USF football hoping to join the club

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden realizes that time is about up for the Seminoles, Florida and Miami.

Sooner or later, there is going to be a new member of the club. The state's marquee programs are bound to expand from the Big Three, and the University of South Florida seems like the most likely candidate, Bowden said.

It's not if, but when.

"It's going to happen," Bowden said. "There's no doubt it's going to happen. You take the last three years, hasn't South Florida been ranked higher than us and Miami?"

In the past two seasons, USF rose to No. 2 and No. 10 in the national rankings. The Bulls (3-0) visit No. 18 Florida State (2-1) Saturday, then host Miami on Nov. 28. Next season, USF will visit Florida.

"Miami, Florida State, they've been the big brother programs," USF senior defensive end George Selvie said. "Getting a chance to go up and actually getting a chance to play your big brother and beating them one time.

"It's a great opportunity to do it and you can go, 'I got you that one.'"

USF coach Jim Leavitt has said numerous times that for the Bulls to make the state's Big Three a foursome, they must defeat one of them.

"To change history and do things like that, I think you have to win," Leavitt said. "We'll go up and play the best we can."

The Bulls' No. 1 goal is to win the Big East, which would earn them their first BCS bowl bid. However, the opportunity to play Florida State is just as big, several players said.

"We don't have that prestige they have," Selvie said. "We don't have those national championships. We don't have any championships yet. We've been to a couple of bowl games, but we need a championship and we need some wins."

USF senior linebacker Kion Wilson said a victory at FSU would be a "great leap" for USF's program.

"I'm as excited as I would be if we were playing for a Big East championship," Wilson said. "When it's all said and done, does this game count in the Big East? No, but will it affect our confidence level and how we'll play after this game? Yes. It will take a toll, good or bad."

USF defensive coordinator Joe Tresey, in his first season with the Bulls after two seasons at Cincinnati, said the matchup is similar to Cincinnati playing tradition-rich Ohio State.

"Let's not kid anybody, 1997 was the first year of this program," Tresey said. "Now we're on the national stage with Florida State, Miami, etc. We've come a long (way) in a short period of time. To be able to get a victory on Saturday would elevate us a notch and do a great amount for the perception.

"These kids are all Florida kids. A lot of the kids grew up together, playing each other in high school. It's a big game, let's not fool anybody. It's a big game."

Last year, before the schools had signed to play the home-and-home series (FSU visits Tampa in 2012), Bowden remarked about when scheduling other teams, like USF, "you usually try to find somebody that you've got a chance to win, instead of getting your nose bloodied."

Bowden said playing USF "gives credibility" to the Bulls program, competing in its 13th season.

"You hate to be able to get the credibility with us - it hurts our recruiting," Bowden said. "But yet it's something that's inevitable to happen, and it's happening now with South Florida."