It has been a long time since the USF Bulls football team was in a position to be ranked during the regular season, and they just finished their first season with a ranking in the final AP top 25 in program history. Final rankings often lend themselves to preseason rankings for next season. Most of those rankings are putting the Bulls somewhere between 10 and 20. It was noted in previous edition of the Graze that this was the first year that four teams from Florida were ranked in the top 25, ever. It was further noted that the last time the state had three programs in the top 25 was 2004. #19 USF managed to edge out #20 Miami, but fell short of the #14 Gators and #8 Seminoles. Next season could be very different. Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times notes that in ranking that most respects the Bulls, CBS, they are ranked 10th, while Florida is not ranked at all. It is quite possible that USF will be the second highest ranked of teams from Florida throughout the entire season, with a relatively soft schedule and a high powered Quinton Flowers led offense.
Looking Back
The #22/23 USF women’s basketball coach, Jose Fernandez, notched his 300th career win, last night, as his team handed Memphis a 79-49 beat-down, just days after the men’s team squandered a big comeback to lose to the same school. The achievement puts the winningest coach in USF history in exclusive company, with only two other American Athletic Conference coaches achieving the 300 wins. They are Lisa Stockton from Tulane and Geno Auriema of UConn.
The most recent basketball installment of the newly trophied and much hyped up “War on I4” goes to the UCF Knights, after embarrassing the Bulls, 86-64 in Orlando, last night. UCF’s Matt Williams, scored 38 points, 11 from beyond the arc, to lead his team to victory. The Knights had a 46-30 rebound advantage, which was to be expected with their 7-6, 290 pound center, Tacko Fall, working the paint. The Knights improve to 14-4 (5-1) while the Bulls drop to 6-11 (0-6). Williams’ 11 3s also sets a conference record.
Looking Forward
Former USF beat writer for the now defunct, Tampa Tribune, Joey Johnston has a story with Fanrag Sports Network about the “growing gap” between the playoff auto qualifiers and the other conferences. This is not something that should surprise anyone who has kept up with college sports during the ESPN led realignments of the past decade. The media contracts have created an elite business for the auto-bid conferences, which is impossible to touch, even with cusp programs like USF.
For the first time in ten years, USF will not be represented in the East-West Shrine game. The game, which features many soon-to-be NFL draftees, had invited USF receiver, Rodney Adams. Adams is recovering from an ankle injury he received at the Birmingham Bowl, which will prevent him from playing. This is precisely what Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette were protecting themselves from when they opted out of their respective teams’ bowl games.
The #25 USF men’s tennis team has landed some elite world talent for their 2017 team. The Bulls are trying to secure their fourth straight conference championship, this year.