I won't bother commenting on the relationship situation that USF's Ben Moffitt finds himself in, that's his business. What's more interesting, especially in light of the suspensions our friends up at FSU just handed out, is this:

"He is living a lie," she said. "He's lying to everyone. He's not helping (us) with anything." Their marriage of five years has deteriorated to the point that Shauna, 26, made public Thursday a larger allegation, saying that she had taken multiple online courses for her husband and written papers for his college classes to keep him eligible to play football.

"I have written every single paper he has ever written in five years at USF," said Shauna, who works as a data specialist in the Sumter County Appraiser's Office.

As of 3 p.m. Thursday, USF officials had not responded to questions seeking comment on the academic allegations.

Yikes. This is fodder of course for everyone outside of USF who has questioned Coach Leavitt's discipline (or lack thereof) of his team over in Tampa. I'm sure this type of thing takes place not just on football teams but on college campuses at large, but man.. talk about continually fueling the fire that was kicked off by Nick Saban bashing USF's lowered acceptance requirements. This comes after ESPN ran a "behind the lines" on the school showing that close to half of the USF players were admitted under 'special circumstances' with the NCAA.

This kind of thing plays out one of two ways -- either they get past it unscathed and start recruiting legit kids, or they keep going until they implode from on and off the field issues. The big question that comes up when discussing the "timing" of a possible shakedown, is whether or not Leavitt will stick it out to be around when it happens. Personally, I think if he were looking to "upgrade" coaching positions, he would have already done it. Especially with all the openings this post season.

The saying goes that if internet message boards were purely representative of a fan base, every team would have a couple of starting quarterbacks and fire their coach three times a year. I think it's fair to apply that logic to what goes on over at TheBullsPen.com and other USF hangouts when it comes to discussing the UCF/USF game.

Their most passionate fans have followed Leavitt's lead in dismissing the UCF/USF game as nothing more than an annoyance. There's no rivalry because UCF isn't in a BCS conference, USF has "passed" UCF (certainly not in entrance requirements, graduation rates, campus life or facilities.. but I digress), USF "always wins" (0-2 on the series, USF won with a late touchdown in the 4th last year). Things of that nature.

Here's the rub, USF fans.

Rivalries, specifically "natural rivalries," have very little to do with on (or off) the field actions (or in UCF's case, inaction). A natural rivalry such as this is bigger than anything you say on a message board, any line your coach wants to pitch, any blog post we write and any final score on the scoreboard. It transcends conferences and alliances because it has very little to do with actual football. That's just where we get to watch the two schools face off in any "formal" fashion.

Two similar schools, similar history, similar age in the same geography. High school friends go their separate ways, families are split between them, co-workers work next to each other in cubicles while neighbors fly different flags. There's animosity over medical schools (USF lobbied against UCF's) and BigEast membership (UCF was on the list, crossed off in favor of a more successful basketball program at USF).

The two cities themselves have a history of animosity. Tampa successfully landed an NFL franchise rendering the Citrus Bowl close to worthless while Orlando landed an NBA team. Tampa, quite frequently, seemed to be waiting in the wings for the Magic had Orlando not approved the new arena. Ask residents here what they think about Tampa, and you'll hear a story of two sister cities. One, Tampa, a rowdy, drunken promiscuous sister, and the other, Orlando, a Disney loving, family oriented type. Not exactly a friendly setup for Thanksgiving dinner. (har har).

That sister analogy parallels to the routes each football program has taken as well. Leavitt, who of course denies Saban's comments on the subject, has in fact taken many athletes of questionable character. It worked for Miami in the 80s, and it seems to be working for USF 20 years later. I read somewhere the other day (and will search for the link when I have time) that mentioned USF has had close to 45 recruits ruled ineligible for college ball over the last 4-5 years.

George O'leary, on the other hand, has probably heard enough about the word character to last a lifetime after his resume debacle. There's very little tolerance for missteps at UCF. When he arrived, he kicked off so many players UCF wasn't able to field a spring game. When the season came, he had players playing both sides of the ball to make up for the lack of personnel. He went 0-11 that year, but damn it, they had the highest GPA in the NCAA.

One school has taken a fast paced, high octane route, while the other has made a choice to build up in a traditional, conservative manner. Two conflicting views, both with their own set of advantages and disadvantages. It's hard to deny Leavitt anything when he has his program in the top 5, but maybe it's the Orlando in me -- I prefer George's way even if it means we're shooting for the Liberty Bowl.

Is USF going to find similar feelings amongst fan bases from FAU and FIU? How about Miami or Gainesville? Not likely. I'm sure they would all be great games, as all in-state games are, but it'll never have that feeling of playing the town-down-the-road. David Whitley did some quality investigative reporting proving that the feeling is indeed mutual between UCF and USF students.

All of this adds up to one conclusion -- this game needs to be played, and it needs to be played often.I'm positive that USF will dodge UCF for as long as they can once this contract ends. I'm sure they will kick and scream and piss themselves with anger if UCF ever comes up for BigEast membership. In fact, I think we'll see a completely different BCS structure before USF votes for UCF inclusion. But none of that, absolutely none of it, will affect the behavior of the fans. Fans want this game, communities want this game, players want this game and the local economy wants this game.

The only people who seem to not want this game are Leavitt and all the USF internet dorks. It's a shame that they're more concerned with winning and rankings than they are with students, fans and the communities. The economic benefit, the entertainment enjoyment and the chance to start another proud Florida tradition will suffer because of it.

