Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Common wisdom is that you should always follow your first instinct. My own wisdom, apparently, is not terribly common.

Earlier this year I predicted the USF Bulls football team would finish 6-6. In the comments to that post however, I left myself an out:

It also wouldn’t be out of the question for USF to go 8-4, possibly more.

That’s hardly reason to pat myself on the back. I also said the Bulls offense was in trouble, particularly at quarterback.  Instead, freshman Matt Grothe finished the regular season with 12 less passing yards than Heisman favorite Troy Smith (don’t go crazy, I’m not making that comparison - yet) on his way to a very possible Freshman All-America ranking.

I also said the last two games for the Bulls could be very ugly.  The Louisville game was that and more, but the Bulls finished the season with a win on the road against West Virginia, easily the biggest win in the team’s short history.

Fortunately there’s plenty of backs to be patted on the Bulls team. What could have been an ugly rebuilding year became an exciting and well-timed season - that 8-4 finish puts USF ahead of both Miami and FSU in the state. 

Laugh all you want at the idea that USF is better than either of those teams; I’m not necessarily making that statement, but that’s hardly the point.

Jim Leavitt has done an amazing job recruiting some good talent, but he’s mostly been working with Big 3 leftovers (good thing everyone thought Matt Grothe was too small). But consider what the deep pool of Florida high school recruits is now seeing after UF:

• The Miami Helmet-Swingers, who finished a lousy season (6-6) by firing their head coach. 
• The Seminoles, equally disappointing (6-6) with a coach that sometimes makes Joe Paterno seem spry.

There is still plenty of name recognition and mystique working for those schools, but don’t think for a second that upward momentum isn’t appealing to a player that wants to make a name for themselves.

But that’s down the road. The season isn’t over yet - the Bulls are bowl-bound, likely to the PapaJohns.com Bowl. Sure, there’s little glamor in a December 23 bowl game sponsored by a pizza’s online ordering service, but it’s just another step to this team making a name for itself.

And if you want further proof that USF is going places, look no further than another incorrect prediction I made:

Yahoo! doesn’t change the [Bulls'] logo this year despite my two e-mails of protest.

Way to go, Yahoo! - the team page is now current.

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