The Bull Rush Podcast: Episode 2

With football starting in less than a week, Matt & I decided to record the second episode of the Bull Rush Podcast. We talk about USF's schedule, their opponents, and the first fall depth chart. Hopefully we'll be able to make the podcast a weekly or biweekly segment for you guys to enjoy. The intro song this week is The Fighter (Remix) by the Gym Class Heroes. Let us know how you liked it, what we could change, and any other suggestions in the comments. If you want to download the podcast, you can do so through the Soundcloud widget.

Enjoy, and Go Bulls!

The Bull Rush Podcast: Episode 1

After extensive planning, we are proud to present the first ever Bull Rush podcast. The USF basketball team has made a great run, and with that comes the ability to play in the post season. Me and Matt cover what is in stock for the Bulls in the next couple of days/weeks, how the rest of their season could look, and who needs to step up for USF to succeed.

USF to Face UCF on Sunday

Dom Dwyer needs you and company to pack Corbett on Sunday night!

Last night, the Bulls learned who their opponent would be for the highly anticipated soccer match on Sunday evening, the UCF Knights.

The Knights won in double overtime over Florida Gulf Coast, sending them to the next round.

The Bulls lost to UCF last year in the NCAA tournament, dropping the game 3-0 in the contest. USF, 12-3-3, will look to repay the favor in this game as they try to make a deep run in the tournament.

Everyone needs to get to this game, bring your roommate, your cousin, your third cousin's grandma, bring everyone. With help from the Tampa Sports Commission, admission is FREE for the game! Yes, fans can attend the game for free, so Corbett should be rocking! There will be a student tailgate before the game and the first 500 children to enter the game get a mini-soccer ball. Weather should be incredible for the game, so we encourage the entire city (probably not possible, but oh well) to pack Corbett!!

We will have the full game preview starting tomorrow to get you ready for the big game!

The Best 24 Hours of My Life

To many people, yesterday was just Wednesday. An ordinary weekday. But to me, and many other fans of college sports, the last hours of Tuesday and all day Wednesday were packed with interesting and exciting news regarding certain college programs who we happen to hate here at USF being investigated by the NCAA. Strangely enough, this great 24 hours has absolutely nothing to do with anything USF-related, and that's a good thing. Read more about the thrilling 24 hours after the jump.

Miami Investigation May Ripple Up to Tampa

As many of you may have already seen, the University of Miami is under some serious heat from the NCAA after news surfaced from Yahoo! that a UM booster and convicted felon had given many impermissible benefits to Hurricane players over the years. This can only mean that Miami will be suffering greatly in the very near future (unless the NCAA decides to go all Ohio State on them and do nothing).

So what exactly does this mean for USF? Maybe nothing. But it will at least result in some recruits shunning UM's uncertain future and going to another state school, meaning USF possibly winning some big recruiting battles in the south part of the state. Players like Anthony Chickillo chose to play for the Canes instead of the Bulls this past season, but news of these allegations and their repercussions are likely to cause players to shy away from the prestigious "Big 3" school and spread out the recruits.

Last year before the USF-Miami game on Thanksgiving weekend, UM made it clear that after their current contract expires they would not be pursuing an extension of the series. Maybe they were afraid of being beaten by a "non-big 3" school. Maybe they just didn't see any benefit in keeping the Bulls around. Whatever the reason, it appears now things may be a bit different. In order to save their name, they may reconsider allowing the contract to expire and continue this potential rivalry.

In the wake of the recent conference realignment scare, many people have suggested that this could perhaps mean that USF will get an invitation to the ACC in an attempt to preserve their reputation. I don't personally see this happening, but there is always a possibility. So USF fans, don't get your hopes too high. This Miami stuff may mean some big recruits will be coming to Tampa in the near future, and maybe renewing the rivalry contract, but that's probably about it.

