The South Florida Bulls present an intriguing proposition tonight when they visit the Carrier Dome to take on the No. 2 Syracuse Orange. The Bulls are 17-10 and have put together an impressive run late but have yet to grab a quality win that will impress the NCAA Tournament committee. Winning tonight could go a long way towards changing that.

I spoke with the nogoodniks over at Voodoo Five to get the skinny on these Bulls. See their answers below.

Explain to me in the simplest terms possible how in the hell the South Florida Bulls are fifth in the Big East Standings and a couple bounces away from a double-bye in the Big East Tournament.

Mirror opponents in Providence, Villanova, and Pitt? Its been a fun ride after last season's death march our horrible non-conference season this year. This team is doing it with a tough defense, duct tape on offense, and fighting for every single thing on the court.

If I told you before the season that USF would sweep Pitt in a home-and-home, you would have told me to...

Sober up and see me tomorrow. I was hoping for a split at best before the season and was really shocked at how mediocre they looked this year. Ashton Gibbs was exposed when he had to run the offense, and no one has been able to replace Brad Wannamaker's production. And the two games weren't even close this year. USF was clearly the better team this season, and its still bizarre to say.

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They're not big fans of Pete Thamel down in Kentucky Wildcats country. The New York Times writer is one of the most notable reporters out there at identifying recruiting violations (see Binghamton, UCF, Tennessee and Kentucky), which is enough to rile any college fanbase. However, considering we're talking about a program led by two-time Final Four vacater Coach Cal, they're all the touchier about it. Throw Thamel into the mix and they go code red.

Such is the case...again.

Hearing @petethamelnyt has been interviewing people around Shabazz and Nerlens Noel. First Bledsoe, then Kanter...guy is clearly obsessed.

— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) February 21, 2012

Now obviously, the Syracuse Orange are indelibly linked to this if true. Not only are the Orange and Wildcats currently considered the top two teams in the nation, but they're also considered the top two choices for Nerlens Noel to play ball with next season (Noel talks about the differences between the two programs here).

Oh, and then there's the fact that Thamel is a Syracuse grad. And all of a sudden, that's where things go to Ludicrous Speed.

Twitter....GO!

My guess is that @petethamelNYT is, in a sneaking way, recruiting Noel for Syracuse.....follow me here....

— SaveUK (@SaveUK_KSN) February 21, 2012

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Quick, name every Division 1 basketball team that hasn't lost to a school currently unranked in the AP poll since December 28.

The Kentucky Wildcats, Syracuse Orange, North Carolina Tar Heels and South Florida Bulls.

It's the perfect stat to use to describe the Bulls' surprise season. It's impressive and yet not all that impressive at the same time.

The Bulls are 17-10, which is impressive. However they don't have any notable wins as victories over Pitt, Villanova and Seton Hall don't mean as much as they should. They've also lost to every quality opponent they've played this season.

The Bulls are 10-4 in the Big East and have clinched at least one bye in the Big East Tournament. However, this might be the worst Big East we've had in years.

The Bulls have a record that could be good enough to make the NCAA Tournament. But for the time being, they're not there yet.

So despite the fact that they enter the Dome riding a four-game winning streak and a desire to finish among the top four teams in the conference, the Bulls are still a bit of an enigma. Though perhaps enigma is still a step up from what they're used to being.

Not only would a win over Syracuse be the biggest of the season for them, it would be the biggest win in school history. If nothing else, head coach Stan Heath sees it as a chance for USF to pass the eyeball test.

"A lot of times, especially where we are right now, you want to pass the eyeball test,'' said USF coach Stan Heath, whose team has won four straight games. "This is an eyeball type of game, the moment where people could get a feel for what we are and what we can do.

"I still think we're on a mission. I still think we know we've got to win games. I don't feel like we think we've done something or we're satisfied. That's a good thing. There's no two ways about it. This is quite a challenge.''

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You know how you'll often check to see what the most popular show on TV is or see which movie made the most money at the box office and it will end up being something that seemed to universally-revolting that it seems to defy everything you knew about America and society and humanity?

"Wait...HOW many people watch Two And A Half Men? No....there's no way. I have yet to meet another person who says they actually watch that show. I refuse to believe it."

It happens all the time, right? Conversely, the same phenomena works in reverse. "I don't get it. EVERYONE I know loves Community. How is it only being watched by, like, 27 people. I know more than 27 people and they all say they're watching!"

First of all, you do not know more than 27 people so stop lying. Loser. Second, the lesson is, you're the outlier. I'm not going to theorize too much about why the shows and movies you know are terrible do so well, it's just the way of the world. There are more of "them" than there are of "you."

And the same thing applies to the Nike Hyper Elite Platinum unis that the Syracuse Orange will wear Wednesday night.

Donnie Webb inadvertently channels The Hudsucker Proxy in his latest piece when he reminds all of us complainers that while "we" might hate the idea of Syracuse wearing gray platinum, "they" love it.

