South Florida Bulls Basketball

South Florida was a debatable topic for the selection committee when it came down to picking the bracket.

Now, it's clear the committee made the right decision.

After beating Cal in the First Four, South Florida beat fifth-seeded Temple 58-44, advancing to the third round against thirteenth-seeded Ohio. The Bulls' punishing defense overpowered Temple, as the Owls were held to just 44 points.

While the Bulls only scored 58 points, USF isn't known for lighting up the scoreboard. Augustus Gilchrist dominated down low, and South Florida's dynamic guards, Anthony Collins and Victor Rudd Jr, didn't let Temple's bunch of guards get the shots they wanted.

The Big East's best defense showed their true colors against Temple. Juan Fernandez, Ramone Moore, and Khalif Wyatt were limited all night, and Temple shot below 36 percent during the game.

When they face a defense like this, there's no other way to go.

During the First Four, California wasn't able to get anything going, because South Florida contested shots, fought for rebounds, and didn't let anyone score two easy points.

That's what South Florida does. And what they've done looks awfully similar to what VCU did last year.

Sure, the Commodores won games because of offense, not defense, but South Florida does have a lot in common with VCU. Both were bubble teams placed in the First Four, and both dominated a Pac-12 team in the First Four. Both beat a good team in the first round by double-digits, and both knocked down their threes.

VCU was a great shooting team, and while the Bulls don't score much, they make their threes in the clutch. South Florida made 8 of 17 shots from downtown, while Temple made just 2 of 12.

Why? Because South Florida didn't let them get any open threes.

Ohio beat Michigan because D.J. Cooper and other players on their team know how to score. But when South Florida steps on the court, it's a whole different game. Even the best offenses are shut down.

The Bobcats don't know what's coming next.

The South Florida Bulls are about to launch a major attack against the Temple Owls in what will be one of March Madness' biggest upsets of 2012.

After watching the Bulls suffocate the California Bears in the first round of the NCAA tournament, it isn't a stretch to predict that they will be able to shut down the Owls in the same way.

In the game against Cal, South Florida played smothering defense, holding the Bears to a miserable 36.2 percent from the floor (only 21.4 percent from behind the arc). Cal didn’t score over the last 8:55 of the first half, missing 10 shots and turning it over twice while South Florida pulled ahead 36-13.

Temple better be ready for the fight of their lives.

The Owls rely on a high-powered offense to get the job done. During the season they ranked 30th overall in the nation, scoring 76 points per game.

They rely on three guards to score the bulk of their points: Ramone Moore, Khalif Wyatt and Juan Fernandez combined to average 46 points per contest, well above 50 percent of the team's total points per game.

The problem is: The three top scorers for Cal were also guards.

Justin Cobbs, Jorge Gutierrez and Allen Crabbe averaged 40 points per game during the regular season for Cal. But when it came time to face the indomitable defense of the Bulls they couldn't buy a bucket—between the three of them they only scored 22 points and hit only 7-of-26 shots.

This kind of defensive effort isn't new, either. 

During the 2011-2012 season, the Bulls had the seventh-ranked scoring defense, allowing only 56.8 points per game. 

Augustus Gilchrist and Victor Rudd Jr. are going to dominate the paint and gobble up all of Temple's missed shots, leading to easy buckets and a win.

Strong, steady defense beats high-powered offenses that rely on shooters nine times out of 10. 

This upcoming game won't be any different.

The Bulls will destroy the Owls.

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Last year college basketball fans witnessed VCU pull a George Mason, making it to the Final Four. This year, USF is going to pull a VCU.

The Bulls are just one win short of their program's single-season record and the Temple Owls will oblige them with that victory whether they like it or not.

With wins against Louisville and Seton Hall, paired with a near-upset against UConn, the Bulls are for real and have a relatively easy road to the Sweet 16.

"There was a team last year (VCU) that people thought shouldn't be in [the tournament] and they got to the Final Four" Coach Stan Heath told Yahoo! Sports.

When the Bulls get passed Temple using their smother defense, there's a fair chance they could meet the Bobcats of Ohio instead of favored Michigan.

Michigan is one of the teams I see being upset in the first round of the tournament, which would leave USF facing off against 13th seeded Ohio in a game where they would certainly be favored.

Freshman guard Anthony Collins has played lights out for South Florida and that momentum should play over into the rest of the tournament.

It may have gone unnoticed by some, but Coach Heath was named the Big East coach of the year this season for his work down in South Florida, notching 12 victories within the conference this season.

