The American Conference football media day goes into high gear on Friday in St. Petersburg. Each head coach will stand before the ESPN+ cameras and talk about their hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the upcoming season.
Then they'll re-enter their football caves for the next four or five months, depending on how the season goes.
Something is missing, though. For reasons passing understanding, the conference did away with the football coaches' preseason poll last season.
Commissioner Tim Pernetti called the decision an "industry-wide trend" away from something that, you know, fans love to chat about. Fortunately, Green, Gold and Bold is here to fill the void with our official unofficial preseason scientific prediction. We can't call it a poll, exactly, because it's just one person's opinion -- mine.
We'll start with the order of finish and records.
1. USF (11-1, 7-1)
2. Navy (9-2, 6-2)
3. East Carolina (9-3, 6-2)
4. Memphis (8-4, 5-3)
5. UTSA (7-5, 5-3)
6. Army (7-4, 4-4)
7. Tulane (7-5, 4-4)
8. Temple (6-6, 4-4)
9. Tulsa (5-7, 3-5)
10. Florida Atlantic (4-8, 2-6)
11. North Texas (3-9, 2-6)
12. Rice (4-8, 2-6)
13. Charlotte (3-9, 2-6)
14. UAB (2-10, 1-7)
Now that we're through with the crystal ball stuff, let's address the elephant in the room -- or, well, the bull in the room. It's that team I have at the top.
USF is about to embark on its 30th season of football and the Bulls have never won a conference title.
Not in Conference USA. Not in the Big East. Not in the American.
They have only finished second twice.
USF had its fingers on the trophy last season only to implode in the fourth quarter at Memphis and follow that up with a backbreaking loss at Navy. Backup QB Braxton Woodson rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns, including a 64-yard scoring scamper in the fourth quarter, to lead the Middies to a 41-38 win and send the Bulls off to the Cure Bowl.
Bulls coach Alex Golesh took the Auburn job after the season, but USF CEO of Athletics Rob Higgins surprised the college football world by hiring coveted Ohio State assistant Brian Hartline to take over.
Hartline was part of eight Big Ten championship teams as a player and/or coach. He was the offensive coordinator of the 2024 national championship team. He was an integral member of a coaching staff that went 92-11 during his eight years at OSU.
So, while Golesh gets credit for rescuring USF from the depths in his three years with the Bulls, Hartline has the capability of being the one who gets them over the finish line.
But .... but ... (the doubters say) Hartline has never been a head coach until now.
True. But he has been around some of the best -- Jim Tressel, Urban Meyer, Ryan Day. He played in the NFL for seven seasons.
He understood the cauldron of the Ohio State-Michigan game. I think he can handle the buildup to USF and it's designated rival, Florida Atlantic.
"Brian Hartline was our clear-cut first choice to lead our football program into the most exciting era in program history, and I am so fired up to have him leading the Bulls," Higgins said.
"A relentless recruiter, outstanding developer of talent and a gritty competitor, he comes from a championship background and is obsessed with instilling championship excellence in his players and teams. He is ready to lead our program to the next level. He knows the state of Florida, having spent six seasons of his professional playing career in Miami, and has successfully recruited the state and the Bay area for a long time."
Most of the projections have USF no higher than fourth place. They're largely basing that on Hartline needing a learning curve as a first-time head coach. Given his background, though, I think that's overrated.
These Bulls are bigger, faster, and stronger than a year ago, thanks to recruiting and Transfer Portal wins. And this is the perfect time to ambush a conference that is largely in the same state of flux as USF.
USF was one of five conference teams to change head coaches for this season, including the two teams that played in the American championship game -- Tulane and North Texas. Memphis has a new leader.
The Bulls avoid Navy in the regular season. Memphis and Tulane come to Tampa.
And it's the final season the Bulls will play at Raymond James Stadium. Maybe there's some leftover Tom Brady magic dust USF can tap into.
The university's model is "Be Bold" and picking the Bulls to do something no USF team has done before is bold.
But going over it from all angles, I come back to this point: Why not USF?
It's time.
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