Sports: Ready or not, Bulls enter Division I-A

ORLANDO -- Coach Jim Leavitt says he's not about to predict how competitive South Florida will be as it moves up to Division I-A football, but admits "We're probably going to be everybody's homecoming for the next couple of years."

After four seasons in I-AA, the Bulls are on the fast track to big-time football. They would have preferred it to be faster; Leavitt wanted to be in Conference USA this season but the conference said wait two more.

"Most people probably think we're going to get clobbered, humiliated," Leavitt said at Sunday's coaches' news conference of Florida's 11 college teams. "I don't know. Maybe I'm not very sharp."

Asked when USF might start thinking seriously about playing a Florida or Florida State, he did toss out a couple of numbers in a roundabout way.

"I've always felt to build a foundation takes about 10 years. This is our first I-A class. You want to get them to their fifth year. ... Right now we're not very experienced. But I'm not going to put any ceiling on these guys. People say, 'If you win three games ... ' 'If you win four ... ' Maybe that's not very realistic, but I don't want to tell (the players) there's a ceiling."

His only timetable is getting into C-USA. 'That's the big sell (recruiting)," he said. "It's not going I-A. It's going into the conference. I want our team to be able to play for a championship. Realistic or unrealistic, you at least want to have a chance. And bowl games. You can't get into a bowl unless you win a conference championship. Okay, Notre Dame is a special situation.

"But from Day 1, when I was hired, it was all about Conference USA, because all of South Florida's teams (in other sports, except women's sailing) were in it."

Just 90 miles to the east of USF, meanwhile, is Central Florida. The Knights, a I-A team since 1996, would seem to be a perfect fit for the Bulls, a natural rival.

Leavitt won't schedule the Golden Knights.

UCF coach Mike Kruszek all but accused USF of wasting money and ducking him. He said before Paul Griffin resigned under pressure as USF athletic director, Steve Sloan, his UCF counterpart "called him half a dozen times. Each time he said no." Kruszek said he has not spoken to new USF AD Lee Roy Selmon, but he said he doesn't expect a change.

"They're playing Utah (Oct. 6 at Salt Lake City)," Kruszek said. "That makes no sense, to spend the guaranteed money they give you to pay for the flights and the hotel and the food there and back and pocket no money. Why wouldn't you just take a bus and drive each way and play the football game and reap the benefits financially?"

A one-point South Florida loss to UCF would probably be more damaging to the Bulls' reputation than a 50-point loss to Nebraska or Oklahoma. But Leavitt said he's not avoiding a confrontation with the Golden Knights. It's more a matter of recruiting -- that playing conference teams out of state provides a bigger ultimate payoff.

"We're trying to play as many I-A conference schools as we can. We've already played an SEC team (Kentucky won 27-9), a Big 12 team (Baylor won 28-13)."

In 1999, the Bulls played at San Diego State. They were beaten 41-12. But to Leavitt, Griffin and the USF football program (if not the players), the score wasn't as important as the game itself.

"We were going coast to coast to get publicity about our program," Leavitt said.

"Central Florida has had 20-something years to build its program. We've only had four years and we're going into I-A," Leavitt said. "As we've been building our program, we've wanted to get as many conference-affiliated schools as possible to come into our home. ... Conference USA, the Mountain West (Utah's conference), they're not at the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) table. But we're (C-USA) in the room."

Five years down the road, he said, the Bulls' traditional regional rivals likely will be C-USA teams -- Houston, Tulane, Southern Mississippi. ...

"Will we eventually play Central Florida? I think so. That's not the issue. Am I trying to avoid them?" Leavitt laughed, mentioned again it's the Bulls' first year in I-A and said: "I'm trying to avoid everybody."

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