Oct. 15--Earlier this decade, U.S. Bancorp Chief Executive Officer Richard Davis seemed content to sit on the sidelines while his big-bank rivals went on costly acquisition sprees.

But now the tables have turned. Davis is wading into the acquisition arena -- buying troubled assets all over the country -- while many of his counterparts stand idle, too consumed by their own loan problems and past acquisitions to pursue deals of their own.

Late Tuesday, the Minneapolis bank, which has 2,850 branches and $266 billion in assets, announced plans to buy 20 branches and $800 million in deposits in Nevada from Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T Corp. for an undisclosed amount. The branches, primarily in the Las Vegas area and northern Nevada, were castoffs from failed Colonial Bank, an Alabama lender seized by federal regulators earlier this year after huge losses on real estate loans.

Though the acquisition is a small one for U.S. Bancorp, some analysts believe it and a half-dozen other recent acquisitions reflect a newfound willingness by Davis to pursue deals while his rivals muddle through a prolonged credit crunch. Over the past year, U.S. Bancorp has quietly acquired two failed savings and loans in California with assets totaling $16.5 billion, three credit card portfolios from ailing Citigroup, $225 million in deposits in Idaho from a failed bank, and a mutual fund administration business with $8 billion in assets under administration.

Individually, these transactions have not generated much fanfare. But the acquisitions, combined with U.S. Bancorp's relatively strong capital position, have aroused speculation that Davis may be preparing to pull off a large acquisition, particularly if a large bank were to fail in the coming weeks or months. More than 120 banks have failed nationwide over the past two years.

"It wouldn't be a surprise," said Jennifer Thompson, a financial analyst at Portales Partners in New York, of the possibility of a large U.S. Bancorp deal. "As more and more banks fail, stronger banks like U.S. Bancorp are going to be in a position to pick them up at fire-sale prices."

Last month, Davis told analysts at an investors' conference that he didn't expect the bank to do a "transformational deal," but suggested he was looking for buying opportunities across a wide range of businesses.

"If there's something amazingly opportune, then, sure, we will look at anything," Davis said at the conference.