It was an up and down season for USF Volleyball with the later-than-usual transition to new head coach Courtney Draper. But the team certainly finished strong, winning three of their last four to make it to the Big East Tournament. And these two players return next year as the projected starters on each pin for a team that will enter 2013 with high expectations. Fairs is becoming a dynamic 6 rotation player, and Walton hits as hard a ball as any right side in the league, using her 6'3 frame to also help as a force at the net. But they've got unfinished business to attend to in 2012 at 3:30pm today as they take on Notre Dame in the opening round of the conference tournament in Milwaukee. The match will be broadcast live on BigEast.tv, so mentally check out at your cubicle about 90 minutes early today and stream away. Should be a good one: If the Bulls pass the tough serving Irish effectively, they should head back to the semifinals for the first time since 2009.

All six of USF basketball's 2013 verbal commitments signed their letters of intent on Thursday, and Heath was finally allowed to talk about them all. The six players are: - John Egbunu, a 6'10" center from Fort Walton Beach and an ESPN100 recruit - Chris Perry, a 6'8" forward from Bartow and another ESPN100 player - Dre'Kalo "Dre" Clayton, a 6'6" forward from Orlando Evans - Bo Ziegler, a 6'6" guard/forward from Detroit Community School - Drew Davis, a 6'0" guard and Egbunu's teammate at Fort Walton Beach - Stan's son Josh Heath, a 6'2" point guard from Tampa Prep Interesting that after going several years with only Toarlyn Fitzpatrick as an impact local recruit, USF has signed five Florida players in this class.

Sounds about right to me. Based on absolutely zero research, I am positive this is the highest preseason ranking the Bulls have had since joining the Big East. Louisville was the unanimous first-place choice, followed by Syracuse, Notre Dame, and Cincinnati. DePaul was last again. #BootDePaul

Everyone's favorite dreadlocked Florida transfer is now out indefinitely after a domestic violence battery charge. Explaining to rabid Bulls fans why the former 5-star recruit is not catching passes has now gotten slightly easier. With Dunkley's suspension, Sterling Griffin being made of toothpicks and a mysterious injury to D'Vario Montgomery's hand, the Bulls' once-promising receiving corps is now running thin on bodies above 160 pounds.

Madison Square Garden didn't even bid on the ACC tournament. Get bent, Swofford.

Your big Thursday night conference opener, with the closest thing you have to a Big East rival, being hawked on LivingSocial with 2-for-1 ticket specials. It doesn't say where the tickets are, but if they regularly sell for $30 I bet they're the south end zone seats, rather than upper-deck tickets. This isn't good. Is this good? This isn't good.

Alabama and LSU are right behind them. USF received three legitimate votes - one from Roll Bama Roll at #20, another from The Ciskie Blog at #22, and a third from Blogger So Dear at #24. Ignore Black Shoe Diaries putting the Bulls at #6, because they were getting on an even higher horse than everyone in the media who has climbed on their high horses to criticize Penn State's football culture.

I wasn't sure how I'd react to seeing a USF Volleyball team coached by someone I didn't know for the first time in 12 years. But I comported myself as I always have: with tons of profanity and by throwing whatever objects were within reach when we screwed up. Yesterday our backup setter told me she likes to watch me from the bench because I'm such a maniac. At least someone is entertained. But after losing six straight sets to not-very-impressive Wisconsin and Creighton teams, the Bulls were able to remind UCF today that they suck at generally everything ever. We'll have a full season preview up hopefully before Isaac leaves town, but a big congrats to new coach Courtney Draper on her first win in green and gold.

We're not even back in the Sun Dome, and the Indian Burial Ground Curse returns! Mind you, Austin isn't ineligible by NCAA standards, just USF's greater-than-necessary academic ones. And we will never, ever rip the university for holding student-athletes to higher standards. That's a good thing for the academic mission of the institution, and shows our priorities are in the right place. But yeah, this totally sucks. Someone better be able to protect the rim on a team that needs to play lockdown defense to win. Keith Clanton, there's still time. I'm just saying.