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Sun Bowl Likely With USF Victory

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By BRETT McMURPHY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 21, 2007

Updated: 11/20/2007 11:11 pm

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TAMPA - If the University of South Florida doesn't want to return to the Papajohns.com Bowl next month, the Bulls only have to do one thing - beat Pittsburgh.

John Folmer, chairman of the Sun Bowl's selection committee, said Monday the Sun Bowl would select the highest-ranked Big East team available.

And as long as West Virginia beats Connecticut and USF beats Pittsburgh on Saturday, that would send USF to El Paso, Texas, for the nation's second-oldest bowl.

In Sunday's BCS rankings, UConn was No. 20, USF No. 23 and Cincinnati No. 24, but UConn visits West Virginia on Saturday. So if USF beats Pittsburgh, the Bulls likely would jump UConn and remain ahead of Cincinnati, which plays Syracuse.

In that scenario, West Virginia would earn the Big East's BCS berth, leaving the Sun Bowl to pick from USF, Cincinnati and UConn.

"When the smoke clears, we'll take the highest-ranked team," Folmer said. "At the end of the day, if we have three 9-3 teams USF, UConn and Cincinnati, which is ranked higher?"

The Gator Bowl has the first option of taking either a Big East or Big 12 team, but Gator Bowl president Rick Catlett told the Lubbock-Avalanche Journal on Monday that the Gator Bowl would select Texas Tech.

That leaves the Sun Bowl with the No. 2 selection from the Big East.

"I've been an admirer of what South Florida has accomplished in a very short time," said Wayne Thornton, Sun Bowl vice president of public relations and member of the bowl's board of directors. "They have the 'Florida mystique.'"

The Big East representative will face the No. 2 selection from the Pac-10 (after the Pac-10's BCS teams are picked), which could be USC, Oregon, Cal or Oregon State, on CBS-TV (Dec. 31, 2 p.m.).

If USF loses at Pittsburgh on Saturday, the Bulls likely would be headed back to Birmingham, Ala., for the Papajohns.com Bowl.

The Papajohns.com Bowl and International Bowl in Toronto share the final Big East selections, and it's likely USF would head to Birmingham, while Rutgers would go to Toronto for geographic reasons.

If the Bulls beat Pittsburgh but aren't selected by the Sun Bowl, there is an outside shot they could go to the Meineke Car Care Bowl, in Charlotte, N.C., which picks after the Sun Bowl. The Meineke Car Care Bowl's preferable matchup involving USF would be against Florida State.

"That's an intriguing matchup for us," the bowl's executive director, Will Webb, said.

The Meineke Car Care Bowl gets the sixth selection from the Atlantic Coast Conference, however, and FSU is not expected to be available.

Reporter Brett McMurphy can be reached at (813) 259-7928 or bmcmurphy@tampatrib.com

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