TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Bulls Tumble In Rankings

ADVERTISEMENT

By BRETT McMURPHY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 22, 2007

TAMPA - For weeks the University of South Florida benefited from the rash of upsets among ranked teams to climb to No. 2 in the nation.

This week, the Bulls became a casualty to the upset epidemic. USF's 30-27 loss at Rutgers on Thursday night dropped the Bulls to No. 10 in Sunday's Bowl Championship Series rankings.

The Bulls (6-1, 1-1 Big East) were voted No. 12 in the USA Today/coaches and Harris polls, but managed to remain in the Top 10 thanks to a No. 5 ranking by the computer polls.

Last week, USF was ranked No. 1 by the computers.

For a second consecutive week, Ohio State was ranked No. 1 by the BCS, while Boston College and LSU each moved up one spot to second and third, respectively.

The remainder of the BCS Top 10: No. 4 Arizona State, followed by Oregon, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Kansas and USF.

The top two teams in the final BCS rankings in December qualify for the BCS national title game Jan. 7 in New Orleans.

Florida, one of seven SEC teams in the Top 25, moved up four spots to No. 11 after Saturday's win at Kentucky.

With Tennessee and South Carolina losing Saturday, the Gators (5-2, 3-2) can win the SEC East by winning their final three SEC games against Georgia, Vanderbilt and South Carolina.

If UF wins the SEC East, the Gators likely would face LSU or Alabama in the SEC title game.

Although the Bulls are No. 10 in the BCS rankings, Thursday's loss to Rutgers realistically ended their long-shot national title hopes.

'Everybody is pretty down, but it's only one loss and we've still got the rest of the season ahead of us,' USF senior cornerback Trae Williams said. 'My feeling is we still can win the Big East championship.'

USF junior linebacker Brouce Mompremier said the Bulls' goal of a Big East title is still in their grasp.

'We're still in the hunt,' Mompremier said. 'We do take it as a one-game season, but the season is not over. We're just beginning the hunt for the Big East.'

The Bulls visit surprise Big East leader UConn (6-1, 2-0), ranked No. 23 in the BCS, Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Another loss in league play likely would eliminate any chances for USF to win the Big East.

Besides dropping to No. 10 in the BCS, USF dropped from No. 2 to No. 11 in The Associated Press poll, while Rutgers returned to the AP poll at No. 25.

USF became the third No. 2 team to lose in as many weeks, joining USC and California.

Boston College is this week's No. 2, but don't be surprised if the Eagles fall on a Thursday night road contest at No. 8 Virginia Tech.

So far there have been nine top five teams that have been upset this season and this weekend should provide more of the same unpredictability.

Among the top 25 ranked BCS schools here are some potential upsets for this weekend:

No. 2 Boston College at No. 8 Virginia Tech (Thursday), No. 11 Florida vs. No. 18 Georgia in Jacksonville, No. 21 California at No. 4 Arizona State, No. 1 Ohio State at No. 25 Penn State, No. 12 USC at No. 5 Oregon, No. 7 West Virginia at Rutgers, No. 9 Kansas at Texas A&M and No. 10 USF at No. 23 Connecticut.

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

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT