There is a newcomer in the conversation about the College Football Playoff – the USF Bulls.
I’ll give you a moment to read those words again. It’s not a typo.
ESPN reported that the Allstate Playoff Predictor lists the Bulls third among 11 Group of 5 teams with at least a 2 percent chance of making the CFP field. USF is given a 14.3 percent chance, behind Tulane (31.2) and Memphis (16.3).
“Heading into 2025, it seemed like a ‘Boise State vs. the Field’ situation when it came to landing the guaranteed Group of 5 CFP spot,” ESPN’s Bill Connelly wrote.
“Well, the Field swatted that down pretty quickly. USF's stunning 34-7 win over BSU in Week 1 opened the CFP race wide. BSU's hopes aren't kaput, but the Broncos are now part of the second tier of contenders.”
The Bulls’ game on Saturday at Florida was already huge, but it just grew two sizes. Let your mind travel into “what if” land about what an upset victory could mean for USF.
Connelly went there.
“USF has the third-best odds of any G5 team to reach the CFP, and that's with a likely loss in Gainesville this weekend. If the Bulls can pull an upset here or even give the playoff committee something to think about with a super-competitive loss, that will be quite the bonus,” he wrote.
“Is that actually likely? We'll see. USF's offense was all-or-nothing against Boise State, and the Bulls started quite slowly overall and benefited from some turnovers luck. Still, they're super explosive, and they now face a Florida team that wasn't all that explosive itself against Long Island last week.”
Sure, the Bulls are 17.5-point underdogs and the game is at The Swamp. On3.com’s Andy Staples gave a preview of the atmosphere USF is about to experience.
He called it the third-toughest stadium for visitors to play in.
“Nowhere does architecture matter more. The original bowl of what used to be called Florida Field was built using plans cribbed from Notre Dame Stadium. But then, instead of simply stacking decks atop the bowl to increase capacity, Florida kept building the thing nearly straight up,” he wrote.
“The result is a 90,000-seat stadium that could fit into the footprint of most 60,000-seat stadiums. The stands are closer to the sideline than anywhere but Oklahoma State. The result is a roar even when the Gators aren’t great. When they are, it’s nearly impossible to win there.”
Interestingly, he rated Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium as the second toughest. The Bulls held up well there last year until the last six minutes, and this team is stronger, deeper, and has more weapons than a year ago.
Sure, we’re only one game into the regular season, and the playoff picture will undergo a million changes before the field is set, but it’s not too early to dream.