This UCF Business Has Gone Far Enough

If you don't know by now, there is much buzz around college football fans because of the release of EA Sports NCAA Football '12 today. What many of you may not know is that EA Sports released a raw video of a game between UCF and USF where it appears that the Knights are playing against a bad high school football team. The video features five UCF touchdowns against a hilariously bad defense and defensive highlights that would bring a tear to Ray Lewis's eye. But enough of me talking about this video, see it for yourself here:

As you can see, either EA is not giving South Florida any credit or they're trying to make UCF look like they belong at the top of the SEC. Let's not forget that EA has an office in Orlando. Coincidence? You decide. Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, I've seen enough garbage lately glorifying Central Florida beyond what they really are. I've got much more to say about the media's tilt toward UCF after the jump.

Volleyball Schedule is Completed

The same day the Big East released the home and away slates for the basketball conference games, one of my favorite USF sports announced the finalization of their schedule. The volleyball team will be kicking off 2011 with a trip to Albuquerque on August 26th for matches against New Mexico and New Mexico State. They return home September 2nd for the USF Volleyball Invitational which includes teams like Bowling Green and Bethune-Cookman. They go away for the rest of the month, and come home to play conference games against Rutgers and Seton Hall in the first weekend of October.

The only strange part of the schedule is that traditional late-season, "why are we playing them?" game, where the ladies will host Florida A&M on November 23rd, three days after the Big East tournament ends.

Speaking of teams in Florida, the Bulls will have five matches against in-state teams. They'll host Bethune-Cookman on Sept. 4, then go to Orlando to play FAU and UCF in the UCF invitational the following weekend. In mid-October, the girls will take a break from conference play and road trip to Fort Meyers for a match against Florida Gulf Coast. They then of course close their schedule with a final match against A&M. For more information, you can go ahead and view the whole volleyball schedule here.

Top 5 Players From 2010 - Number 4

The short countdown continues as we list our top 5 players from the 2010 season. Yesterday, Matt had Sampson Genus at number five on his list, and Mike had RB Demetris Murray. Today, we're still keeping it on the offensive side of the ball with our number 4. [keep reading]

NOTRE DAME TICKETS FOR STUDENTS ARE UP!!!!!

If you are a student at USF, you've probably already gotten the email, so you are already well aware that USF has released the tickets for their September 3rd kickoff in South Bend at Notre Dame. The sign-up is easy, just go to www.gousfbulls.com and click on the "Students" marker at the top. Go to the "Ticket Login" tab, enter your login data, and find "USF vs. Notre Dame away game" under the Tickets and Plan Purchases section. I'll be coordinating the road trip with my friends this evening, and we'll all be registering for tickets, so you'll have to compete with at least five of us for those tickets. They're $73, and that includes the Ticketmaster processing fee. There's a lot of driving ahead of us, as 1,160 miles and 19 hours separates the two universities. I hope to see all these tickets bought by the June 24th deadline. For those of you making the trip, I'll be seeing you there, and don't skimp on the Green and Gold!

Top 5 players of 2010: Number 5

Football season is still a long way off, but as we sit and eagerly await the 2011 season to get started, we are taking a look back at the 2010 season and looking at the top players that made it a special season. Mike and I will be bring you our top 5 players from the 2010 season, starting with number 5. See if you agree with our picks and tell us who you think we should have picked!

Matt's #5 - Center Sampson Genus

Sampson Genus, the 6’1” 315-pound senior center makes my list at number 5. It is not often the big guys up front on the offensive line get their due credit, but Genus was one of the best players not only on the team, but in the conference as well.

Genus started all 13 games for the Bulls, playing in 44 games and starting 30 games during his career at USF. Genus was named team captain in 2010 and was named 1st All Big East for his great performance. Genus played well all season. He was the corner stone on the offensive line. Learning a new offense under first year offensive coordinator Todd Fitch and understanding the play calling and blocking schemes was difficult, but Genus learned quickly and became a contributor in both pass blocking and great holes for the running backs.

Genus wasn’t drafted by the NFL, but many believe (as well as I do) that he will find his way onto an NFL roster at some point because of his ability.