Some analysts worry the fact that USF have no players averaging double-digit points entering the tournament, but when you're a defensively minded team that stat doesn't hurt you as long as you're shutting down the opposition's offensive efforts.

The Bulls give up an average of 56.9 points per game, which was the best in the Big East this year. While Temple is a fine squad and will certainly give USF trouble, the Bulls will enter the contest with momentum from their First Four victory and propel themselves past Ohio in the round of 32.

Now, after all is said and done the Bulls will most likely have to take down North Carolina to emerge from the Mid-West, but hey, it's March Madness and crazier things have happened.

There is still time to change your 2012 NCAA tournament brackets and make the right upset picks.

The second round of your bracket is ever so important. If you pick the wrong team to get hot and make a run through the tournament, chances are your bracket will end up in the garbage before we even make it to the Sweet 16.

Consequently, if you pick the right team to get hot, pull off an upset or two and make a run through the tournament, you could be looking at a very successful and epic month of March.

So much of your bracket success will hinge on what upsets you pick.

Let's say, for instance, that you pick Kentucky to win the whole tournament, but they get bounced out in the second round. Well, you've already lost and the tournament has barely begun.

That would be a horrible feeling. While I don't feel Kentucky will lose in Round 2, there are a few upsets that I do feel comfortable with picking. You have to know a bit about the teams and how dangerous they can potentially be.

Here are two dangerous teams you should take a chance on:

Colorado Buffaloes:

The No. 11-seeded Buffaloes have a second-round matchup with No. 5 seed UNLV. This has upset written all over it.

It's not necessarily about what UNLV can't do, but more so what Colorado can do. They are an incredibly active team and they are good at many things.

They have excellent three-point shooters, which makes them very dangerous, but they are also very active in the paint. They outhustle, outrebound and outrun teams.

Their leader, sophomore guard Carlon Brown, is easily one of the better players in this tournament, averaging 12.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game, but he is highly underrated. His numbers don't tell the whole story.

The Buffaloes aren't glamorous in any way, but they are a scrappy team with a ton of fight in them. Look out for them to cause a stir.

South Florida Bulls:

The No. 5-seeded Temple Owls are a very good offensive team, so No. 12 South Florida is going to have their hands full.

That being said, I think they have what it takes to pull off an upset.

The Bulls are a very good defensive team. They held the California Golden Bears to just .362 shooting from the field and played stifling defense, at one point leading by as much as 32.

This a team that beat No. 18-ranked Louisville back in February, so they aren't a stranger to upsets or playing high-level opponents.

They are hot coming into this game and they are very scrappy. That's a very dangerous combination, and it will lead to an upset.

As things stand right now, South Florida does not deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament. The Big East has a good basketball reputation so whether they can actually get in or not on their current resume, remains to be seen. The good news is that the Bulls can get in and deserve to be there, but the following things must happen. 

A solid run in the Big East Tournament

I am not talking about winning it. Clearly, if that happens they're in, but the Bulls have enough of a regular season resume to have a little bit of breathing room. 

What absolutely can't happen is a first or second round elimination at the hands of some Big East bottom feeder. Getting to the third round of this thing is an absolute must.

If that doesn't happen it will be hard to take this team seriously as a legit tournament squad. Joe Lunardi's most recent Bracketology has USF as a bubble team and an early loss would do nothing but wreck their chances. 

Worst Case Scenario: Close loss to a top team

The Big East currently has five ranked teams in Syracuse, Marquette, Notre Dame, Georgetown and Louisville. Even if they beat up on a couple of bottom teams first, South Florida can't encounter one of the top teams only to get dropped by 25 points. 

The only way they could possibly get away with it is, if immediately follows a win against another one of those top teams. If South Florida does get destroyed in one of those matches, then the tournament committee would be better off taking a small conference school with a much better record. 

Score some points

USF hasn't hit 60 points in each of its last five games. On the season, its averaging just over 60 a game, which is good enough for 320th in the country. 

Right now, no player on the Bulls averages more than 10 points a game. Augustus Gilchrist leads all scorers at 9.9. 

If they are going to garner a spot in the tournament, this team has to put up some points. Many of the mid-major programs put up a lot of points, as they generally feature more upperclassmen than some of the "one and done" big conference schools.

South Florida needs to show that they can compete with those teams when they get hot. That means hitting 60 or even 65 on occasion. 

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The big concern for the geeks and numbers-crunchers that analyze RPIs, strength-of-schedules and other statistics for teams vying for NCAA Tournament bids was that USF had not beaten any opponents of merit. To these critics (myself included), it would be like a high school team winning a state championship in Montana. It's just not saying much.

