Anytime you talk about college football in the state of Florida you are usually either a fan of the Florida Gators or the Florida State Seminoles. Heck, you will also get the occasional Georgia Bulldogs fan out of the Sunshine State. But wait a minute! There are two other college football teams in the state of Florida: the South Florida Bulls (USF) and the Central Florida Knights (UCF)! Both teams will be looking for big redemption from last year and both schools fall into my surprise teams of the 2012-13 College Football season.

Here are some reasons why I like both of these Sunshine State squads and some college football predictions for Florida’s two “other” teams:

South Florida Bulls (USF)
South Florida ended their 2011-12 season losing three straight home games (Miami, FL, Louisville, and WVU) but all three were winnable. It’s no secret that USF has underachieved in recent football years but this year will be different. USF will be strong on defense and defense will get the Bulls wins against a weak Big East conference. USF has 15 returning starters from last year’s disappointing season so again, look for some pride and revenge from these now experienced Bulls players. With the USF Bulls having only three Big East road games (and they get Rutgers and Pittsburgh at home) we will see the Bulls winning be around 8-9 games this season. It wouldn’t shock me to see USF win nine games and if they can get quality, turnover-free games from QB B.J. Daniels they could be playing in a January bowl game. Some big league magazines have USF winning the Big East this year and playing in a BCS bowl. I think they are improved from last year but I will not give them the Big East title prediction until I see them play on the road against Temple. This game is key because they have to travel to Philadelphia after playing Florida State at home. BCS bound – maybe. Bowl game – definitely. And either way it will be a big improvement from last year’s 5-7 season.

2012 South Florida Schedule And Predictions

Sept. 1 Tenn-Chattanooga (W)
Sept.8 @ Nevada (L)
Sept. 13 Rutgers (W)
Sept. 22 @ Ball St (W)
Sept. 29 Florida St (W)
Oct. 6 @ Temple (L)
Oct. 20 @ Louisville (W)
Oct. 27 Syracuse (W)
Nov. 3 Connecticut (W)
Nov. 17 @ Miami FL (W)
Nov. 23 @ Cincinnati (L)
Dec. 1 Pittsburgh (W)

Overall 2012 South Florida Prediction – I have the Bulls going 9-3 this year. But they can beat Cincinnati on the road.

Central Florida Knights (UCF)
Central Florida is coming off a very disappointing 2011-12 season and their loss to East Carolina on the road last year cost them a bowl bid. Last year UCF had six road games and they should have won three of those games (FIU, UAS, and East Carolina) and with those tough losses is why we look for a great turnaround season. UCF has 16 returning starters coming back and these starters want to go bowling this year and they will. UCF was a scoring machine last year and this year they picked up a quarterback transfer from Missouri, Tyler Gabbert. Gabbert – who is the brother of Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert – will have no problem picking up the offense and continue to improve this football team. UCF should be favored against 10 out of their 12 opponents this year. And if you throw out the Ohio State game on September 8 and the Knights could be rolling before they play Tulsa in their last road game. UCF is up there on ‘My Most Improved’ radar and yes they are also on my ‘Big Game Ticket’ radar as well. UCF Knights are my favorite to win the CUSA East division and again the Knights go bowling this college football season.

2012 Central Florida Schedule and Predictions

Aug. 30 @ Akron (W)
Sept. 8 @ Ohio St (L)
Sept. 15 Florida Intl (W)
Sept. 29 Missouri (L)
Oct. 4 East Carolina (W)
Oct. 13 Southern Miss (L)
Oct. 20 @ Memphis (W)
Oct. 27 @ Marshall (W)
Nov. 3 SMU (W)
Nov. 10 @ UTEP (W)
Nov. 17 @ Tulsa (L)
Nov. 24 UAB (W)

Overall 2012 Central Florida Prediction – I will say that Central Florida will go 8-4 but the Knights can beat Missouri and Southern Miss, so they definitely could hit double-digits in wins.

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