With Genus gone, the Bulls will be looking for a replacement, not the easiest task. Keith McCaskill will get the job and should do a fine job at center, but it will not be easy to replace an all conference performer like Genus.

Mike's #5 - RB Demetris Murray

Murray was actually my favorite breakout player this year, but I have him only at my #5 because he did share much of his role. He is, however, my highest-rated running back of my 2010 list because he really did everything for the position. Murray entered the first game as a redshirt sophomore and picked up a lot of the slack left by senior Mo Plancher. As the season progressed, Murray became the lead candidate at running back for the team, but didn't earn a start. He posted 542 yards on 120 carries with 4 touchdowns, including that galvanizing conversion in overtime at Miami.

While Plancher was still doing his one-yard-per-carry thing, Murray took over the position in garbage time initially, but showed an outstanding combination of speed and power that resulted in his 4.5 YPC mark. His style of play was essential in Skip Holtz's ground-and-pound strategy at Florida, where Murray recorded 11 carries for 62 yards and a touchdown.

With two 100-yard games (against Western Kentucky and Cincinnati), Demetris Murray may very well have earned himself the starting job that he perhaps should have held in the second half of last year. Unfortunately for him, however, is the fact that he's going to have much stronger competition for the job this year, as he'll have to stack up against Colorado transfer, and former #1 RB recruit in the nation, Darrell Scott and Auburn transfer Dontae Aycock. In spring practice, Murray saw a majority of the carries, which just might indicate that his seniority and potential may have reserved him a spot on the field for opening day.

So what do you think, USF fans? Genus was a great player on the offensive line for the Bulls, but where do you think he should have been placed on the list? Murray was a great runner between the tackles, but was he the fifth most important player on this football team? Should these guys be higher, or lower? Leave your thoughts below. Go Bulls!

Big East Football Preview: West Virginia

Now we come to the last team in the Big East to preview, and we saved the (almost) best for last. Many bloggers and poll voters have

West Virginia as the lone Big East team on their preseason top 25 ballots, and even more have them winning the Big East this season. As you can see in our top 25, many of the Big East bloggers tend to agree. Look at my ballot, though. You'll find that mine is the only one that doesn't have West Virginia as the highest-ranked Big East team. Does this mean I'm biased? Maybe. But it also means that I see USF and West Virginia in a dogfight until the very end for the Big East title, and I think USF is going to come out on top.

2010 Record: 9-4, Big East Co-Champions.

The Mountaineers had a relatively successful regular season, but were almost as disappointed as the fans in Tampa when Connecticut K Dave Teggart hit that 52-yard field goal to seal the Big East championship and send an 8-4 UConn team to get thrashed by Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. It wasn't like they didn't have other chances to make some room for themselves, though. They followed their win over USF with the two sloppiest games they played all season, against Syracuse and Connecticut. It was that loss to UConn that kept the Mountaineers out of the Fiesta Bowl once again. They played a great game against LSU, who turned out to be a top-10 team, and against Maryland, who had their best season in recent memory. I don't know what happened at the end of the season, but not going to a BCS game must have really taken the wind out of their sails, as they got beaten down by a slightly-above average NC State team. So maybe West Virginia wasn't as good as we thought they were, and maybe they would have been beaten just as badly by Oklahoma had they gotten the ticket to a BCS game.

This coming season, the Mountaineers welcome in someone that is going to make a huge difference for the offense. Offensive Coordinator and future Head Coach Dana Holgorsen came over to Morgantown from the outrageously successful offense of Oklahoma State, and has plenty of tools to make his magic. He'll have a pretty easy time with the shot-caller as well, as QB Geno Smith has already appeared on several Heisman watch lists. I don't know if he's that good, but all that attention can't be a bad thing. They did, however, lose their two most productive offensive players in WR Jock Sanders and RB Noel Devine. Devine's vacancy has already been filled by Tavon Austin and Shawne Alston, who should each have an outstanding season on the ground, but Sanders leaves some pretty big shoes to fill. WVU will always have receivers, but Sanders's pure athleticism was what made Geno Smith look good for most of the season.

