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The South Florida Bulls were predicted to finish eighth in Big East basketball this season in an informal poll conducted by the Syracuse Post-Standard.
The Post-Standard surveyed 15 writers from markets around the Big East, with each ranking the teams from one to 15. Points were awarded for each position with a first place vote garnering one point, second, two points, etc. The Bulls finished with 123 points, which put them in eighth place, 14 points behind Marquette.
The Bulls finished last season 22-14 and 12-6 in the Big East, good enough for a sixth place finish and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. South Florida will have to replace leading scorer Augustus Gilchrist, but will return second- and third-leading scorers, Victor Rudd and Anthony Collins.
Louisville, who finished one spot behind South Florida in the Big East last year, was the unanimous selection to win the league this season in the Post-Standard's poll. The Cardinals return a number of key players from the team that advanced to the final four last season. Syracuse won the Big East regular season title last season and were picked to finish second this season.