South Florida was in its football prime nearly 10 years ago, led by a 2007 win over West Virginia in a Big East Thursday night showdown that helped jump the Bulls to a No. 2 national ranking about halfway through the season.
East Carolina was also in a groove during those years, highlighted by Conference USA championships in 2008 and ’09.
Conference realignment has since drastically changed the leagues. Exits by Big East leaders West Virginia (Big 12) and Louisville (ACC) helped lead to the league’s football dismantling, and ECU and USF are now in the American Athletic Conference that in the most basic sense is a collection of Big East holdovers and former C-USA schools.