1997 South Florida Bulls football team

1997 South Florida Bulls football
Conference	Independent
Record	5–6
Head coach	Jim Leavitt (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Canales (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Rick Kravitz (1st season)
Home stadium	Houlihan's Stadium

1997 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 18 Cal Poly			–						10	–	1
No. 5 Western Kentucky ^			–						10	–	2
No. 17 Hofstra ^			–						9	–	2
No. 25 Liberty			–						9	–	2
Samford			–						7	–	4
Morehead State			–						5	–	4
South Florida			–						5	–	6
Southern Utah			–						5	–	6
Saint Mary's			–						4	–	6
Davidson			–						3	–	8
Buffalo			–						2	–	9
La Salle			–						1	–	8
Charleston Southern			–						1	–	9
Austin Peay			–						0	–	10
^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 1997 South Florida Bulls football team represented the University of South Florida (USF) as an independent during the 1997 NCAA Division I-AA football season, and was the first team fielded by the school. Led by first-year head coach Jim Leavitt, the Bulls compiled a record of 5–6. South Florida played home games at Houlihan's Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 6	7:00 p.m.	Kentucky Wesleyan	Houlihan's Stadium Tampa, FL	SCF	W 80–3	49,212
September 13	7:00 p.m.	at The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC	SCF	L 7–10	12,154
September 20	7:00 p.m.	Drake	Houlihan's Stadium Tampa, FL	SCF	L 22–23	33,827
September 27	8:00 p.m.	at Western Kentucky	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY		L 3–31	11,200
October 4	7:00 p.m.	Morehead State	Houlihan's Stadium Tampa, FL		W 33–17	30,050
October 11	7:00 p.m.	at Elon	Burlington Memorial Stadium Burlington, NC		L 13–41	4,692
October 18	7:00 p.m.	Southern Illinois	Houlihan's Stadium Tampa, FL	SCF	L 10–23	34,432
November 1	7:00 p.m.	Charleston Southern	Houlihan's Stadium Tampa, FL		W 24–6	25,361
November 8	2:30 p.m.	at Cumberland (TN)	Lindsey Donnell Stadium Lebanon, TN		W 44–0	1,001
November 15	7:00 p.m.	Georgia Southern	Houlihan's Stadium Tampa, FL	SCF	L 23–24	30,470
November 22	7:00 p.m.	Davidson	Houlihan's Stadium Tampa, FL	SCF	W 48–32	27,919
Homecoming All times are in Central time