This season will be successful if: West Virginia wins the Big East. Personally, I don't think they're going to do it. There's one team standing in their way, and it's USF, the team who has had their number three of the past four years. And they're at home. All that is a recipe for a fantastic season finale at Raymond James, but the Mountaineers may have some road blocks in the way of their quest for a title. Out of conference, they take on Maryland and LSU again, which may just beat them up enough to allow Connecticut to catch them off guard. Syracuse beat them last year, there's no reason they can't do it again. Louisville is turning into the strong defensive power that Charlie Strong wanted, and they may just be a great match for Holgorsen's explosive offense. The hardest part of the schedule is going into the Backyard Brawl, which always has some physical toll on each team, and then having only six days to prepare for championship week.

2011 Record: 11-2. Like I said, I do think it will come down to the last game of the season, and they may even beat USF, but I think they also have a lot of potential to slip up with their arrangement of conference games. I think USF wins the conference this year, but I think it's going to take an undefeated conference record to do it. West Virginia is going to be excellent this year, but you have to think there's going to be some kind of drama with Bill Stewart in his last season. Remember what happened with Bobby Bowden? Florida State entered the year ranked #18 in the country, and ended up going 7-6 in Bowden's last year. They ended up being good after their coach-in-waiting took over, and I think that's what's going to happen to West Virginia. I think a second trip to the Champs Sports Bowl will be a nice consolation prize, and they'll likely meet up with (and beat) a formidable Virginia Tech team in Orlando. Better luck next year, WVU.

Big East Spring Meetings Today, Expansion May be in the Mix

As I'm writing this, about 215 miles Northeast of here the coaches and officials of the Big East conference are discussing conference expansion among other things. You can imagine my anxiety as the fate of future conference competition may be in the hands of these coaches. Most of the coaches support expansion, but would rather move on to 12 teams instead of stay at 10. USF Coach Skip Holtz said just that:

"There's been a lot of talk about do you go from nine to 10, which I don't know how much sense that really makes, when the Big Ten left the model of 10, the Pac-10 has left the model of 10. Both of them more or less said 'This model doesn't work. Let's go to 12.' I think we have to look hard at it. Having TCU come into the league will add an awful lot of instant energy when you look at the success they've had right now as a program. It gives you a balanced schedule with four (home) and four (road). I think we need to look hard at going to 12."

As USF fans, we should be particularly concerned that we aren't getting updates on the minute, because what happens here has a huge bearing on what our future will look like. Here are some potential candidates, and what they could mean to USF after the jump.

Big East Football Preview: Syracuse

If you've been following these posts, you may have noticed that I've been going alphabetically across the league. If you did, then you may be wondering why I'm not doing a post on South Florida today. No, I'm not doing it tomorrow when "USF" would fall between Syracuse and West Virginia. We're going to be spending the entire summer talking about USF football, so one post would be ten pages long. So, for now, you only get seven of the eight Big East teams, but trust me, it'll be worth the wait.

Today, we've got Syracuse, who is coming off their best season in a long time with an 8-5 record and their first bowl victory since 2001, both over Kansas State. Head coach Doug Marrone did a great job of turning the team around and bringing Syracuse from the bottom of the barrel to a respectable candidate in the Big East. SU beat USF for the first time in series history, and had other signature conference wins over traditional conference powers West Virginia and Cincinnati.

2010 Record: 8-5

The Orange were led mostly by their star running back Delone Carter, who accounted for a large portion of the team's stats. Their quarterback, Ryan Nassib, was "eh", playing in eight games and only throwing three touchdowns. There was a lot of experience on the field last year, as seniors graced 25 roster spots. A lot of those seniors ended up being difference makers on the field, like TE Nick Provo who was a prime target for Nassib in many tight situations. Defensively, Safety Max Suter was a major factor in keeping those Big East passing offenses in check.

