The world enters a new chapter of history today. One of the miracles of the American republican concept is the peaceful transition of power. The world of sports is the realm which this blog exists, but that world is only possible because of the peace and comfort provided by the greater framework of our national existence. Sports fandom is a mere diversion from the many important things of daily life. Regardless which team you root for in the political arena, today should be a celebration for all, because it means that the republican concept and the liberty it guarantees, is still alive.
Looking Back
USF and South Carolina played a two game series in basketball to celebrate the fact that both teams had Hispanic coaches. To be specific, the only two Hispanic coaches of NCAA Division I schools. After Orlando Antigua was fired from his role as head coach at USF, there is now just one Hispanic head coach remaining. ESPN has a story about Hispanics and USF.
Former USF head coach, Willie Taggart, has hired former USF defensive coordinator, Raymond Woodie. Woodie has the distinction of overseeing what was probably the worst defense in program history.
The men’s tennis team is now 24th in the nation. They also added some elite international recruits.
The #23 women’s basketball team will host #9 Louisville on Sunday. The are 15-2, with their last home loss coming on January 10, 2016 at the hands of UConn. UConn also handed the team their most recent loss, which happened to be the worst in program history.
The 6-11 men’s team host 10-7 Tulsa on Saturday at 1 PM. The game will be televised on ESPNNews.
Looking Forward
Being a fan of USF football has always meant not being quite sure of where you stood in the big scheme of things. The program has certainly fielded teams that were better than many, if not most, of the playoff conferences’ teams. When the Big East was, in effect, demoted to not auto-bid status and unceremoniously divided up, it left schools like Cincinnati, UConn, and USF with somewhat of an identity crisis. Those teams have many wins over respectable programs, but were sent to the JV ranks of the FBS world. For USF, it’s even a little more confusing. For all of the big wins over ranked teams and storied programs, including several national championship winners, they have never won a conference championship and have only just appeared in the final AP poll for the first time. Fox Sports has a profile on Charlie Strong and his decision to come to USF for his so-called “second chance.” The story is about those reasons that motivated him to pick the Bulls over many other offers. Cited amongst those reasons are facilities on par or better than most auto-bid programs. They even point out that Alabama used USF’s facilities for the National Championship game.
