The Miami Hurricanes and South Florida Bulls might be the happiest two teams in college football right now. Miami beat Notre Dame to start the season in a game that they knew would make a statement to the rest of the ACC and the voters. South Florida has beaten two ranked teams to start their season while being catapulted into the top 25, even if the Florida Gators did mistakenly receive one of their votes.

Miami followed the Notre Dame win with a shellacking of Bethune-Cookman. The Bulls followed their win over Boise State with a more impressive victory over those Gators at The Swamp.

If South Florida pulls this one off at Hard Rock Stadium, is a top 5 ranking in the works? It should be. With the rest of the schedule set up for USF the way it is, this is the last chance to make a statement against a power program. And what a statement it would be.

Miami will meet Florida next week in Miami Gardens before heading to Florida State two weeks later in its first ACC matchup of the year.

How can the Bulls make this happen? Keep holding on to the ball. South Florida has yet to commit a turnover and is a plus-4 in that category this season. They’ve also committed three fewer penalties than their opponents. The Bulls have been good against the run, and quarterback Byrum Brown has been nothing shy of spectacular after missing part of last season with an injury. One glaring stat they might want to change is the time of possession battle. They’re woefully short in this area, but so far it hasn’t affected them. Yet.

For Miami, things might be easier, at least on paper.

George transfer quarterback Carson Beck has been everything the Hurricanes thought he’d be after he arrived with a $4.3 million NIL deal in tow. He’s completing 78 percent of his passes and has plenty of help offensively. His receivers are better than anything he ever had at Georgia, and the Miami offensive line boasts NFL talent.

This one is going to be fun to watch. The Bulls and Hurricanes kick off at 4:30 ET on the CW Network (Huh? What’s that??)