USF saw a team-record 11 players receive All-Conference recognition Tuesday when the American Conference announced its postseason teams.
Linebacker Mac Harris and cornerback De`Shawn Rucker received first-team honors. Well done.
But you know what's weird?
USF had the second-ranked total offense in the country, behind top-ranked American mate North Texas. Despite that, the Bulls received ZERO first-team selections on offense.
How can that be?
The first person that comes to mind who USF fans will believe should be on the first team is quarterback Byrum Brown, but he was a second-team pick behind North Texas quarterback Drew Mestemaker. The Mean Green's redshirt freshman quarterback was named the conference Offensive Player of the Year.
As spectacular as Brown, if you look at the numbers, Mestemaker had the better case. He was the nation's third-ranked quarterback while Brown was seventh. Mestemaker ranked ahead of Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia, who many believe is the favorite for the Heisman Trophy.
Mestemaker had 3,835 passing yards, tops in FBS, and has threw 29 touchdowns and had only four passes intercepted.. Three of them came in a 63-36 loss to USF, so there is that.
Brown is the only player in the country to top 3,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing. He led the country in total offense at 347.2 yards per game and points produced at 21.3 per game. He has another year of eligibility at USF if he chooses to use it.
OK, so you can justify Mestemaker, but to have no USF offensive players represented on the first team doesn't pass the smell test.
Tackle Connor McLaughlin joined Brown as the only Bulls on the second team.
At least Harris and Rucker got their due on the defensive side. Both were absolute beasts throughout the season.
Linebacker Jhalyn Shuler, safety Fred Gaskin, and kicker Nico Gramatica were second-team selections.