The problem with all this is the fact that their best players were mostly seniors. Luckily, TE Nick Provo, OG Andrew Tiller, and CB Kevyn Scott will be returning as graduate students in 2011 and their experience will be vital for the team to succeed. Ryan Nassib will be a senior, and so will his favorite target Van Chew. Delone Carter is gone, though, so senior Antwon Bailey will have to pick up the slack as his role will likely be more important than any other on the team. Nassib is going to have to be a better passer this year, and his receivers should help him improve enough to do just that. Aside from Chew, Nassib has two other seniors in Dorian Graham and Marcus Sales who should hopefully be able to keep the stats up.

This year will be successful if: Syracuse matches last year's record. Syracuse made a huge step forward, and now it's imperative that they refrain from taking any steps back. 8-5 is a great record for a team that's spent the past 6 years with a losing record, and it would be a big deal if Doug Marrone could keep his team's heads above the water for a second straight year. The last time they had a winning record in consecutive seasons was when current Connecticut coach Paul Pasqualoni was at the top for the Orange.

2011 Record: 8-5. Syracuse has an excellent chance to go 4-1 in non-conference play, with their toughest games coming against USC and maybe Tulane. That means if they can just get above .500 in the league, they'll be in very good position for a great bowl game. With that said, I don't think they'll win four conference games (which would have been enough for a share of the Big East championship last season) this year. I do, however, see them winning a bowl game, which I project to be the Pinstripe Bowl again, this time against Baylor. As long as Rutgers or Army isn't going to be playing in that bowl, you can pretty much chalk SU into that. I think they're going to have a season almost identical to last year, and that's definitely not a bad thing.

Bulls Baseball Wins Game, Loses Control of Destiny

USF went into tonight's game vs. Pitt with one thing on their minds: If we lose tonight, we may as well not show up tomorrow.

With that out there, the Bulls took the field, led by starting pitcher Kyle Eastham, and got to work on keeping Pitt from grinding them out of contention for the Big East tournament. Coach Lelo Prado knew he needed Eastham to keep his game together long enough for the offense to start producing. What he got was a gem, possibly Eastham's best outing of his career. Eastham went through a streak where he retired 16 straight Pitt batters before getting struck with a comebacker on that 17th batter. He got the out, retiring his 17th straight, but was a bit shaken up. He proceeded to walk the next batter before allowing a two-run home run to David Chester. That turned out to be Pitt's only offensive damage of the night, however, as Eastham finished his outing with 7 innings pitched and only two earned runs on three hits. Junior Carlin closed out the game, allowing just one hit in the closing two innings.

Carlin also got a chance to add some insurance runs for himself. After closing out a perfect 8th inning, he slapped a 2-run single to right field to increase the Bulls' lead to 7-2. Alex Mendez hit a two-run homer, the second of his career. Jonahan Koscso was the most productive of the batters, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

As of now, South Florida is on the outside looking in, as they need to match the amount of wins by Seton Hall this weekend. Currently, Seton Hall has two wins over Georgetown, with the season closer tomorrow. USF plays at 1, but Seton Hall's first pitch is at 12:00. It goes without saying that I'll be watching the Seton Hall-Georgetown game on my phone at the stadium tomorrow afternoon. I think I speak for all of us here in Tampa when I say no one is a bigger Georgetown Hoyas fan than this guy.

So for tomorrow only, LET'S GO HOYAS!

Big East Football Preview: Pittsburgh

As the almost consensus preseason favorite last season, fans and fellow Big East-ers (except probably West Virginia) alike were understandably disappointed that the Panthers didn't live up to what many projected them to do. Pitt's unusual season ended with a series of events that led to the firing, hiring, firing, and hiring at the head coaching position. Out of the teams in the conference, Pitt has probably lost the most stars from last year, whether it was to graduation or to the draft. This year, with new head coach Todd Graham on the sidelines and a significantly less experienced team, the Pittsburgh Panthers may be in store for a pretty tough season.