Despite the fact the raging Bulls are 18-11 and have 11 Big East wins, they are still on the outside of the bubble according to the scribes and the people with microphones in their faces for four hours at a clip. Coming into this glorious season, I would have been satisfied if the Bulls pulled out 11 wins total to this point.

In fact, esteemed ESPN basketball writer Andy Katz said the USF Bulls still have a ways to go despite their most recent victory against a fellow top-tier Big East team in Cincinnati. It is almost as if the only one supporting USF is coach Stan Heath himself.

Look, I still have my doubts about this team actually getting an invite. However, if they beat Louisville or even West Virginia, what else is there to prove?

This Bulls team is going to have to find a cure for cancer to get any respect nationally. In full disclosure, I'm not big on the "no one respects us" card, but in this situation, it is justly warranted.

The good news is the fans actually came out and supported the team on Sunday afternoon. Laugh all you want, but 6,784 announced attendance is superb by USF standards. Heck, I heard crickets at the last home game. On a side note, that seems to be a running theme for all Tampa Bay sporting events.

Getting back to USF, the big knock is the Bulls still do not have enough signature wins, whether it be in non-conference or conference play. From the top to the bottom of their schedule, they appear to have a grand total of two quality wins: Cleveland State and Cincinnati.

To me, the Seton Hall win at home could be labeled as hit or miss regarding whether it is a signature win or not. I mean, you don't brag to your friends that you bought a Hyundai.

When stacked up against the resumes of fellow bubble teams like the Northwestern Wildcats and the Miami Hurricanes, that will be a tough sell.

However, if the respected sportswriters are suggesting that nine Big East teams will make the dance, how in the world of Carmen Sandiego is USF not one of those righteous nine programs? Is DePaul going to get an invite before USF?

That thought of USF not being one of the noted nine is almost as mind-boggling to me as the Big East inviting Boise State and SMU to play football a few years from now (I'm guessing John Marinatto wasn't a geography major).

Really, all USF can focus on are these last two games that hold the future in balance. I'm sure Coach Heath is letting his players know to not focus on the enhanced media coverage and just focus on the process. It is a cliché to say, but it's the truth.

After USF's nail-biting win against the intimidating (for more reasons than one) Bearcats, I am a believer in this team. There is really no question the Bulls are an NCAA Tournament-caliber squad.

Whether they actually get into the tournament is a question that remains to be answered.

USF began its improbable run yesterday towards a Big East Tournament title and possibly its third appearance at The Big Dance.

The last time the Bulls made the tournament? 1992. That's right, almost 20 years ago.

A huge win over 10th-seeded Villanova has begun that run for the 15th-seeded Bulls. Anthony Crater and his do-or-die, last-second layup put the dagger in the hearts of Nova fans everywhere. A 70-69 victory has given this team some momentum and hope to win the tournament.

But, after all that, are they pretenders or contenders for this title and an automatic berth into March Madness?

It doesn't seem likely for the Bulls this season. As much as their fans may want me to say it, Cincinnati will most likely end all hopes tonight.

South Florida ended the season on a two-game losing streak to St. John's and Pittsburgh, which isn't all that bad.

Then you look at the Bulls' record to end the season: 10-22 and 3-15 in Big East play. Ouch.

Stats don't favor the Bulls either, as they are 309th in points-per-game and 273rd in field goal percentage.

It was luck last night that the Bulls won. Nova was up 16 going into halftime and basically choked. The Wildcats are possibly making the tournament, but could now be subject to becoming a bubble team.

I'm all for the Cinderella story and the small, no-name filled team making a run in any tournament. Everybody can say they have the momentum and the ability to beat anyone, and that anything can happen on any given day.

Sure. Fine. Whatever you like. That doesn't change the fact they have shown all season long they were incapable of being a .500 ball club and can't compete in the Big East, let alone its tournament.

Even if the Bulls were to win tonight against Cincinnati, they would have to face Notre Dame. It's a tough road ahead, and these Big East pretenders won't make it very far. 

South Florida racked up a win over struggling Auburn despite the absence of Augustus Gilchrist for a second straight game.

Gilchrist and head coach Stan Heath are having “philosophical differences,” which have caused the Bulls big man to miss the past two games.

Gilchrist’s suspension is indeterminate, but he is expected to see action in the near future with conference play beginning in two weeks.

He has underachieved this season, averaging only 10.7 points and six rebounds this season, while averaging almost double in both categories a season ago before his injury.

