We all know USF doesn't have any real, honest-to-God rivals. But there are a few schools that we just flat-out dislike for one reason or another. I don't think Cincinnati makes the list for a lot of people, but it should. Consider:
- The Bulls have lost four straight against the Bearcats in football, and 5 of 7 overall. Only Mo Plancher has been on the roster of a USF team that beat Cincinnati.
- In 2007, USF turned the ball over eight times at home and had a slew of trick plays dropped on them, yet still had a golden opportunity to win the game before losing a 38-33 heartbreaker. Last year... well, you know what happened last year.
- USF has never won in Cincinnati (0-3). In fact, none of the games have been particularly close. I'm the one who can still remember Gino Giudugli throwing for about 1500 yards against the Bulls in 2004 as they played out the string.
- A Bearcats win was responsible for preventing the 2002 team from going to a bowl. They had to sit home after going 9-2 because Cincinnati beat East Carolina on the last weekend of the regular season to become bowl eligible and fill all of Conference USA's bowl slots. A Cincinnati loss would have sent the Bulls to Hawaii, but instead USF was left out. Meanwhile, the Bearcats went on to disgrace themselves in the New Orleans Bowl by losing to a Sun Belt team, North Texas.
- Any longtime USF basketball knows about the Bulls' dismal relationship with Cincinnati. The teams have become more competitive as the Bulls have improved and the Bearcats have gotten worse, but USF had a 14-game losing streak to Cincinnati that spanned the entire Bob Huggins era. Only an upset at the 2005 Conference USA Tournament kept USF from going 0-fer all-time against Huggins at UC. You knew how every game was going to play out, too. The fans would be whipped into a frenzy because not only were the Bearcats good, but they usually had some kind of off-court controversy going to make them that much more detestable. The Bulls would come out enthusiastically and hang in there for awhile, and then it would all go to crap in the second half.
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Cincinnati's nationally-ranked women's volleyball team, which won 27 straight sets earlier this season, delivered a ringing loss to the USF team on October 23.THIS IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN, GO BULLS.
If you have any other Cincinnati-related indignities to share, let's hear them.