For most teams, a 6-6 regular season wouldn’t be a cause for confetti.
For most teams, a trip to the Boca Raton Bowl wouldn’t be a cause for applause.
Ah, but when you are the USF Bulls, and you have won all of four games in the pervious three seasons (and eight in the previous four), it felt…okay. To be honest, it felt like a restart.
The Bulls, in the first year under Alex Golish, had a break-even season and won the Boca Raton Bowl 45-0. There were down spots (five losses where they gave up 42 or more), but it was better than it had been.
And now?
Golish and his guys want more.
The Bulls still have a schedule that includes Alabama and Miami. But this year, expectations return. Quarterback Byrum Brown and eight offensive starters return. And the defense? Well, it has to be better, right?
Perhaps that’s why USF is a 40 1/2-point favorite to be designated victim Bethune-Cookman tonight.
Oh, history tells us that openers can be harder on the field than on paper, Still, USF should win easily.
Prediction: USF 27, Bethune Cookman 13.
In other college games:
Georgia 27, Clemson 17.
Miami. 21, Florida 14.
FSU 20, Boston College 17.
Notre Dame 20, Texas A&M 14.
LSU 30, USC 27.