USF Football: 5 reasons Bulls will win 2017 national title

South Florida football hopes to earn a New Year’s Six invite, but they could aim higher. Here are five reasons why the Bulls will win the 2017 national title.

There is always a steep slope for smaller schools trying to make big waves on a national scale. No team from outside a current Power Five conference has won a national title in over three decades. LaVell Edwards’ 1984 BYU squad was the last team to pull off the feat. Ever since, powerhouse leagues have set about creating the Bowl Alliance, Bowl Coalition, Bowl Championship Series, and now the College Football Playoff with hopes of consolidating the opportunity for national titles.

We have seen teams like Utah in 2004 and Boise State in 2006 shut out of any chance of playing for the biggest reward by the system in place. But opportunities have slowly been liberalizing for Group of Five schools in the past decade since those landmark Utes and Broncos squads raised the profile of mid-major contenders.

Now there is an automatic route for the top Group of Five conference champion to land in a New Year’s Six bowl game. Last year there was even talk of Houston possibly sneaking into the playoff field after knocking off Oklahoma.

This year, the mid-major with the best shot of upending the established order is South Florida. The Bulls return a veteran team that won 11 games last season. They have a new head coach at the helm, with Charlie Strong replacing Willie Taggart. But USF will be in the race not only for a New Year’s Six invite but even more. Click ahead for five reasons why the Bulls will win the national title in 2017.