USF roundup: A "meh" projection for football and a Sports Center top highlight catch

We know that what's ahead for USF football in the new season is hard to predict. With a 58 new players, including 41 through the Transfer Portal, and a new coaching staff, the Bulls are a great unknown at this point.

After all, spring practice doesn't even start until March 11.

But College Football News took a stab at projecting what the Bulls might look like this fall. Spoiler alert: CFN guesses that the Bulls won't be bad, but won't be especially good.

USF was picked to finish sixth in the American Conference out of 14 teams.

CFN wrote, "Alex Golseh left for Auburn and he took a boatload of stars with him. Brian Hartline has a decent-looking defensive front, but the offensive star power has to be replaced."

247Sports ranked USF's Transfer Portal class No. 53 in the nation, tops among the Group of 5 and better than 16 power conference teams.

The website picks Navy, Tulane, and Memphis as the Top 3 in that order.

Beach volleyball opens inaugural season and gets some exciting news

USF's newest sport, beach volleyball, is officially underway. The Bulls opened their inaugural season on Friday with a trip to New Orleans for the Green Wave Invitational.

The Bulls opened with a 4-1 win over New Orleans before falling 3-2 to LSU. The tournament continued on Saturday with USF defeating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4-1.

The Bulls scored another big win off the court with the announcement that a 6-court lighted facility will be built near the USF track and field site.

"Through a combination of University and private funding, we look forward to providing our student-athletes, coaches and fans with an excellent competition and practice facility within the footprint of our Athletics District that will be the home of USF beach volleyball and play an integral role in the future success of our student-athletes and program," CEO of Athletics Rob Higgins said.

Lacrosse makes a statement

Fresh off a record-setting win at Stetson, the women's lacrosse team improved to 3-1 on Saturday with a 15-10 win over Mercer at Corbett Stadium.

The visitors led 8-6 after two quarters but USF turned up the heat and pulled away in the second half for the win. Sofia Chepenik led the way for the Bulls with four goals while four other players had two goals apiece.

Chepenik now has 16 goals in four games.

Earlier in the week, USF traveled to Stetson and proved to be unwelcome guests as the Bulls demolished the home team 25-4.

USF had an avalanches of goals in the first quarter, scoring 11 times to set a school record. The 25 goals was also a program record, eclipsing the previous mark of 23 set last year.

Jacob Green of the baseball team was ready for his closeup

The baseball team is off to a strong start, winning six of its first seven games following Saturday's 29-4 blowout win over Georgia Southern.

That score is not a misprint.

It was USF's fifth consecutive win and is believed to be a program record for runs scored in a single game.

That's just dandy. But the Bulls got some national publicity for something more than wins when left-fielder Jacob Green made a spectacular catch against North Dakota State. His diving catch of a foul ball down the line, complete with a tumble over the fence, became the No. 1 play on ESPN Sports Center.

The Bulls have shown an ability to rally in the early part of the season.

They have trailed at one point in all six wins, even in Saturday's mercy-rule win.

After the series with Georgia Southern concludes on Sunday, the Bulls will hit the road for their next four games -- Tuesday at Bethune-Cookman, followed by a weekend series at UCF.

Remembering Joey Knight

After longtime Tampa Bay Times sports reporter Joey Knight died on Friday morning after battling cancer for two years, USF responded by scheduling a moment of silence to honor him.

Knight covered the Bulls among many other assignments at the Times. He was highly respected for his integrity, skill, and good nature.

Softball team is on a roll

The Bulls carried a seven-game winning streak and a 12-4 record overall into Saturday night's game against Boston College in the USF Invitational.

In Friday's 3-1 win over Marist, Jamia Nelson led USF with two RBIs, her third game with multiple RBIs. Alex Wilkes went 2-for-3 with an RBI, including her third home run of the season. It was her fifth multi-hit game of the season.

The Bulls have a pair of games on Sunday -- Colgate (12:30 p.m.) followed by Indiana.

After a second game against the Hoosiers on Monday, the Bulls will be off until February 27 when they travel to Alabama for the T-Mobile Crimson Classic. They'll have five games against Alabama, Kent State, and St. Thomas.

USF then stays on the road, for three games at Memphis to start American Conference play.