After defeating the Louisville Cardinals this past weekend, the South Florida Bulls are bowl eligible for the sixth consecutive season. The Bulls are 6-3 overall and 3-2 in Big East play with three games remaining. The biggest comes this weekened when they host the front-running Pitt Panthers. The Bulls then finish with games at Miami, and versus Connecticut. Were they to win out, the Bulls would need the following two things to occur in order to win the Big East:
- Syracuse to lose one of its remaining two games (Connecticut, BC)
- West Virginia to lose one of its remaining three (@ Louisville, @ Pitt, Rutgers)
Quite frankly, it's too early to dismiss South Florida's BCS chances. But for the time being, not too many think they're BCS bound, and understandably so. We'll see if that remains the case a week from now.
ESPN has released its Week 11 Bowl Projections, so let's take a look at where others believe the Bulls might be headed this coming Holiday season.
Mark Schlabach has the Bulls heading to the BBVA Compass Bowl (Big East vs. SEC) to play a Kentucky (6-5, 2-5) squad that also became Bowl eligible this past weekend. That would be a pretty solid test, and likely a tightly-contested affair.
Andrea Adelson meanwhile projects that USF is heading to the Meineke Car Care (ACC vs. Big East) to play a North Carolina State (7-3, 4-2) squad that's not been able to retain its early-season momentum, but has nevertheless pieced together a surprisingly solid season. At 4-2 in ACC play, it's worth noting that North Carolina State is still very much alive to make the conference championship game, and then a BCS Bowl were they to win out.