By JIM LOUK

GoUSFBulls.com 

TAMPA - Well, this is it.

It's pretty cut and dried now.  The Bulls need a win Thursday night to keep the season alive.

Say what you will about the Big East Conference, but it sure is a battle ground.  Right now four of the eight teams in the league have qualified for a bowl.  The other four teams in the league are one win away.

Pittsburgh (5-6) plays Syracuse (5-6), so one team there will make it and one will not.  USF and Connecticut also are one win away.  So if things break a certain way, an eight-team league will have seven bowl eligible teams, and an eighth team that missed by one win. 

Pretty amazing.

This is new territory for the Bulls.  They've never gone in to a final game needing a win for bowl eligibility.  That's the main story line for this game; a win most likely makes it seven bowl games in a row, and also gives this young team an extra dozen practices or so.  A loss, and we've got a quiet December for the first time since 2004.

There are other things brewing also.  It's senior night.  Some injured Bulls, Sterling Griffin, A.J. Love and B.J. Daniels among them, have been rehabbing trying to get back on the field for this game.  Some, or all of them, will.

And then there is West Virginia.

It's hard to remember that this series dates back only to 2005.  There have been more memorable moments in this series than any other... from Ben Moffitt's interception TD to Matt Grothe's scrambling to Carlton Mitchell's tap dance to stay in bounds and score, the Bulls have had their share of highlights.  West Virginia fans can roll out some pretty good Pat White and Noel Devine memories from this series, too.  It seems fitting the series is tied at three games apiece.

This is a pride game for the Bulls.  They are proud of the bowl streak and want to keep it alive.  They are proud of the seniors and want to send them out the right way.

It should be a pride game for the fans, too.  It's on national TV.  It's against a team that has been one of USF's most intense rivals.  And, it is for a chance to get some more football in 2011.

Radio coverage will be back on 970 WFLA for this one, along with all the statewide affiliates on the USF-IMG network.  TV will be ESPN2.

Thursday night football means you're the only game in town in terms of TV.  The nation will be watching.  A great crowd is needed.

Make sure you are there to support the Bulls.

GO BULLS!