For as long as most college football fans in Florida can remember, it’s always been about
The Big Three: the Florida Gators, the Miami Hurricanes and the Florida State Seminoles. Since
1997, though, South Florida Bulls fans have dreamed of turning The Big Three into The Big
Four.
USF’s football program hasn’t been around as long as The Big Three. The University of
Florida established its football team first in 1906, Miami’s program was founded in 1926, and
Florida State played their first season of football in 1947. What is particularly noteworthy is the
fact that it took each of those programs over 45 years to win a national championship.
Granted, college football at the beginning of the 19th century was very different from
what it has evolved into today. However, there is no denying the fact that the most popular and
successful college football teams in the state struggled for many years before achieving national
recognition.
Why, then, has more pressure been put on the Bulls to be better than The Big Three
programs were in the beginnings of their existence?
The answer is not a clear one.
Perhaps it is because the USF football program seems to hold itself to a higher standard
15 years into its history than most would. Shortly after the program was established, the Bulls
were quick to leave the lower ranks of college football and enter the competitive bowl-eligible
Conference USA, before moving to the Big East a couple years later.
Another reason could be because the University of South Florida is one of the top 10
largest universities in the United States in terms of undergraduate enrollment, with 36,663
students enrolled as of fall 2011.
More students attending the university means there are more alumni to donate money to
help the growth of its athletic programs. Naturally the thought then comes that USF should have
plenty of funds with which to build a quality football program.
Most likely, it is because the Bulls are relatively new to the game that is college football
in Florida. The Gators, Hurricanes, and Seminoles have been building up rivalries against one
another for more than 50 years, and those teams and their fan bases are not going to let The Big
Three become The Big Four without USF paying it’s dues first. The only way for the Bulls to
prove they’re worthy is to beat those teams.
Saturday night’s game against Florida State was a step in the right direction. Although
the game will go down as a loss, keeping the contest close against the No. 4 ranked team in the
nation is nothing short of a moral victory. The Bulls made the Seminoles out to be unworthy of their hype, and for South Florida, that is simply yet another due paid.
Samantha Ouimette is the sports editor of The Crow’s Nest. She can be reached at ouimette@mail.usf.edu.
Featured photo courtesy of J. Meric and USF Athletics.
