Who is South Florida, and What Do They Do?

Let's try a little exercise. Name the top four football programs in the state of Florida.

There's Florida, Florida State, the University of Miami, and....

There's a new team in the mix, and they're better than two of the three programs listed above. If you read the title, you know I'm talking about the University of South Florida.

USF began playing football in 1997 and has only been a NCAA Division I-A since 2001. The program doesn't even have its own football stadium, but since the university is located in Tampa, they worked out a deal to play in the Bucs' Raymond James Stadium. Could be worse, right?

After brief stints as an independent school (a la Notre Dame) and in Conference USA, the Bulls (that's their mascot) have been making waves in the Big East since 2005.

With a win over then-ranked Auburn on September 8, USF began to draw some national attention. After a victory over the University of North Carolina, the Bulls are up to #18 in both the AP and Coaches polls.

If you're wondering when USF will get its first big-time test, look no further than tomorrow night: the Bulls host #5 West Virginia. My prediction is WVU by 10, which would be only a minor setback for USF.

At this point, they should still be grateful for the publicity.

Update: A good win for USF Friday night, but the game probably hurt West Virginia more than it helped the Bulls.

USF shut down the Mountaineers' offense, limiting Heisman-hopeful Steve Slaton to 54 yards on 13 carries, and knocking quarterback Pat White out of the game with an injured thigh just before halftime.

But it was a rather ugly affair for both teams, really. WVU turned the ball over six times and USF four, but the key was that the Bulls held onto the ball in the second half.

Look for USF to crack the top 15 in the polls, and if they're unlucky, for the Mountaineers to slide out of it.