USF Athletics

Louk's Closer Look: Bulls Back at Ray Jay on Saturday Night

November 14, 2019

NEXT GAME: USF (4-5, 2-3) vs. No. 17 Cincinnati (8-1, 5-0)
DAY/TIME: Saturday/7 p.m.
LOCATION: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa
TV/RADIO: CBS Sports Network/USF Radio Network: Over the Air: WDAE 95.3 FM/620 AM & Digital: Bulls Unlimited
SERIES: Cincinnati leads, 9-7; Bulls lead, 5-3, in Tampa
PURCHASE TICKETS: USFBullsTix.com
GAME NOTES: USF  (PDF)
 
 
 
By JIM LOUK
Voice of the Bulls
 
TAMPA, NOV. 14, 2019 – It's another home night game for the Bulls, as 8-1 Cincinnati comes to town for a 7 p.m. Saturday contest.
 
Cincinnati and Connecticut have gone back and forth in being the team that has played the Bulls the most.  With Connecticut now off the Bulls' future schedules, the Bearcats will soon have the most games to look back at against USF.  Here are a few notes on the 17^th Bulls-Cincinnati matchup:
 

• The rivalry dates back to 2003, when USF beat Cincinnati in double overtime on Halloween night.  The Bearcats won four in a row between 2006 and 2009, and the Bulls had won three in a row until losing in Cincinnati last year.
• Cincinnati's nine wins against the Bulls are the most by any team in college football.
• USF had one of its greatest offensive games ever against Cincinnati on Nov. 20, 2015.  The Bulls scored 51 first-half points on their way to a 65-27 win at Raymond James Stadium.
• The Bulls are 2-1 all-time in games on Nov. 16. They beat Urban Meyer's Top 25 Bowling Green team on that date in 2002 and defeated Tulsa, 27-20, on a Thursday night in 2017. The Nov. 16 loss was against Memphis in 2013.
• Cincinnati has one of college football's oldest programs. The Bearcats first fielded a team in 1885.
• The Bearcats and Bulls have been together in three conferences (Conference USA, Big East and American). Cincinnati has played in a total of seven conferences in its history, and also has had four separate stints as an independent.
• Cincinnati has played in 18 bowl games, going 9-9.  The Bearcats beat Virginia Tech in the Military Bowl last season.
• It had nothing to do with football, but USF and Cincinnati just missed being conference mates way back in the early 90's.  USF (in the pre-football days) joined the Metro in time for the 1991-92 basketball season, but Cincinnati had departed the league a few months earlier. Bearcats football was an independent at the time.
• USF and Cincinnati played in a very cold Nippert Stadium the evening of Oct. 22, 2006.  It was a forgettable game for the Bulls (a 23-6 loss), but it was a rarity in that it was one of the very few Sunday games in USF football history.

 
Saturday's game will be on CBS Sports Network at 7 p.m. Radio begins at 5 p.m., exclusively on USF Bulls Unlimited through the free iHeart radio app.  We'll begin on WDAE 95.3 FM and 620 AM at 6 p.m.
 
This game falls on USF's Hall of Fame weekend.  In the first half of the game, the Class of 2019, featuring Shantia Grace (women's basketball), Sara Nevins (softball) and George Selvie (football), will be introduced at Raymond James Stadium. Hope you can be there to see it.  Horns Up!

 
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
Having completed just its 22^nd season of football, and 19^th at the FBS level, the USF football program has earned 10 bowl appearances, including a current run of four straight, and owns a record of 6-3 in bowl games. The Bulls have appeared in the national top 25 rankings in each of the past three seasons, including a program record run of 20 straight weeks in the top 25, and in 2018 reached the program's 150^th win faster than any FBS program in state of Florida history. USF has posted a pair of 10-plus win seasons in the last three years, including a program-record 11 wins (11-2) in 2016, and logged 15 winning seasons overall. Since first taking the field in 1997, the USF program has reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings (2007), seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and 29 earn first-team all-conference selection.
 
Follow @USFFootball on twitter for all the latest information concerning the USF Football program.