*Here’s a prediction for the upcoming USF football season. If USF upsets Notre Dame on Sept. 3, it will not lose to Rutgers. Actually, based on USF’s track record, that’s not as safe a statement as it would seem.
One of the reasons Skip Holtz was brought in was to realize potential that had gone frustratingly unrealized under his predecessor, Jim Leavitt. A too-familiar refrain: Bulls beat West Virginia or Auburn as a play-with-abandon underdog and then lose to Rutgers when favored. It became USF’s self-fulfilling MO: Choke when winning was the expectation. USF didn’t handle the pressure well. It played without discipline — as if channeling the composure-challenged Leavitt, ranting and raving on the sideline. That’s not Holtz’s style — as was evident in last year’s regular season finale, the Bulls’ come-from-behind, first-ever win over Miami.
*As we know there are no plans to resume the I-4 rivalry between USF and UCF. And that’s too bad, because a legitimate rivalry game — one with negligible travel overhead and a guaranteed big, campus-energizing crowd — is something both schools need. And as we also know, it is USF of the Big East that doesn’t want to drop down in status to play UCF of Conference USA. UCF is all in favor.
But wouldn’t it be ironic if the two resume their rivalry without USF changing its mind? Could happen. The Big East, which expands to nine teams next year when TCU comes in, is known to want to expand further: to 12. That would give them enough teams for two divisions — and a lucrative, nationally-televised championship game. Those on a short list of Big East prospects: Villanova, Army, Navy and — UCF.
*More than most, FSU alum Deion Sanders earned his way into the NFL Hall of Fame. A great athlete as well as a great football player. A consummate difference maker.
Unfortunately, Sanders’ legacy isn’t limited to touchdowns and interceptions. His “Prime Time” persona embodied the conversion of the NFL from a game played by the very best football players to look-at-me show business. The media that over-covers pro football salivated over star-quality boorishness, and the Sanders-like personalities were lionized and commercialized. Any wonder that at his induction he affixed a do-rag to his Canton bust.
And one other facet of Sanders’ legacy. He even has an NCAA rule named after him. The “Deion Sanders Rule” says that a college player who has stopped going to classes is not eligible to play in any games (read: bowl games) during that period.
“Neon” Deion deserves his HOF status. Just don’t confuse it with being a class act. He’s no Ronde Barber.