The Pitts for USF in Thursday Night loss

By JC De La Torre

Almost forgotten in the euphoria for Tampa Bay Rays baseball was that the USF Bulls had a Big East football game on Thursday night. Apparently, the Bulls forgot as well, as they sleepwalked through a disappointing 26-21 lost to Pitt.

Running back LaSean McCoy led the way for the Panthers, with 142 yds and two scores. It started off well enough for the Bulls with a blocked punt giving USF an early 7-0 advantage, but turnovers and the inability to slow down the Pitt running game would ultimately be their undoing.

This loss essentially eliminates any hopes USF had for having a shot a the National Championship. You have to go undefeated to have shot when you're in the Big East. One loss teams like Florida and USC can take a loss and still have a chance because they're in power conferences. While USF is in a BCS conference, the Big East is not regarded as one of the better conferences in the land and a loss is damning evidence that a team does not belong in championship consideration.

The good news for the Bulls is that they can still win the Big East and get to a BCS game. Just not THE BCS game.