It’s Thursday. It’s game night. It’s ESPN. You know what that means for the South Florida Bulls?
Unranked Rutgers 30, No. 2 USF 27.
Unranked Pittsburgh 26, No. 10 USF 21.
Thursday nights in October have not been kind to the Bulls. It’s where their last two seasons went from what-could-be to oh-what-could-have-been.
Rutgers stopped the Bulls run to a Big East title in 2007. Pittsburgh came to Tampa and dashed the Bulls dreams last season.
The Bulls didn’t recover from either loss.
Tonight it is the 5-0 Cincinnati Bearcats against the 5-0 USF Bulls at Raymond James Stadium.
There is a twist to this familiar plot, though.
The Bearcats are the favorites. They are the defending Big East champs. They are ranked eighth. They are the team Sports Illustrated said could find its way in the Rose Bowl playing for the BCS title, providing they win out and a few of the teams ranked above them lose.
The Bulls? They are 21st in the polls. They still have something to prove.
You bet they do, and that’s a good thing, because Jim Leavitt can get his team ready to beat the world when the world doesn’t give the Bulls much of a chance.
It happened in 2007 at Auburn.
It happened a few weeks ago in Tallahassee.
The Bulls have won their past five games against top-25 opponents.
USF is undefeated this season, though the combined records of their five opponents are 7-20 — 4-13 if you include only the Division I-A schools.
The win at Florida State last month was huge in terms of recruiting and recognition in the state. Freshman QB B.J. Daniels was making his first start, and the Bulls defense hammered the Seminoles.
But everyone is beating the Seminoles these days.
The Bulls won bragging rights that afternoon in Tallahassee. They made a statement. But it’s hard to say they were tested.
They will be tested tonight. That bodes well for the Bulls. They tend to pass big tests.
The Bulls have the stage to themselves this week. This Thursday night game won’t be overshadowed by the Rays’ first-ever postseason game as their game against Pitt was last year.
The Bucs are 0-5 with some seeing Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers as the last chance to get a win this year.
Talk about not being given a chance.
Leavitt will be talking that talk tonight. He’ll surely mention the rankings and the title talk surrounding the Bearcats. He’ll mention Cincinnati’s undefeated record and role as defending conference champs.
Then Leavitt will ask his Bulls to do one thing: Take a different slant on these Thursday night affairs.
Ruin someone else’s season.
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