South Florida vs West Virginia Preview

It's the first stand for the West Virginia Mountaineers. It's the last stand for the South Florida Bulls.

Friday night's tussle in Tampa involves two teams not necessarily headed in different directions, but it does feature two teams who stand at different ends of the Big East season. This is what makes Mountaineers-Bulls such a fascinating confrontation.

For West Virginia, the hard part of the 2009 campaign is just beginning. Conference heavyweights Pittsburgh and Cincinnati will greet the November portion of the slate for coach Bill Stewart's ballclub, so any hopes of a Big East championship rest on a victory under the lights at Raymond James Stadium. West Virginia possesses the talent to beat Pitt and Cincy when playing its very best ball, but a realistic Big East forecast would suggest that the Mountaineers won't run the table in the league. As one of the three teams still unbeaten in conference play, WVU can't drop this particular ballgame. The men from Morgantown will have no margin for error in November if they tumble on the night before Halloween.

The perspective from South Florida's side of this showdown stands in marked contrast to the view of the visiting team that will try to take over Tampa.

Coach Jim Leavitt's crew has already faced Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, losing to the conference's top two teams. There's no shame in falling to elite teams; Brian Kelly's Bearcats and Dave Wannstedt's Panthers are prodigiously talented and overflowing with confidence. The Ohio-Pennsylvania axis has truly ruled the Big East in 2009, and even West Virginia fans would be hard pressed to claim otherwise. South Florida wanted a conference crown this season, but after seeing two teams simply outplay them in the past two weeks, the Bulls have to make sure that they don't drop another decision. With the year's toughest conference tilts in the rearview mirror, the whole South Florida squad needs to win out and register a 10-2 regular season, which would rank as the best 12-game mark in the Leavitt era. The benefit of 10 wins would reach far beyond any in-house records or achievements; such a feat--which would necessarily include a win over the University of Miami in late November--would give USF a better bowl invitation and give the program a high-visibility postseason platform. This team can't win the Big East, but it can find a springboard toward an even brighter future. That road to increased success begins Friday against West Virginia.

One team is looking for a championship, and is beginning the decisive stretch of its schedule while saddled with a plentiful portion of pressure.

Another team is still pursuing national respect, a 10-win season, and the strong finishing kick that's proven to be elusive in past years.

West Virginia. South Florida. Two entirely different sets of circumstances, one endlessly intriguing Friday night fistfight. To the winner goes a fresh supply of hope in the final weeks of 2009.

> Find a great selection of USF hats & apparel and more online along with Big East football jerseys from Big East Fans partner sites.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer