Bigger mystery: Stonehenge or USF’s record vs. unranked teams?

Posted Sep 30, 2009 by Brett McMurphy

Updated Sep 30, 2009 at 02:28 PM

They are the unsolved mysteries of the world. Stonehenge, crop circles and, finally, the University of South Florida’s struggle against unranked BCS opponents.

“We play well as an underdog,” USF senior DE George Selvie said. “We play with a lot of enthusiasm. We feel like we can play with anyone in the nation.”

That mindset is part of the reason the Bulls are 5-0 in their last five games against BCS nationally ranked Top 25 opponents. That has helped the Bulls off to fast starts the past two seasons, only to falter down the stretch.

“When we did that (started 6-0 in 2007, 5-0 in 2008) I wasn’t used to losing, I didn’t think we were ever going to lose,” Selvie said. “You kind of get complacent and you don’t realize the other team is going to play their heart out. They’re not going to hold anything back.”

While USF has been successful against ranked opponents, the Bulls are only 7-9 against non-ranked BCS opponents in the same time frame.

So as impressive as the Bulls were in last week’s upset of No. 18 Florida State, can the Bulls avoid a letdown at unranked Syracuse Saturday?