PITTSBURGH - With a BCS bid and Pitt's first trip to a New Year's Day bowl game in 21 years waiting, it might be easy for the No. 19 Panthers to overlook South Florida.

Coach Walt Harris isn't about to do that because the Panthers did exactly that in 2001.

If the Panthers (7-3) beat the Bulls (4-6) Saturday, they will secure the Big East Conference's guaranteed BCS bowl bid and a likely Jan. 1 date with No. 5 Utah (11-0) in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz.

The Panthers could get the bid even if they lose because they figure to be ranked ahead of Syracuse (6-5) in the final BCS rankings. Pitt, Syracuse, West Virginia and Boston College tied for the Big East title with 4-2 records, but Pitt and Syracuse hold the tiebreaker over the other two.

Still, the last thing Harris wants is to go into a major bowl off a loss to the opponent that dealt him one of the worst defeats in his eight seasons in Pittsburgh. The Bulls, a 24-point underdog making the transition from NCAA Division I-AA to 1-A, surprised Pitt 35-26 on Sept. 8, 2001 - arguably, the biggest upset loss in Pitt history.

South Florida jumped out to a 28-7 lead and held on for its first victory over an established Division I-A program as Marquel Blackwell threw for 443 yards out of a spread offense.

The loss visibly stunned the Panthers, who went to lose five consecutive games. Only when Harris scrapped his own spread offense and returned to a more traditional pro-style set that better fit quarterback David Priestley did the Panthers turn it around and win their final six.

"We still owe them. I have that feeling, just like the rest of the seniors," Pitt senior safety Tyrone Gilliard said. "We still hold a grudge. It was embarrassing to us the way they came up here and beat us. Even with all this other stuff going on, we're only concentrating on South Florida."

Harris won't talk about that other stuff, either.

"If we start pumping ourselves up, we'll get our eyes off the bull's-eye," Harris said. "So let's just focus on South Florida."

Bulls running back Andre Hall has rushed for 1,272 yards and 11 touchdowns and is a major concern to Harris in the final non-conference game between the schools. South Florida joins the Big East next season.

"They are physical up front ... and he is an outstanding player," Harris said. "This is a must-win game for us, whereas they can throw caution to the wind."

And Harris wasn't referring to Hurricane Frances, which caused the Pitt-South Florida game to be postponed from Labor Day afternoon, Sept. 6 to Saturday. As it turned out, the postponement may have substantially helped Pitt.

Pitt, with a youthful lineup that included only one returning starter on offense, was a 4-point underdog when the South Florida game was postponed. Now that the Panthers have matured with five victories in six games - including consecutive wins over ranked teams, Notre Dame and West Virginia - they are 7-point favorites.

"Obviously, at the start of the year, we were a lot younger team than South Florida, so I would say that they would have some advantages," Harris said.

Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko, who has led five fourth-quarter or overtime comeback victories this season, promised South Florida wouldn't be overlooked this time.

"This is bigger than West Virginia and Notre Dame because a win puts us where we want to be," he said. "That's what all the hard work all year long is for."