Can't wait for the game tomorrow. Here's to a fun, injury free one. (cheers)

On the Game:

USF handed UCF their second loss of the season on Saturday. All over the Internet The few places on the Internet where people who follow irrelevant programs convene, are flooded with USF fans saying things like "I hope this puts to rest the rivalry" or something to that effect.

Here's the thing fellah's.. I'm not sure what game you guys watched, but from my seats on the 45 yard line, 2nd row behind USF's bench, I saw two equally matched small time programs struggle with both defense and offense. I saw a game that came down to one team driving on the ten yard line with 30 seconds left that couldn't get it done. In the middle of the third, I turned around to the gentlemen behind me and started discussing comparisons. A giant pillow fight is the best we could come up with.

I also saw a USF team up close that, frankly, looked almost identical to UCF (minus the house arrest anklets). I did see, though, that Grothe (USF QB) is in fact going to be an amazing player. It's not so much his talent, but the intangibles that you can't teach. He had composure, he had vision, he had leadership -- that kid won the game for South Florida. I will say that as a freshman, I worry for his safety against a team like WV. He can't be more than 6 foot and a buck eighty. I thought Ken Dorsey was small back in the day. God help him when he plays a team with an actual pass rush.

On USF trolls:

The difference I'm finding between USF fans and UCF fans is a sense of realism and humility. Going 0-17 will do that to ya (keep in mind, when our program was USF's age, we were 9-2 and just as cocky). There isn't a battle for "fourth" going on the state of Florida, like many USF supporters like to claim. There is a battle for "not last" in the state. The competition isn't UF, FSU, UM and UxF. Its FAU, FIU, USF, and UCF. I wouldn't be surprised if UNF decides to join the mix. The talent difference between the big 3 and the rest of us is so large its immeasurable (Yes, Miami fell out of the top 25, but there are some obvious coaching issues going on). UCF fans understand that we're building a program from scratch. USF's quarterback stated after the game that they could beat anyone in the country. I love that kind of confidence, and I wish Moffett had some of it, but please, don't be fooled. The way Troy has been playing, they'd dismantle both of us.

A reader posted earlier today that its all about the W, and he's right, but outside of that, it's the same tired comment that you read all over the place. The trolling students over at that school do is simply unmatched. "It's not a rivalry" we're just going to go around searching out blogs to talk shit on in our spare time..... Riiiight..

All cynicism aside, USF fans have do have a reason to celebrate. 3-0 is their best start since their first year, and it's certainly more impressive than UCF's current 1-2. Playing two div 1aa schools and then UCF would hardly qualify as impressive though, and I'm pretty sure any pollster or simple sports fan would agree. Now, that's not to say UCF is in a better position -- we're not. We lost to a team that UConn decidedly manhandled last season and we gave up 322 yards of offense to Villanova. We won't speak to what happened up in Gainesville.


On the Future of The Programs:

I've never claimed UCF was anything than more than what it is (a team one season removed from 0-11) and I don't think any serious fan would. I would just love to meet a USF fan who is willing to admit similar sentiments about their program (10-13 over the past two years. Hardly big time).

USF also has a great head start with their BCS birth. I'm just not convinced it will mean much in the long run (short run, sure). With USF playing the likes of UL, WVU, and Pitt year after year -- it's going to be awhile before they take home their conference championship. The BCS table alone hasn't done much for programs like Stanford, Duke, Illinois, and the majority of other schools in the ESPN bottom 10.

More to the BCS point, with the recent off-season changes, a team like TCU can nancy prance their way through a MWC schedule and receive an automatic bid. We're witnessing the BCS slowly being forced (remember, it's only a decade old) into what it's suppose to be (structure, mainly). Non-BCS TCU will make it to a BCS game long before USF gets there, and they'll have an easier time doing it.

The two schools are taking completely different paths. I think UCF's O'Leary is building the program up the right way (character and discipline). The best example of this was his decision to suspend our top player, Kevin Smith (rb), for the USF game because he missed team curfew. Meanwhile, USF's starting tightend was arrested two weeks ago for a DUI, and has served no suspension of any kind to date. USF lost close to half (nine) of this summers recruiting class due to academic ineligibility. UCF has the highest GPA in the NCAA. Everyone has their priorities.

On the Future of the Series:

At the end of the day, it was a ton of fun on Saturday. On that everyone seems to agree. For those of us who actually feel invested into our community down there in Central Florida (USF qualifies, ironically), it served as a great example of what's possible for both schools. The economic impact alone justifies the game. Both public schools are paid for with tax dollars and the community deserves such a huge economic opportunity. It's truly fantastic to see. After the game, I was 13 miles away in Waterford Lakes and there were USF fans everywhere spending money. I'm sure it was similar last year when UCF traveled to Tampa.

I think USF will have our number again next year. In fact, it could end up almost exactly like the UF/FSU series. It was a series that ended up having to be forced on both schools via legislation because of stubborn administrators. It was also a series that UF won for probably a decade before it became competitive. 20 years from now (tradition takes time), USF/UCF will be a spitting image and all of Central Florida will benefit.

It's a great time to be a fan -- witnessing the birth of something great. Congrats on the win USF, best of luck in your conference, and I can't wait to see you again at RayJay!