TAMPA, Fla. – As the highest-ranked Group of Five team heading into their matchup at Navy, the Bulls had a clear route to procuring one of 12 reservations at the College Football Playoff table. Alas, the season will likely conclude in one of the eight bowls with which the American Conference has ties.
This season marks the eighth in their 26 as an FBS member that the Bulls have been ranked. Here is a look at how the other seven such seasons played out.
Note: Ranking is AP unless otherwise noted.
2007 (9-4/4-3 Big East)
A landmark on the 29-season timeline of USF football, the 2007 campaign was like a magic carpet ride straight up to No. 2 in the initial BCS ranking released at the season’s midway point. The fun began with a Week 2 overtime victory at No. 17 Auburn that put the Bulls on the radar. The good times continued to roll through a 6-0 start that also included a Friday night victory over Big East foe and No. 5 West Virginia in front of 67,000 at Raymond James Stadium.
Beginning with a three-point loss at Rutgers, the Bulls dropped three straight by a combined 15 points to tumble out of the rankings. They reappeared after defeating Pitt in the regular-season finale only to fall again after being blasted (56-21) by Oregon in the Sun Bowl.
2008 (8-5/2-5 Big East)
The Bulls opened the season at No. 19 and climbed to No. 10 thanks to a 5-0 start that included a three-point win over No. 13 Kansas at RJS. Then the bottom fell out. Though they were still No. 16 in the initial BCS poll following a five-point loss at Pitt, the defeat was the first of three losses in a four-game stretch to fall from the polls. The Bulls finished the season by defeating Memphis in the MagicJack St. Petersburg Bowl.
2009 (8-5/3-4 Big East)
A 5-0 start included a 17-7 win at No. 18 Florida State. That put the Bulls on the verge of being ranked, which they were following a 14-point win over visiting Syracuse the following week. The No. 23 Bulls had a bye – during which they snuck up to No. 21 – before falling at No. 8 Cincinnati, 34-17, for their first defeat, and a drop out of the polls.
Following another rousing Friday night win at home against West Virginia, this time in front of 56,000, the Bulls appeared at No. 25 in the BCS. A 31-0 shellacking at Rutgers on a Thursday evening took care of that. Jim Leavitt’s final season concluded north of the border in Toronto with a 27-3 International Bowl win over Northern Illinois.
2011 (5-7/1-6 Big East)
The season opened with a twice-interrupted (lightning) 23-20 win at No. 16 Notre Dame that put the Bulls at No. 22, the first time they were ranked under Skip Holtz. They won their next three games to climb to No. 16 heading into a Thursday night affair at Pitt, which resulted in a 44-17 pounding and the last time USF would be ranked until…..
2016 (11-3/7-1 American)
A 48-31 win versus UCF on Thanksgiving weekend put the Bulls at 10-2 and No. 25. A Birmingham Bowl win over South Carolina under interim coach T.J. West – Willie Taggart departed for Oregon – lifted them to No. 19 in the final AP poll.
2017 (10-2/6-2 American)
The Bulls opened Charlie Strong’s first season at No. 19 and finished at No. 21. In between, they rose as high as No. 16, though were not ranked in the CFP. The regular season, which included the cancellation of a home date with UMass due to Hurricane Irma, concluded with a thrill-a-minute 49-42 loss at CFP No. 14 UCF. A second straight trip to the Birmingham Bowl resulted in a 38-34 win against Texas Tech and No. 21 final ranking.
2018 (7-6/3-5 American)
What was memorable about this season was how forgettable it turned out. A 7-0 start and climb to No. 21 was followed by six straight losses, each by double digits, including 38-20 to Marshall in the first Gasparilla Bowl played at RJS. The six-game slide was the front end of an 8-43 stretch of misery through 2022.
READ: “Next Man Up” Star: Nykahi Davenport Answering The Bell (And Then Some) For USF Bulls
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