When USF joined the Big East in 2005, the popular thinking was that playing the Bulls would give the rest of the conference an inroads into the state of Florida and better access to its fertile recruiting grounds.

But as USF prepares for its fourth season in the league, the opposite appears to be true -- the number of Floridians on opposing Big East rosters is actually down, with just 91 this season, down from 107 last year and 108 in 2006.

Last year, we tabulated the number of Floridians on each roster and half-jokingly awarded a "Sunshine Cup" to the program with the most -- West Virginia and Louisville tied with 22, just ahead of Pittsburgh (21) and Rutgers (19). This year, the Mountaineers are runaway champs, with 24 players on roster from Florida, eight more than the closest challenger. So here are the totals using each school's media guide, with the 2007 and 2006 numbers in parentheses to show which schools are moving in and which are moving out ...

SUNSHINE CUP, 2008

1. West Virginia     24 (22, 18)

2. Louisville           16 (22, 25)

2. Rutgers             16 (19, 24)

4. Pittsburgh         14 (21, 21)

5. Connecticut        9 (14, 14)

6. Cincinnati          6 (4, 4)

6. Syracuse            6 (5, 2)

There you have it. USF, for comparison, has 89 players from Florida, which is actually low for the Bulls. Having 12 out-of-staters on roster is incredibly high by Jim Leavitt's standards. So seeing West Virginia -- the preseason pick to win the league according to Big East media members -- at the top, and seeing Syracuse -- the unanimous pick to finish last, again -- at the bottom, is there a direct relationship between Floridians on roster and wins in the record book? Certainly doesn't seem to hurt ...