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South Florida makes unexpected move after upset win over Florida

Joe Cox|
South Florida stayed aggressive after an upset win in Gainesville over Florida.
South Florida stayed aggressive after an upset win in Gainesville over Florida. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

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All is fair in love and war, but the South Florida Bulls apparently extended that aphorism to the recruiting trail with an unexpected move after upsetting the Florida Gators. South Florida, despite receiving a reported $500,000 guarantee payment to come to Florida and play the game, took the fight to the home Gators and emerged with an 18-16 win in the Swamp. But the intriguing part is that USF looked to extend the win to the recruiting arena next.

USF's surprising move

Power plays in college recruiting are nothing new, but it was still a gutsy move by South Florida. Making sure a UF commit saw USF's upset victory suggests a logical plan. The plan seems to be to take the Gators' money, take the Gators' game, and then take the Gators' recruit.

More on Luckas

Luckas is a three-star prospect per 247sports, and the 6'5" tackle prospect actually took an official visit to USF days after committing to Florida in June. Luckas took official visits to UF and West Virginia before making his commitment and then took his visit to USF. Suffice it to say after the postgame call that the Bulls aren't giving up on this recruit despite his commitment to their vanquished foe.

2026 recruiting for UF, USF

Florida has fared well in 2026 recruiting, already claiming 19 commitments ahead of the Early Signing Period in December. 247sports ranks the Florida class No. 14 nationally, with the Gators having commitments in hand from 10 4-star prospects, including seven players ranked in the Top 200 nationally by 247sports.

South Florida is sitting at 54th in the 2026 recruiting rankings from 247sports. The Bulls are noted as already having a whopping 33 commitments for the 2026 class. USF doesn't have any four-star recruits in the current 247 rankings, nor do they have any players ranked in the national Top 200.

But USF's Week 2 win proves that the Bulls are capable of winning big games without amassing a ton of highly-ranked recruits. This doesn't mean that USF will stop pursuing those recruits, even if they're committed to Florida. With more wins, the Bulls might just flip some of those commits.

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Joe Cox
JOE COX

Joe is a journalist and writer who covers college and professional sports. He has written or co-written over a dozen sports books, including several regional best sellers. His last book, A Fine Team Man, is about Jackie Robinson and the lives he changed. Joe has been a guest on MLB Network, the Paul Finebaum show and numerous other television and radio shows. He has been inside MLB dugouts, covered bowl games and conference tournaments with Saturday Down South and still loves telling the stories of sports past and present.

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