TAMPA
As ESPN2's cameras panned to the smorgasbord of wigs, foam fingers and screaming millenials behind the Sun Dome's west basket Monday, analyst Brooke Weisbrod called the throng the best student section her crew had seen this season.
Tip-off arrived moments later, at which time Weisbrod and Co. saw more of the Bulls' best.
Which is to say, they witnessed the greatest USF basketball team — men or women — in school history.
"They are a fantastic ballclub," Louisville coach Jeff Walz said.
In the most significant USF game ever in the Sun Dome, Walz watched the Bulls take their first lead with 5:06 to play in Monday's NCAA Tournament second-rounder before lapsing down the stretch in a 60-52 loss to the Cardinals. Now, instead of heading to the Sweet 16 in Albany, N.Y., the Bulls must settle for riding off into school lore.
They can make a rightful claim to being the best to ever wear green and gold.
"We had a remarkable year," Bulls coach Jose Fernandez said.
Exactly how remarkable?
• Their 27 victories tied the 2009 women's team for most in school history (men or women). This club, however, reached 20 wins in only 24 games, fastest of any Bulls club ever.
• They're one of only three Bulls basketball teams to win an NCAA Tournament game.
• They became USF's first women's team to reach a conference tournament final.
• They achieved the school's first Associated Press ranking (men or women) and finished 25th in the regular season's final poll.
• They went 18-0 when scoring more than 70 points.
Only question is, just how long will this club possess school supremacy? As has been well-chronicled, 14 of the 15 Bulls who suited up Monday are expected back, and Fernandez is believed to be homing in on another high-profile European recruit. Barring an unforeseen wave of attrition, the 2015-16 Bulls will become the school's first team to earn a preseason AP top-25 ranking.
And the best-ever argument will rage in another 12 months.
WRITING ON THE WALL? USF's men lost their final link to the 2012 NCAA Tournament team — and one of the program's greatest distributors — with Monday's news that PG Anthony Collins plans to transfer. But in one regard, it might be a promising sign for the immediate future.
Word around the Muma Center was Maryland transfer Roddy Peters, at 6 feet 3 a taller point guard than Collins, was the team's best player in practice this season. Peters had to sit out a year per NCAA transfer rules, but he is believed to be a better fit for coach Orlando Antigua's full-throttle offensive approach than Collins, who seems more suited to running a half-court offense.
The departures of Collins and 6-6 redshirt freshman Dre Clayton leave the Bulls with only one player — PF Chris Perry — who appeared in a game in the Stan Heath era. And Perry's future, due to an unspecified health issue, remains unclear.
ODDS AND ENDS: The football team's pro day is Thursday; the spring intrasquad game is 4 p.m. Saturday at Corbett Stadium. … Junior Lee Ann Spivey, who had a hit in all five softball games last week, ranks 10th on the school's career RBI list (110). Spivey is tied for the American Athletic Conference lead in RBI (42) and home runs (eight). … Entering Tuesday night's game at Florida Gulf Coast, the baseball team (16-8-1) had 12 home runs, three more than its total in 2014.
Stay updated on Tampa Bay’s sports scene
Subscribe to our free Sports Today newsletter
You’re all signed up!
Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.
Explore all your optionsContact Joey Knight at jknight@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Bulls.