Coming off a nationally televised 63-36 blowout of previously unbeaten North Texas, USF moved up five spots to No. 19 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
That moved the Bulls ahead of fellow American Conference member Memphis, which checked in at No. 22. American members Navy and Tulane received votes. At the same time, North Texas dropped out of that category.
The Bulls are home Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against Florida Atlantic, Under first-year coach Zach Kittley, the Owls are 3-3 and have won their last two starts.
They beat Rice 27-21 on the road and followed that with a 53-33 blowout of UAB at home.
The game will be televised on ESPNU. It will be the fourth time this season that USF will be featured on one of the ESPN networks.
Before the first sellout crowd in DATCU Stadium history, USF had three turnovers in the first quarter but overcame that with an offensive barrage that buried the Mean Green. For the second straight game, quarterback Byrum Brown accounted for five touchdowns as the Bulls scored four touchdowns in the third quarter and took only 3:27 to do that.
Ball security will be a major point of emphasis in practice this week for USF. The Bulls have had eight turnovers in their last three games.
However, despite the turnovers, USF has been an offensive juggernaut in the last three games. The Bulls gained 580 total yards, including 306 on the ground, in what was advertised as a good North Texas defense. USF has 1,715 total yards in the last three games and has scored 180 points -- an average of 60 per game.