South Florida Bulls
South Florida Bulls Thursday night the South Florida Bulls head to Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats. The 24th ranked Bulls will be trying to avoid slipping out the Top 25 with another late season collapse. Odds makers are calling South Florida a 3 point favorite on the road with the total sitting at 51 1/2.

After starting 2008 5-0, including a 37-34 win against Kansas, the Bulls have lost two out of their last three against Big East opponents. South Florida looks to regroup when they visit Cincinnati this week.

South Florida is the only ranked team in the Big East and they were as high as No. 10 in the Top 25 poll. However, with losses to Pittsburgh and Louisville and beating only 1-6 Syracuse, they find themselves 1-2 in the conference and on the verge of falling out of the national rankings.

"We just need to play a little bit better," coach Jim Leavitt said. "We've had two very close losses, but it hasn't been because our guys haven't fought and that's
very important to me."

Like the Bulls, the Bearcats 5-2 are also coming off a loss after having their four-game winning streak snapped Saturday, 40-16 by Connecticut. Cincinnati, now 1-1 in the conference, had allowed just 55 points during the winning streak, but gave up 20 in the fourth quarter en route to the ugly loss.

Quarterbacks, Tony Pike and Chazz Anderson combined to throw for 259 yards for Cincinnati. Pike made his first start since breaking his non-throwing arm against Akron on Sept. 27, but only made it through the first half. It is not clear whether he will be able to play Thursday.

"There appeared to be some loss of feeling and we wanted to be certain that we weren't putting him in a precarious situation," Bearcats coach Brian Kelly said. "Our training staff recommended that under those circumstances we should not play him."

Whether Pike plays or not, the Bearcats are tough at home, 3-0 this season.  Look for Cincinnati to bounce back after the UConn loss. Take the Bearcats at home getting the 3 points.