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Bulls Beat: Moffitt, Selvie Lead Media Choices

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Brett McMurphy/The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 29, 2007

TAMPA - University of South Florida senior LB Ben Moffitt and sophomore DE George Selvie were among seven unanimous selections for the Tampa Tribune's inaugural All-Big East media teams, voted on by one beat writer that covers each Big East school.

Selvie also was a near-unanimous choice for the Big East defensive player of the year, receiving six of eight votes. The other two votes went to Moffitt.

Also making the team from USF were CBs Trae Williams and Mike Jenkins.

While Selvie was voted the league's defensive player of the year, West Virginia QB Pat White was a unanimous selection as offensive player of the year, and UConn's Randy Edsall was coach of the year.

Rutgers had a league-high five players on the team, followed by USF, West Virginia and Cincinnati with four each. UConn, Louisville and Pittsburgh had three each, while Syracuse had no players selected.

In addition to naming a first-team offense, defense and specialists, the eight writers also voted on other miscellaneous categories.

Based on the votes, USF was involved in three of the league's "best games." Cincinnati's win at USF was voted the game of the year, while USF's upset of West Virginia and USF's loss at Rutgers also received votes.

Besides myself the other voters were Brian Bennett, Louisville Courier-Journal; Shawn Courchesne, Hartford Courant; Bob Hertzel, Fairmont-Times West Virginian; Josh Katzowitz, Cincinnati Post; Tom Luicci, Newark Star-Ledger; Donnie Wood, Syracuse Post-Standard; and Paul Zeise, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

PUPELLO TO USF: Former Florida and Jefferson TE Trent Pupello will transfer to USF and sign Friday, his father Joe Pupello said.

"Residing in Tampa to take care of a personal family situation played a big role in his decision to transfer," Joe Pupello said.

Pupello will be reunited with his former high school coach, Mike Simmonds, who is USF's offensive line coach. Pupello will enroll in January, his father said.

"There was always a special place for South Florida," Joe Pupello said. "Trent's coming back to where his heart was originally."

Pupello will have two years of eligibility. If he receives a hardship waiver, he would be eligible in 2008 and 2009. If he has to sit out a transfer year, he can play in 2009 and 2010.

ODDS AND ENDS: USF's average announced attendance of 53,170 (the actual attendance average was 45,033) gave the Bulls the nation's largest increased announced attendance from last season, an improvement of nearly 23,000 a game from 2006. ... Next season, the Big East has tie-ins to a record six bowls. The 2008 Big East bowl lineup: BCS (Big East champion); Gator/Sun (second selection); Meineke Car Care (third selection), Texas (fourth selection) and International and Papajohns.com share the fifth and sixth picks. ... USF will receive $1.5 million by playing in the Sun Bowl and will receive a travel allowance between $100,000 and $400,000 from the conference.

USF Shorts

HONOR ROLL: DE George Selvie was named one of eight finalists for the Ted Hendricks Award, given to the nation's top defensive end. The other finalists: San Diego's Eric Bakhtiari, Penn State's Maurice Evans, Ohio State's Vernon Gholston, Virginia's Chris Long, Indiana's Greg Middleton, Oregon's Nick Reed and Michigan State's Jonal Saint-Dic. The winner will be announced Dec. 5.

SOUNDBITE CENTRAL: "I might put [USF assistant and former Yankees 1B] Tino [Martinez] on the on-deck circle swinging a bat just to scare them." - USF baseball coach Lelo Prado about what he might do when the Bulls play the New York Yankees at Legends Field on Feb. 29.

LOOK OUT FOR: The women's and men's basketball teams play back-to-back home games Saturday. The women host St. Peter's at 4:30 p.m. at the Sun Dome, followed by the men playing UCF at 7.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Who is the Bulls' regular-season football MVP? To vote and monitor results, visit TBO.com, Keyword: Bulls.

BLOG BONUS: Which Pac-10 team is most likely to play USF in the Sun Bowl? The same team we predicted back in September that USF would play in the Sun Bowl. For more, go to TBO.com, Keyword: Bulls

Listen to reporter Brett McMurphy discuss USF sports on "Hot Lunch with J.P. Peterson" on WHBO, 1470 AM, today between noon and 2 p.m.

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