The departure of star Dominique Jones to the NBA has been felt this season by Heath and his club. The Bulls are still trying to find an identity on offense and have no real closer so far this season. They are 6-5 on the season and continue to battle but are a shadow of the team that went to the NIT last season.

Jarrid Famous has taken Gilchrist’s absence in stride and has upped his production in the past few games. He finished the Auburn contest with 15 points and six rebounds as he battled in the paint. Famous will be expected to improve as long as Gilchrist is out and possibly take over as USF’s main post threat this season with Gilchrist’s underachievement.

Hugh Robertson and Ron Anderson have also improved this season. Both players are beginning to become integral parts of the team on both sides of the court this year. Anderson is a rebounding machine for the Bulls, and Robertson adds another scoring threat to the Bulls arsenal.

The Bulls have been consistently good on the charity stripe, and that has paid dividends toward the six wins on the season. USF keeps itself in games by hitting free throws down the stretch in the second half of games. Once conference play begins in a few weeks, this will be crucial to any success they may have in the Big East.

It’s early December and the preseason is in full swing for the South Florida Bulls. The big question going into the season was who would replace Dominique Jones’s production on both ends of the court. So far the jury is still out on that one.

Augustus Gilchrist looked like the best candidate and even had better stats than Jones last season before being injured for most of the season. So far this season Gilchrist is averaging a meager 11 points and six rebounds a game, half of what he was averaging before his injury last season.

Jawanza Poland and Ron Anderson Jr. both show promise for the Bulls this season, averaging double digits in scoring, the only other Bulls besides Gilchrist to do so. Anderson is close to averaging a double-double with eight rebounds a game as well.

Poland is a new addition to the Bulls roster and has done his best to fill in as Jones's replacement. Anderson has seen the most minutes next to Gilchrist, with Jarrid Famous and Toarlyn Fitzpatrick snagging some as well.

Anthony Crater leads the team in assists despite seeing action in only five games so far this season. The development of the point guard position will be crucial to the Bulls' success in the Big East this season.

The Bulls have started December off at 5-3 and have had several close losses, including a double overtime loss to BYU. They’ve looked average at best so far this season, and the Big East schedule looks daunting to say the least.

USF should finish the non-conference schedule above .500, but don’t expect to see the same results once conference play begins. This year's starters need to step up their production, especially Gilchrist who needs to become the team's leader on the court and the locker room.

The Big East currently has five ranked teams and several, including Notre Dame and Cincinnati, that aren’t ranked but are currently undefeated. As with any Big East team, there is no arguing the strength of schedule. Unfortunately for the Bulls, it’s not looking like they’ll repeat their postseason exploits this spring.

Dominique Jones was a versatile player for South Florida last season. He averaged 21.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.6 assists a game. He carried the Bulls to a NIT berth, after Augustus Gilchrist went down for the majority of the season with an ankle injury.

Jones has been criticized as being an undersized combo guard with no real position in the NBA. His ball handling and athleticism have also come into question during scouts’ observations. Despite these negatives, Jones positives and potential continue to outweigh them.

At 6’4’’ and 216 pounds, Jones already has an NBA-ready body. He’s taken the abuse of the Big East for several seasons, and has excelled during that time. His 8’5’’ in reach make him an excellent pickpocket and rebounder.

Jones was expected to carry USF last season, and had the ball in his hands and extraordinary amount of time. This led to a higher number of turnovers, something Jones needs to work on but can easily fix at the next level.

Jones jump shot has continued to come around, but it’s his slashing ability that makes him so dangerous on offense. His mid-range jumper has become potent and he’s improved his perimeter game. He shot 31.1 percent from beyond the arc last season for the Bulls.

Jones has an elite first step and tremendous speed driving to the hole. He is a natural scorer and is very coachable, picking up new offensive schemes quickly. This ability to pick up new offenses gives him the ability to play the point as well.

Jones will do well going to a team with an already established post presence and point guard combo. Being a scoring guard is where he’ll be the most comfortable and teams will be able to utilize his strengths the most.

Current projections put Jones as a late first round or early second round pick. He has gone to workouts with over 20 teams so far, proving he’s got more than a few eyes on him. Memphis is looking at him as a potential point guard, while Boston sees him as a possibly Eddie House/Nate Robinson type of player for them.

Wherever Jones ends up, he’ll be ready to contribute starting on Day One, something many of the players in the late first round can't say.

Several scouts see Jones as the possible “Biggest Steal” in this year’s draft, something I’m sure every Bulls fan would be happy to see.