"It was like, hold on, I need to stop and look at this for a second," [Breanna Stewart] said. "I think they’re cool."

"The first time I saw them, I was like, ‘Wow, they’re nice,’" said [Jerami] Grant. "I’m hoping that we’ll be able to wear them next year."

One store representative, whose target audience is 18-35, said interest and sales in the various platinum products was "crazy."

Who is buying all this platinum? Future Syracuse basketball players, apparently. Even DaJuan Coleman is in on it.

"I like them a lot," [DaJuan] Coleman said of the platinum uniform. "I wish they’d bring them next year when I come there. I think the fans will definitely love them. It’s something cool to bring out this year, like a fire."

Wait a minute...DaJuan wants the Orange to literally come out on fire? SOMEbody is a Hunger Games reader...

I still say SU (read: Jim Boeheim) isn't a fan. Donnie mentions that the schools helped select the opponent, which might explain why Syracuse chose to use its least-televised remaining game of the season to debut the uniforms (not to mention that USF wears Under Armour). Originally not set to be televised nationally, the game will now be televised on SNY/ESPN3.com.

(By the way, if you really want my theory on why crap rises to the top and quality stuff sinks to the bottom, it's because most people aren't looking for quality from their entertainment. They're looking for escapism. Something to turn their brain off to for an hour or two. There you go.)

If there is any glaring omission from the 2011-2012 Syracuse Orange basketball season, it's the stunning lack of a hip-hop theme song.

2010 had Shut It Down. 2011 had Unfinished Business. At the very least we assumed 2012 would have Unfinished Business Remix (f. Timbaland). But no...nothing. When Rob Murphy left, he took his rap anthems with him (in the case of Unfinished Business, that's fine).

Marshall Street Records would like to change that. The student-run record label has launched a contest to find the best MC Syracuse University has to offer and record their tribute to SU's basketball team.

"But, yo dawg, I don't got no fresh beats."

Don't worry, son, fresh biz-neats have been provided. They've posted a track for this song on YouTube. It's up to you to drop the illest lyrics ya'll can mizz-uster.

An open recording session will be held in hall of languages this Sunday for any lyrical assassins wantin' to drop some skrilla (I don't think that's the correct usage of skrilla). According to the record label, the winning track will be submitted to a music supervisor at ESPN, so there's that.

My submission after the jump.

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The Syracuse Orange defeated the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 74-64 on Sunday. Here are the photos to prove it.

I know I usually make vaguely-witty comments about these photos and tie them together in some sort of loose-fitting story but NO TIME! Besides, most of these photos speak for themselves (Photos by Chris Chambers/Getty Images).

"All good, bro. You're not my guy."

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The Syracuse Orange are the No. 2 team in the nation once again in both the AP and Coaches Polls. Tell me something I don't know...

In the AP, Kentucky is No. 1 and received 63 first-place votes, Syracuse is No. 2 and receive two first-place votes and Missouri, Kansas and Duke round out the top 5. Ohio State dropped from sixth to eighth and Georgetown lurks at No. 9.

In the Coaches Poll, Kentucky received all thirty-one first-place votes and are followed by Syracuse, Missouri, Duke and Kansas.

Other Big East teams in both polls are Georgetown (9/8), Marquette (10/10), Louisville (17/17) and Notre Dame (20/18).

Syracuse is 4-1 against teams currently ranked and 2-0 against teams currently ranked in the top ten.

In the RPI, Syracuse is still No. 1, though our overall SOS is dropping (22nd). The RPI makes less and less sense each week as our SOS plummets despite the fact that our resume looks better and better. Syracuse is now 5-0 against RPI Top 30 teams, 7-1 against RPI Top 50 teams.

In the Massey Ratings, Kentucky has overtaken us as No. 1. We're still No. 2.

The Sagarin Ratings continue to dislike the Orange, putting us down at No. 4 behind Kentucky, Ohio State and Kansas.

In the world of Bracketology, SB Nation continues to have us the one-seed in the East, though now we play bitter-rival Stony Brook in the first round. Lunardi continues to have us as the No. 1 overall seed and has us playing the winner of God Damn Vermont and Savannah State.

Walk On Tweet of the Week:

So I'm in class and needed an outlet... #nohelpwhatsoever twitpic.com/8kqfk8

— Matt Tomaszewski (@MattyT34) February 16, 2012

Couldn't stop laughing at this one for a while, let's hope whoever designed this classroom wasn't a graduate of the Syracuse school of architecture.

K-Jo's Fishing for a Date:

Titanic > Notebook .. Tough call but i made it lol

— Kris Joseph (@Krisjo32) February 15, 2012

Kris shows us a bit of his sensitive side ... I'm gonna pretend I didn't see that

Dion Retweet of the Week:

Lol i got yu RT @SyrNYBones: @dionwaiters3 please no retweeting tonight. Great win, but no RT worthy.

— dion waiters (@dionwaiters3) February 14, 2012

A purely spiteful retweet ... nice work Dion

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