2010 Record: 8-5, Big East Co-champions

As the season was winding down, Pitt lost to Connecticut and West Virginia, thus losing sight of an outright Big East championship. The Panthers athletic staff was clearly tired of perennial mediocrity and fired coach Dave Wannstedt. In their down time between the end of the regular season and their BBVA Compass Bowl game against Kentucky, Pitt hired, then fired Miami (Ohio) coach Mike Haywood. Interim coach Phil Bennett, previously the defensive coordinator for the team, led the Panthers to a resounding 17-point victory in their bowl game before Pitt's AD decided to head down to Tulsa to pick up Todd Graham to lead the program. Graham will unfortunately be without a good amount of the talent of last year's team, as many of the team's most important players went to the draft this past season. Perhaps the biggest hole left for the team is on the defensive line, where Pitt's Greg Romeus, Jabaal Sheard, and Brandon Lindsey have all graduated and moved on. They also had their two most productive offensive players drafted in Dion Lewis (Eagles) and Jonathan Baldwin (Chiefs). Needless to say, there will be no shortage of growing pains for Pitt this year, and it may turn out to be a year where Pitt just fast forwards to basketball season.

The good news is that Pitt doesn't start with the hard schedule until Week 3. They open with Buffalo and Maine before traveling to Iowa City to take on the Hawkeyes, then to Notre Dame, then to USF. That three-game stretch may be the hardest out of the entire Big East (except maybe USF's, who plays Miami, Louisville, and West Virginia consecutively to close out the season). That rough part in the early half of the schedule combined with a new coaching squad and the losses of their top players could all be a recipe for a long rebuilding year for Todd Graham.

This season will be successful if: Pitt can win 8 games again. Last year, Pittsburgh won 8 games and it was unsatisfactory for Wannstedt's bosses' standards (actually, Wannstedt only won 7 games). This year, in a rebuilding season with a new coach and new blood on the field, 8 wins should satisfy the fans and the people upstairs. But with Iowa, Notre Dame, and Utah on the non-conference schedule, they may just have to wait until the bowl game to get that 8th victory.

2011 Record: 7-6. I have a seriously hard time believing that with a new staff and the losses they endured that Pitt can beat any of those BCS (and Notre Dame) opponents. What's going to be even harder is playing USF and West Virginia. If all goes the way I plan, that's five losses already. Add one more fluke loss to Syracuse or Louisville, and you've got a team that will be lucky to make a bowl game. I think they'll have a 6-6 regular season, but their team and coaches are too good to lose a bowl game to another 6-6 team. Much like Louisville last year, they'll probably get matched up against an average-to-pretty good mid-major team and get over the .500 mark there. Allow this as speculation only, but I do think Tulsa might win C-USA West and see Todd Graham in the 2012 Beef O'Brady's Bowl.

Big East Football Preview: Louisville

Let's continue down our path of Big East football teams today with Louisville. In new head coach Charlie Strong's first year, the Cardinals finished 7-6 with a win over their old Conference-USA rival, Southern Mississippi. Since then, Strong has hit the recruiting trail hard and has been pulling some major commitments from some of the top high school players in the nation.

2010 Record: 7-6

Much of Louisville's quick turnaround can be credited to the defensive play that Charlie Strong brought from his days as defensive coordinator at Florida. Offensively, Louisville was consistent, but nothing really stood out. Led by QB Adam Froman and RB Bilal Powell, Louisville didn't have too hard of a time putting points on the board, and four of their five losses were within a touchdown, including their overtime loss to USF, which was a thriller up until the very end. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, those two star players that led the team to their success have now left. Powell got drafted by the Jets (yay!) and Froman is waiting for the lockout to subside. As of now, the season appears unclear for Louisville, as their passing game may very well rest on the shoulders of freshman Teddy Bridgewater is junior Will Stein can't produce. Their non-conference schedule is manageable, but they'll have a rough time getting prepared for conference play afterward. FIU is their first FBS opponent, and they shouldn't be taken lightly. After that, they travel across the state to rival Kentucky, and they close out their non-conference schedule with North Carolina. They also have to play away from home against two of the three toughest teams in the conference.

