USF fans look at the logjam atop the American Conference and see the Bulls ultimately bursting it. They browse the league’s tiebreaker policies for first and second place, and exhale.

Tampa, Florida; Friday, 7 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: South Florida hosts LIU after L'or Mputu scored 20 points in South Florida's 81-56 win over the Florida International Panthers. South Florida finished 23-11 overall with a 14-3 record at home during the 2024-25 season.

The Roadrunners are riding high after last week's win over Tulane but will face one of the elite teams in the American Conference on Thursday in Tampa, Fla.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Wes Enis' 22 points helped South Florida defeat Florida A & M 102-67 on Monday. Josh Omojafo added 17 points for the Bulls. Izaiyah Nelson had 16 points.

North Texas was idle last weekend. Redshirt freshman QB Drew Mestemaker has paced the Mean Green thus far, throwing 11 TD passes against no interceptions while completing 67.9% of his attempts. Mestemaker and the Green are averaging an AAC-best 44.8 points per game.

It's that mentality that has Golesh confident of a bounce back. "I think the best teams as you look through college football are able to respond," Golesh said. And, he hopes the response is positive, because USF is finally playing meaningful football this late in the season.

USF has playoff potential, and Tuesday night's first College Football Playoff rankings will show how seriously the committee takes them. Why it matters: The Bulls have never reached the playoffs, but even with a loss to Memphis in Week 9,