrific reward for Coach Leavitt, for his staff and our football players who have represented USF and this Tampa Bay area in outstanding fashion this entire season."

Note: Fans interested in buying tickets to the Sun Bowl can visit USF's Bowl Central page at gousfbulls.com. USF will be allotted 8,000 tickets. Travel packages will be available through the site.

[Last modified November 28, 2007, 01:04:12]