Gotta love ESPN.com. To fill the slow summer months, they’ve come up with all sorts of lists. The latest: the nation’s most prestigious college basketball programs since 1984-85.

The teams are ranked by their current membership and not surprisingly, the University of South Florida is at the bottom of the Big East. The rankings award points for NCAA and conference team and individual accomplishments for the 300 Division I programs.

Below are the Big East team’s rankings. UConn, Cincinnati, Syracuse, Louisville and Georgetown are ranked somewhere in the top 30 and their rankings have not been revealed yet.

31. Villanova
36. St. John’s
44. Pittsburgh
51. Seton Hall
T-61. Marquette
67. West Virginia
T-86. Notre Dame
95. DePaul
T-111. Providence
T-225. Rutgers
T-229. South Florida

Of the current Conference USA membership, the Bulls’ former league, USF would have ranked 10th in C-DOA. The Bulls are the fifth-lowest of the BCS or “big six” leagues, ahead of only Washington State (237), Oregon State (241), Baylor (266) and Northwestern (290).

Big East AP voters: As mentioned last week, I will have a vote in this year’s Associated Press football poll. Of the 65 national voters, at least five will have ties to Big East schools.

The others: Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette; Mitch Vingle of The Charleston (WVa.) Gazette; Kent Taylor of WAVE Ch. 3 in Louisville, Ky. and John Silver of the Journal Inquirer in Connecuticut.

The state of Florida has two other voters besides myself: Robbie Andreu (Gainesville Sun) and Jim Lamar (Tallahassee Democrat).

The preseason AP poll will be released Aug. 16.

Everything you wanted to know about helmets, but were afraid to ask: In Tuesday’s Tampa Tribune, Ira Kaufman takes an in-depth look into the advances made with football helmets.

And, Kaufman reports, not only does USF have a new uniform deal with Under Armour, but the Bulls also will exclusively use Schutt helmets.

Speaking of helmets - how’s that for a segue? – USF is among ESPN.com’s “Which school has the cooler helmet contest?” The Bulls made the round of 16 and face off against USC on July 29. You can vote early and often. Considering ESPN’s brackets, I’d pick a Michigan-Georgia final with the Wolverines taking the crown.

Bulls bounced in first round In Phil Steele’s regional magazines – I don’t believe he includes it in his national magazine – he projects a 64-team 2008 football tournament, patterned after the NCAA basketball tournament.

The teams aren’t seeded and he tries to pair teams that meet in the regular season this fall, where possible, in the first round. Therefore, even though he picks USF No. 8 in his overall rankings, he has the Bulls losing a first round matchup against No. 6 West Virginia.

WVU then lost a second-round matchup with Auburn. In fact, no Big East team advanced past the second round. Cincinnati, which beat Rutgers in the first round, lost to Oklahoma in the second round; Louisville, which beat Kentucky in the first round, lost to Kansas State in the second round; Pitt, which beat UConn in the first round, lost to Penn State in the second round.

If you care, his projected Final Four was Florida vs. Oklahoma and USC vs. Ohio State with Florida defeating Ohio State for the mythical championship.

Around the Big East: In case the Big East or Conference USA can’t fulfill its bowl commitments, the St. Petersburg Bowl will use a Sun Belt team to fill the opening. A team from the Sun Belt also will be the first-alternate for the Papajohns.com and Independence bowls. … QB Matt Grothe (Davey O’Brien Award) and DE George Selvie (Hendricks Award) are the latest Bulls added to the ridiculous long watch lists. It would be easier just to print the phone book then list everyone on the respective watch lists. …  Former USF QB Glenn Gauntt, a member of the Philadelphia Soul, will play in ArenaBowl XXII on July 27 in New Orleans. … If you missed it, USF offensive coordinator Greg Gregory and defensive coordinator Wally Burnham will be on Catch 47’s Xtra Point, replayed Tuesday night at 8 and 10, Wednesday at noon and Thursday at 6, 8 and 10 p.m. ... And finally, starting Aug. 1 at 7 a.m. at the Sun Dome ticket office, USF single game football tickets will go on sale. Beat the rush and set up camp early.