USF's Quest for a Rival

Over the last week, I, as I'm sure many of you, heard about Pitt and Penn State renewing their rivalry. Later on, I was reading a post by the guys at Big East Coast Bias talking about a collection of rivalries they'd like to see either renewed or created for Big East teams. Unfortunately, the only one including USF was, you guessed it, renewing the rivalry with Central Florida. Oh yes, they went there. Don't worry, though, there are plenty of comments at the bottom of the page discouraging the suggestion.

However, the post did get me thinking about teams that could be potential rivals for the Bulls. Now, if you've found your way to this website by yourself, you probably know that USF doesn't really have a true rival. A team that's been around for less than two decades and has been a conference nomad has no reason to have established a legitimate rivalry with anyone. But College Football is all about rivalries. It's what sells tickets and makes kids want to apply to school. With all that being the case, I've put together a collection of potential rivals for South Florida after the jump.

I've split this post into two sections: first, the teams that are common suggestions but in reality wouldn't be of any benefit to USF. Second, I'll write down the teams that would make good rivals for the Bulls.

The Non-rivals

Florida

If you think just because USF traveled to Gainesville last September makes the Gators a potential rival, then you should stop reading this post right now and go reflect on your life. Florida thinks every good team they play is a rival, where in reality, it's just conference play. The only true rivals for UF are Florida State and Georgia, but they'll always tell you Alabama, Tennessee, and LSU are real rivals for them as well. Florida only considers rivalries from established powers and teams that they've been playing against for 75+ years. Besides, the Gators never tread away from the Swamp unless they're forced to, so they'd never make the trip to Tampa.

Central Florida

UCF and USF played against each other four times, with USF dominating the field in every matchup. Many pro-Knights will tell you that the last meeting between the two was a close one on the scoreboard, but don't let that fool you. USF has shown that they were superior on the field in all meetings. Now, UCF fans are still high off their last season, and think they deserve another shot at the War on I-4. USF has made it clear, however, that they want nothing to do with the Knights and want to move on to bigger things.

Texas Christian

I haven't heard as many suggestions for this, but there are more than a few fans that think TCU's joining the Big East means we have a chance at establishing a rivalry with them. I've even heard suggestions of a "Bull-Frog Trophy". When the two teams were in Conference-USA, they had couple of great nail-biting games. I really have a hard time believing that TCU and USF would be able to hold a rivalry across conference bounds though. I personally don't recognize most conference matchups as real rivalries, since they're forced to play each other every year anyway, but the real damning factor here is geography. A rivalry game is something that fans would be willing to travel to see, and no one is going to be driving between Dallas and Tampa.

East Carolina

Before you leave a comment telling me how ECU should be holding a major grudge against USF for hiring Skip Holtz away after winning two straight Conference USA championships, think about one thing: the pirate ship in the end zone at Raymond James. Maybe when USF builds their own stadium they can think about scheduling ECU as a perennial rival, but for now I don't think Bulls fans are going to want to show up at their own home games and hear about the stadium is more of a home to East Carolina. ECU also needs to gain their footing a little more after the loss of coach Holtz, too, if they plan to compete for a C-USA title, let alone an invitation to the Big East and a chance to play annually against BCS teams.

The Potential Rivals

Miami

I think the most important part about building tradition and rivalry is all about location. That's why USF settled for UCF. Now, USF has moved on to bigger things, and began scheduling traditional in-state powers like Miami, Florida State, and Florida. Last season, the Bulls recorded their first win against Miami in a great overtime game. Unfortunately, Miami has refused to renew their home-and-home series with the Bulls, so this rivalry may die before it ever has a chance to live. Hopefully the Hurricanes will reconsider if the Bulls show that they can compete with these traditional powers. My one question now is this: Who will Miami schedule for Thanksgiving weekend if they don't have USF?

Florida State

USF's first signature in-state win came in their first-ever trip to Tallahassee in 2009, where they defeated #18 FSU at Doak Campbell Stadium. Since then, both teams have gotten shiny new coaches and grabbed rivals.com's top two spots for the best first-year coaching jobs in the nation. Unfortunately for USF, rivalries are all about playing against each other on Thanksgiving weekend, and Florida State already has someone locked into their schedule: Florida. And UF isn't going anywhere. So, USF may have to settle for some other scheduling pattern, but FSU has definitely shown an interest in keeping the Bulls around. Their next scheduled meeting will be in September of 2012, and there may be more meetings of these teams to come.

Louisville, Connecticut, West Virginia

I know I said earlier that I don't really recognize many conference matchups as legitimate rivalries, but you have to start somewhere. I think each of these conference foes have managed to make USF's short history meaningful. Louisville may be the biggest stretch, as the Big East is trying to force a rivalry by making us schedule each other for Thanksgiving weekend. You can't force these things, Marinatto. All the super close games decided by field goals and the fact that Skip Holtz was UConn's coach as they emerged into the football scene makes Connecticut seem like a real contender for something for fans to look forward to each year. Again, the Big East sort of ruined that by moving the USF-UConn game from their traditional spot at the end of the year. USF's short history with West Virginia has been laced with exciting shootout games, major upsets, and some great football. WVU already has a conference rival in Pitt, though, and they just see USF as a free trip to Tampa. Maybe a few more meaningful games, sprinkled with some more upsets, will make this a more reasonable candidate down the road.

I think I'm entitled to one longshot, so here you go:

Virginia Tech

Now before you go calling me crazy, hear me out here for a second. USF never got a chance to play Va Tech before the Hokies bailed on the Big East for the ACC. Blacksburg seems to be the next closest location for a BCS team that doesn't really have a rival (except Virginia, who is a given since they're in the same state). The main difference between the two schools is history. Virginia Tech has competed for national championships and produced outstanding talent. They used to hold a rivalry with West Virginia, so there's some link to the Big East. VT will most likely never go for USF at a time like this, but perhaps in a few years when USF has shown that they can be a nationally recognized contender, they'll be willing to take a call from the Bulls.