USF football nationally ranked for first time in five years
Following a wild week of college football in which 11 of the Top 25 teams lost, USF is now nationally ranked for the first time since 2011.
After spending several weeks on the cusp of cracking the top 25, the Bulls’ 48-31 win over UCF on Saturday in the “War on I-4” rivalry propelled the team to No. 24 in the Associated Press Poll and No. 23 in the Amway Coaches Poll.
“We’re 10-2 and we’re still not ranked,” coach Willie Taggart said postgame on Saturday. “I think Marquez Valdes-Scantling said it best: to all the writers out there that are watching, USF is still winning. We’re still winning over here. Hopefully somebody sees that.”
Though the Bulls narrowly missed the AAC Championship game after Temple — which held the tiebreaker despite USF having the same record — defeated East Carolina on Saturday night, USF (10-2, 7-1) will play once more in a bowl game. The time and bowl has yet to be determined.
With the regular season now over for the Bulls, quarterback Quinton Flowers finishes the season holding several offensive records including most total touchdowns (37), rushing touchdowns (15), total offense (3,976 yards), and rushing yards (1,425 yards).
Women’s Basketball wins Junkanoo Jam
Led by two 34-point performances from sophomore forward Kitija Laksa, USF remained undefeated in 2016 as it defeated both North Carolina and Georgia on its way to winning the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas.
Laksa, who tied her program-record of eight 3-pointers in a game, was the tournament’s leading scorer and named tournament MVP.
Once the Bulls defeated North Carolina 83-55 on Thursday, they moved on to easily dispatch Georgia 81-65 on Saturday for the tournament win.
USF (4-0) entered the week receiving votes in the national Top 25 poll and will likely see a boost this week with its two wins, including the victory over the Bulldogs, who ended the 2015-16 season ranked 35th in the NCAA.
Volleyball ends season with win
Down two sets to one to Tulane and on the verge of losing, USF volleyball rallied for a three-to-two victory in New Orleans.
USF (19-13, 10-10) won the first set 26-24, but found itself a set away from defeat as it dropped the next two sets (21-25, 23-25). However, the Bulls bounced back to take the next two sets 25-17 and 15-11 behind a team-high 15 kills from senior outside hitter Dakota Hampton.
Though the 19 victories were the most for USF since 2007, the Bulls will not continue on to postseason play.
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