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Bulls Are In Despite 2 Conference Wins

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The Tampa Tribune

The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 18, 2008

IT TAKES TWO

USF and Kentucky each received bowl bids this season after winning only two conference games, only the third and fourth teams to do so.

The Bulls went 2-5 in the Big East, and the Wildcats went 2-6 in the SEC, yet both were among 68 teams to get a bowl berth - only the third and fourth teams to receive a bid with two league wins.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, whose Hawkeyes in 2006 were the last team with two league wins to get a bowl bid, said "you could argue" there are too many bowl games. He said 2006 was "the most disappointing year we've had.

"For me as a coach, I felt like that was the worst job I've done," Ferentz said. "Primarily because we started out 5-1, then we went 1-5. We didn't improve, bottom line. We got what we deserved.

"You would probably never classify getting just two wins in your league as a successful season. At the same time, if you have the opportunity to go to a bowl, you take it, because it can really serve as a springboard for the following season."

USF coach Jim Leavitt said his team deserved a bid. "I think you go by the overall season," said Leavitt, whose team was 3-4 against bowl teams. "You can always go by this or that. I think they've done a great job."

ODDS AND ENDS

USF has about 1,000 tickets remaining, and fans who purchase a bowl ticket through GoUSFBulls.com will receive a free ticket to the men's basketball game against Syracuse on Jan. 2. Tickets are $30 for non-students and $10 for students. ... ESPN.com ranked the St. Pete Bowl as the fourth-worst matchup, L.A. Times columnist Chris Dufresne ranked it as the second-worst. "Title sponsor magicJack not a pill to keep cross-country truckers awake at night, although this game could use a pick-me-upper."

WE'LL LEAVE THE LIGHT ON

While USF has had a 12:30 a.m. curfew the past two nights, Memphis coach Tommy West said the Tigers didn't have one Tuesday night.

"I wanted them to get out and kind of enjoy themselves the first night out," West said. "I've found through the years that curfew is something that really is just kind of a nuisance. It's something where they've got to come back and as soon as you go to bed they're right back out. So really instead of me making them come back to the hotel and go back out, I just let them stay out.

"I was in college one time, too. ... These kids, it's kind of different nowadays than when I grew up. We were coming in at 12, 1 o'clock back then. Now they're just going out."

Last year, Memphis lost 44-27 to Florida Atlantic in the New Orleans Bowl. Perhaps the Tigers enjoyed Bourbon Street too much?

"What hurt us was we weren't very good on defense," West said. "That hurt us a lot more than the beer we drank. I think us not being any good on defense was why we gave up 44 points, not because we had been drinking all week. We played really good on offense, so the defense must have stayed out late last year and the offense went to bed."

SECOND-HALF SLUMP

When USF started 5-0 in non-conference play, the Bulls ranked at or near the top in nearly every major statistical category. However, once Big East play started the Bulls regressed in each category. Big East rankings are in parentheses.

Brett McMurphy, Adam Adkins

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