Entering Big East play this season, South Florida had become the league’s perennial doormat. Despite finishing above DePaul last year, the Bulls had enjoyed very little success in their time in the conference, to the point where they had yet to even win two consecutive conference games.
Now, that’s all out the window.
The Bulls have become one of the most surprising stories in all of college basketball. After starting out 0-4 in conference play, South Florida has won five of its last six games – including its current incredible four-game winning streak, with wins at Providence, at home against Seton Hall and Pittsburgh and, most amazingly, at Georgetown last night.
Now the Bulls, at 5-5 in the Big East and 15-7 overall, have a legitimate chance at an at-large bids. Not only have they picked up wins over shoo-in tournament teams Pittsburgh and Georgetown, but they have two better road wins than Seton Hall, and have beaten the Pirates, as well. They also have a very nice early season win over Virginia, another potential tournament team.
With their recent hot streak, the Bulls have climbed from being ranked roughly 100 in ESPN’s InsideRPI all the way up to 46th in today’s version of the rankings, which come very close to duplicating the NCAA’s RPI index (the NCAA’s RPI rankings are kept secret, but the general formula is well-known). That 46th ranking puts South Florida seventh in the Big East, in terms of RPI.
Who are the Bulls ahead of? Among others, Cincinnati (48), Connecticut (50) and Seton Hall (59), not to mention teams like Marquette (64), Notre Dame (69) and St. John’s (84).
Incredibly, in the course of two weeks South Florida has gone from a team that most figured wouldn’t even make the NIT to a mid-level Big East squad that has NCAA Tournament aspirations. Meanwhile, the NYC metropolitan area is starting to look like it will be shut out of the tournament once again.
No one would have taken odds on that bet at the start of the conference season, let alone the regular season. It’s just further proof that this final month of the college basketball regular season should be one wild ride.
tbontemps@nypost.com