This year will be successful if: Louisville can get above .500 in conference play. They'll get a good shot at that, with likely chances at victories over Cincinnati and Rutgers to open their conference schedule. I consider their games against Syracuse and Pittsburgh both toss-ups. I don't see them beating West Virginia, and they'll have a lot of trouble with USF. If they can win one of those toss-up games, they can finish with a 4-3 conference record and a good standing going into the postseason.

2011 Record: 8-5. I think they'll get those four Big East wins, and win four of their five non-conference games. As long as they can get one of those two BCS wins, Louisville will be on their way to a decent bowl game with an 8-4 record, but I think their lack of seniority will cost them the bowl win. An 8-5 season is an improvement on last year, and I'd consider that a success at this point in Louisville's building process.

Big East Football Preview: Connecticut

First, I want to apologize for a mistake in yesterday's article about Cincinnati, as I accidentally confused head football coach Butch Jones' name with that of Butch Davis, who is the football coach at North Carolina. My bad, but com

e on, I can't be the first guy to cross those two names.

Anyway, now on to the important stuff: football. Yesterday, I suggested that Cincy would break out of the bottom of the league this year to make a success out of many of their star players' senior seasons. Today, I'm not so optimistic about UConn. Last year was what made me suggest that the BCS committee and other BCS leagues ought to have veto power to prevent games like last year's Fiesta Bowl (although I bet Oklahoma would have voted to keep them in). The worst feeling I experienced all of last season wasn't throwing away the game in the second half at Florida or watching Storm Johnson's 71 yard run to tie the game in Miami, it was the last few minutes of the regular season finale against Connecticut, where we could have done our part to send a 9-3 West Virginia team to a BCS bowl (they later lost to NC State, but that's neither here or there), but couldn't convert on consecutive goal line plays or keep them out of field goal range, thus making us partly responsible for sending one of the worst teams in BCS history to a Big East championship.

2010 Record: 8-5, Big East BCS representative

This year, the Huskies are going to be experiencing a lot of growing pains, as they saw the coach who just led them to their first BCS game abandon the team for a vacancy at Maryland. Two weeks later, a familiar face came into the picture, as former Syracuse coach and Connecticut native Paul Pasqualoni took over in Storrs. In addition to their coach bailing on them, the Huskies will also have to deal with the loss of their most important player, Jordan Todman. UConn struggled all season in the passing game, so most of the work was left up to Todman and then-senior FB Anthony Sherman. This year, they won't have that luxury as they will have to work with all-new running backs and a battle for quarterback led by a senior who no one would even know if not for his Youtube fame. To be perfectly honest, I believe that K Dave Teggart is the best player on this football team. If the offense can just get him on the field, he'll make sure the Huskies are always alive.

This season will be successful if: UConn has a .500 record at the end of the season. There aren't very high expectations for this team, and I think their non-conference schedule may be the easiest of all the Big East teams this season. If they can beat their non-BCS opponents (they lost to Temple last year, who ended up not even going to a bowl game), then they should have enough room to make their other non-conference games watchable. In conference, they'll likely struggle in their first year under Pasqualoni, but a bowl game may still be in their sights.

2011 Record: 5-7. The Huskies will miss a bowl game this year, finding it hard to get on their feet right out of the gate. They begin the year with an FCS team, but then have to travel to Vanderbilt before coming home and playing Iowa State. unless they can win both of those games, it'll be hard to see them getting on their feet. They'll have a little time to make up for it with two non-BCS teams coming up, but they open their Big East schedule with games against West Virginia, USF, and Pittsburgh, arguably the three strongest teams in the league. They can probably salvage one conference victory against Rutgers, and maybe another if they play well against Syracuse or Louisville, but this is looking like a few transition years ahead of the Huskies.

