Strange Bedfellows

Several times last week, on Tailgate Overtime presented by Bellsouth and Rec Warehouse College Kickoff, I opined that Florida fans should root for Louisville to beat West Virginia in their Thursday night matchup - but not by much.

Reasoning: West Virginia was 3rd in the BCS standings last week, and Louisville was 5th. Florida was sandwiched in between at number 4. If Louisville were to squeak by the Mountaineers - and Florida could look reasonably dominant in beating Vanderbilt on the following Saturday - the Cardinals could move up to 4th, with Florida squeezing into 3rd, thereby moving one step closer to a potential BCS title game berth.

Naturally, none of that happened.

Strike that - Louisville, in my opinion, did indeed squeak past the Mountaineers, in a game that I viewed as an audacious display of atrocious defense. Yet, when the BCS standings were released this week, it was Louisville, not Florida, in the third spot, with the Gators holding steady at number 4, and West Virginia plummeting to 10th. The Gators didn't help themselves by looking terribly vulnerable in their 25-19 win over Vandy.

Louisville, with four games remaining, is in Position A for a BCS Championship game berth, to be played on January 8th, 2007, in a building fittingly known as Cardinals Stadium.

So this week's question: who should Gator fans be rooting for? I mean, besides their own?

Answer: South Florida. Yes, USF.

Granted, Louisville's short-term goal is to hand unbeaten Rutgers its first loss of the season - in the Scarlet Knights' home digs of Piscataway, New Jersey, no less. But note that word "unbeaten." A loss to Rutgers would elevate the Scarlet Knights more than it would decimate the Cardinals. In fact, I would argue that all the love currently being showered on Bobby Petrino's crew should be evenly handed off to Greg Schiano's bunch, should Rutgers win that game. If the BCS wishes to prove that it's not a complete old-boy-network sham, we had better damn well be discussing Rutgers' plans for Glendale by this time next week, if they manage to beat the almighty (and trendy) Cardinals.

Even if Rutgers wins, we won't be having that conversation, of course, because the BCS is a fallacy. But that's another blog.

However, the Cardinals still have to play USF, the team that just knocked off Pittsburgh this weekend. If the 'Ville ends up losing to the Bulls - a team with three losses already on the docket - that's a catastrophic loss for the Cardinals. USF has officially become the X-factor in the national championship picture, non-Ohio State/Michigan Division.

To hear Bulls fan tell it, this is precisely where USF wants to be. Our inbox at Sun Sports has been filled this season with missives from USF's small-yet-passionate fan base, demanding more coverage, better coverage, more respect. Well, fellas, here's your chance.

Beat somebody.

USF's wins this year: McNeese State, FIU, UCF, UConn, North Carolina, and Pitt. Half of those wins came against teams staggering through disastrous seasons. McNeese State is a nice win, if you're Stephen F. Austin. UConn is a nice win if you're playing basketball. You get full credit for Pitt.

USF losses this year: Kansas, Rutgers, and Cincinnati. You get full credit for Rutgers. The other two are inexcusable - if we are to take USF football as seriously as some fans have demanded.

So here it is. Beat somebody. In this case, "somebody" is Louisville. Yes, you've done it before - the biggest win in your history - but not when the stakes were this high. Derail their national championship hopes, and do it on the road at the Pizza Palace, and you are granted the keys to respectability. We in the media may even be compelled to find a reference point other than UCF, which is something that really sticks in your craw, I know.

And Gator fans? Get behind the Bulls. A Louisville loss to USF - an average team, as opposed to a highly (but not highly enough) regarded Rutgers team - will do wonders for your faint BCS title game hopes. Of course, you'll need to take care of business in the meantime, by beating South Carolina and Florida State, preferably by a million - something the Gators have not been able to do this season.

Just think: with one win - USF over Louisville - two different fan bases take a huge step closer to their goals. The Bulls' faithful will have hard evidence that they belong; the Gator Nation can make a case for Glendale with a straight face. It's all there, people. It's all in front of you.

Regardless of income, all Gators should become Bull Gators on November 18th.