I'm at that point where I can put up about three different link posts today and still not get to everything. So I'll start with the incendiary stuff -- there's a ton of national disbelief at USF being ranked No. 5, which manifests itself in two ways: (1) random shots at the Bulls and (2) picking against them in Saturday's game against Central Florida. So I commence with the linkage ...

-- College football writers in Nevada are pretty much in glass houses, so it's fun to see one cracking on USF, since Nevada as a state has a college football relevance that rivals that of Paraguay. (Apologies to my readers in Paraguay). "South Florida is fifth," writes the Nevada Appeal. "People in Florida couldn't even tell you how to find South Florida."

-- The Denver Post names USF as its most surprising team. "Fifth-ranked South Florida," they write. "How odd does that sound."

-- Tony Barnhart of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- I really should just write AJC -- calls for a 24-23 UCF upset on Saturday, calling the game "this week's shocker." More troubling for Bulls fans, perhaps, is the Gainesville Sun's Pat Dooley calling for a 16-point USF win. "The Bulls are not going undefeated," Dooley writes, "but I don't think the derailment comes during the Bore on I-4." The Associated Press' weekly preview also likes the Bulls, 28-14.

-- Defensive tackle Richard Clebert might be my favorite quote on the team. Just says smart things that are insightful and pointed, nearly the opposite of so many quotes I wind up printing. "I don't think of it as the challenge of facing Kevin Smith," Clebert told the AP on Tuesday. "I think of it as the challenge of Kevin Smith having to face our defense." He's talking about the nation's leading rusher, so that's a very confident quote, but not so much so that it offends the other party that much.

-- I've gotten two e-mails wondering if I think the logo for Jack Link's beef jerky (of the random but funny "Messin' with Sasquatch" commercials) bears too much resemblance to USF's iconic "U" logo. I don't know that I have an opinion, but I welcome lighthearted discourse on the topic. I will admit this is the first time I've linked to a beef jerky site. Proud moment.

-- The Orlando Sentinel's Tania Ganguli takes on the always-fun task of writing a Jim Leavitt profile, doing a solid job from the comfortable approach of "That guy is quirky!" The opening Mike Jenkins anecdote is one I hadn't heard before. Fun stuff, down to psychologist Leavitt referencing "accidental theory."