Big East Football Preview: Cincinnati

I know it's a long time until football season, but I need something to keep me occupied, and what better way than to write about the upcoming season in the league? Last year, the Big East had a less than outstanding season, sending an 8-4 Connecticut to the Fiesta Blow to get blown out by four touchdowns by Oklahoma. The sehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifcond best team was West Virginia, who won nine regular season games before getting beaten by NC State in the Champs sports Bowl. Other than that, the conference did well during bowl season, going 4-2 in total with wins against teams representing the ACC, SEC, and Big XII.

This year, many don't expect much of the conference, as a good portion of polls include one or zero teams from the Big East. Even our own poll from bloggers across the Big East didn't have more than one conference team in the Top 25. So, it looks like it may take one more season of tough games to watch before people start respecting the Big East again. But for now, all we can do is preview the other teams in the league for the coming season. With all that said, I'd like to start with previewing the Cincinnati Bearcats.

2010 Record: 4-8

Last year, people knew the Bearcats weren't going to be as great as they were under former coach Brian Kelly, but it was a bit surprising to see Cincy not even make a bowl game after going undefeated the previous regular season (Actually, Texas did that too so don't feel too bad). With excellent talent at quarterback in Zach Collaros, speed and power at running back with Isaiah Pead, and great receiving with D.J. Woods and Armon Binns, there's no reason the Cats can't be successful on offense this year. Defensively, Cincinnati returns all 11 starters from last year and will be led by seniors DT Derek Wolfe and LB J.K. Schaffer. Butch Jones could be in some trouble if his squad doesn't succeed this year, but he's got all the right pieces to have a decent season. They had some very close games last year, including a two point loss to this year's #1 favorite, Oklahoma. Their comeback came up just short in their game against USF, and they totally annihilated Rutgers. This year, they have a pretty easy out of conference schedule compared with the rest of the league, playing Tennessee in Knoxville and NC State at home. If they can win one of those two games, they have a chance at a 6-win season since their other non-conference games include Austin Peay (FCS team), Akron (1-11 last year), and Miami of Ohio (lost their head coach). They've got a chance to be going into their last two games with 6 wins, where those games (Syracuse and Connecticut) are going to be toss-ups.

This year will be successful if: Cincy makes a bowl game. They have all the tools to be successful, but what's really going to make the difference here is the coaching ability of Jones. If he proves that he's worthy of this job, then they'll see a significant turnaround from last year's poor showing. While making a bowl game would mark a relatively good season, I think Cincy needs to win that bowl game to truly call this year a success.

2011 record: 7-6. This means that they'll go to a bowl game no matter what, but depending on their regular season record they may win or lose. They'd win a matchup with another 6-6 team, but if they have to play a 7-5 team, I don't think they can do it. If they can manage to at least split their non-conference BCS opponents and abstain from embarrassing themselves with a non-BCS loss, they'll be in very good shape going into Big East play. They'll have a hard time against powerful teams like West Virginia, Louisville, and South Florida, but they have toss-up games against Pitt, Syracuse, and Connecticut, and a team that they should totally pound in Rutgers.

The Great Twitter Scare of 2011

It seemed like just your average Tuesday night. Sitting on the couch watching the Marlins game, thinking the day in USF Athletics was over. I'm sure many of my fellow twitter members felt the same as I did: another pretty normal, uneventful night in the world of USF sports. That was until about 10 p.m. when our beloved school newspaper, The Oracle, posted a tweet that would turn on the panic meter for the next 45 minutes:

See how the rest of the night unraveled after the jump

Exorcise Those Demons

Can someone please tell me why the Big East continues to keep DePaul around? Seriously, if anyone has a legitimate answer to this question, I would love to hear it. Maybe it's because they're a private school with a good amount of money. Maybe it's because they're in a huge television market in Chicago. Those are really the only two explanations I can think of. Yesterday, USF Softball coach Ken Ericksen withdrew his girls from the field after concluding that the safety of his team was in jeopardy. I'll have quite a bit more to say after the jump, but first enjoy this Family Guy clip I've been using to illustrate the way DePaul went about this whole situation:

Vidivodo.com : stewie playing chess Etiket: stewie griffin brian play