South Florida Beat Auburn, 26-23

[rcade]

USF just beat Auburn in overtime, knocking off the No. 17 ranked team 26-23. This is the third ranked team the Bulls have beaten in the last three seasons.

This school began playing football in 1997 and joined Division I-A in 2001. They have many of the same attributes as UNT -- a directional school that has a much lower profile than its in-state rivals in spite of huge enrollment (44,000 students at USF), a location in a football-rich state with some entrenched, storied programs that get all the love in the state lege.

And yet, USF has become a legitimate mid-major program knocking on Top 25 status in 11 years.

As a Florida resident and UNT grad, this drives me nuts. How did they do it?

[CMJ]

Some of it was being in the right place at the right time. The Big East wanted a Florida school a few years ago and USF was available. If the Bulls were still in CUSA I doubt this meteoric rise would have taken place.

[jperg2]

Some of it was being in the right place at the right time. The Big East wanted a Florida school a few years ago and USF was available. If the Bulls were still in CUSA I doubt this meteoric rise would have taken place.

Yes, but they were a CUSA team for a while before jumping to the Big East. My brother went here and currently works here so I've followed them for a while. Let's not forget that FL and TX are two of the top hotbeds for football talent. Having other schools in the area... UF, FS, UM... with solid teams sort of helps cause not all the HS football grads can go to those univesities so USF is the next place they can go. Plus now that they are in teh Big EAst, that only helps their recruiting.

That's just my $.02.

[CMJ]

They were also sort of in the right place at the right time for CUSA(and they were only in that league for about 3 years I think). CUSA wanted more Florida representation for viewership, etc... We on the other hand had other schools from our metroplex in CUSA - so even though we are in a top media market we had no real benefit to the league.

Then when the BE needed new schools USF seemed like a good fit. Right place at the right time.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Guys, USF's football coach was co-defensive coordinator with Bob Stoops at Kansas State back in the 1990s. The deal is, as we found out last night, it doesn't matter how good your offense is if your defense can't stop the other team either.

I posted last week that I'd withhold judgement on Mendoza's defensive until after the SMU and FAU games, but...how else can you put it...our defense is awful.

USF's defense is great. It has been for a few years. They seem to always play big teams close. But, it's their defense and not their offense that keeps them in those games. Leavitt's a great coach.