Meeps

I can't recall the last time i've seen an altercation at Spectrum for any USF fans that are civil. The vast majority of us just want to see a good game, and maybe trade some good ol' fashion ribbing. Both sides can have drunk frat boys who want to get into a **** measuring content, but that is incredibly easy to avoid if you're concerned about your safety. I've even seen UCF fans camped out in memory mall giving beers to usf fans. There is security/law enforcement all over the place on game day, it just doesn't make sense to get into a fight with that many cops on campus.

Like I said previously, we honestly don't care what you all do one way or another. You including a picture of a WVU game almost a decade prior in your presentation shows the B12 what exactly? That you can only fill a stadium in the past playing in your eyes a big time program? That doesn't bode well for the present. You're 2-0 for conference expansion? What exactly do you think your athletic department did that warranted an invite? From what I can see, you had an astute AD who made good decisions but you certainly didn't have a body of work that earned it. Just like Rutgers, you were gifted into the club. If you think we all suggest that an OCS is something you shouldn't do, cool. I've experienced time and time again the atmosphere of our "erector set" stadium and it blows the doors off Ray Jay. Why? Because it's ours, B. The aluminium reflects sound and makes it sound twice as loud as a concrete stadium thus enhancing the noise factor and home field advantage and lastly, we are both in the AAC for the foreseeable future. 45,000 is a good number of seats for this league and we can max it. Ray Jay on the other hand never comes remotely filled, it's not yours, the sound is nothing like it is at Spectrum. I recommend making the trip to Orlando come black Friday and experience what the atmosphere is like first hand. It will be sold out again and we will show you just what you're all missing without an OCS.

That is just one piece of the puzzle. It was a culmination of everything. Citrus Sports basically thought little to nothing of UCF despite us being a tenant "There was a take-UCF-for-granted attitude" John Hitt. George O'Leary hated playing at the Citrus Bowl because A. It had too many seats to support a CUSA team B. It was a dump and C. "Every game was like an away game". I admit, we were fortunate that we had a huge booster that did his own research and found a solution to get a stadium we could afford (pre-engineered stadium). But the main thing is, we knew an OCS no matter how "cheap" would reap many benefits. George O'Leary was a huge proponent that an OCS was needed, just like Charlie Strong has voiced the same. Look at how the program exploded since opening in 2007. In fact, there are so many parallels between us building a stadium and the situation you guys are in right now. The Glazer's don't think anything of usf, the stadium is way too big for your fan base in the AAC, it's not an on campus so technically it's an away game and there is little to no financial advantage playing there. The difference is, we found a way to build the stadium and several renovations have been done to it since to maximize revenue with Loge seating, Cabana Club with premum food/alcohol, and field level suites that go for 25k per suite. So much so that, "UCF makes a ton of money on its home games — between $3 and $4 million and rising as the Knights continue to find creative ways to add premium seating to Spectrum Stadium — while USF doesn’t make much money at all on a typical home game." Michael Kelly would rather stand pat: "Its feasible (now) if we're willing to settle for a lesser product," said new USF Athletic Director Michael Kelly upon reviewing the report. "But the feedback says if we're going to do it, we do it right...go big or go home. Instead, the study suggested the Bulls remain at Raymond James Stadium until they had additional revenues to fund a state-of-the-art, 35,000-seat stadium with multiple premium-seating options, akin to Colorado State's $240 million football stadium" You guys are at a crossroad, instead of seeing us as the model to follow by building a stadium you can afford - which will help cultivate team pride, build a fan base, and in time, create revenue; you guys "want" (do nothing) a lavish Colorado State with only 35,000 seats. This is akin to sitting back and holding your hand out, except this time - there aren't anymore silver spoons. You all laugh at our "erector stadium" while you barely break even at Ray Jay - meanwhile, we are laughing all the way to the bank. You are going to see all these away games vs P5 that all scheduled 2:1 is eventually going to catch up to your athletic budget and that's going to cost you guys any coaches worth their salt since you won't be able to afford to keep them. It's not a sustainable model. Even if you over inflate the ticket prices for games like UF and Bama coming to Ray Jay, UCF's cheaper stadium is sling shotting us past by GENERATING 20+ million each year. As time goes by, the gap is just going to get wider and wider.

TCU was a panic add, and Louisville has been a doormat since joining the ACC. Just because they were added to a P5 conference doesn't make them marquee. See Rutgers as a perfect example. There are a myriad of p5 teams that simply are P5 in name, but not in program. Kansas, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, Kentucky...the list goes on. Those are all examples of teams that when you beat them in football, there is little to zero buzz. A classic example is last year when you all beat GT, how much do you think ESPN praised you all and kept you in the news as the team to beat? Pretty much no one thought it was relevant because your team hasn't had a history of doing anything and neither has GT. The OCS was absolutely built from foresight. We built both the OCS and Bball arena at the same time on a CUSA budget. George O'Leary was instrumental in pushing for it since he was at previous programs that had them and knew that was how a proper foundation is built. If you look at all the Division I programs that do not have their own stadiums, you'll notice a large fluctuation in attendance based on team performance. Those with OCS have a much better chance to build a core fan base that will support the program (within reason) you guys can talk all you want about our stadium and 2015, but if you look at our average attendance for the last two decades, you'll notice 2015 was an outlier. The citrus bowl going under renovation didnt cause UCF's coffers to some how expand for a 50+ million dollar stadium and a $40m+. This was planned in advanced and took a considerable amount of planning in order to get both structures financed. The citrus bowl was just a launching pad to move forward. And say what you will about the stadium, if you attended the 2017 USF vs UCF game - that environment was a true testament of what a college football atmosphere is all about. You all can joke about it's design, that doesn't in anyway detract the atmosphere. And unless you've been to the stadium when UCF and the opponent competitive, you guys can't really judge anything about the stadium. Boise hasn't been picked up because their media market is non-existent. If USF had Boise's resume, you guys would have been picked up before Louisville and TCU. An invite to a P5 isnt just about one thing. It's a combination of Market, Academics, dedication to sports, performance and viewership. Boise lacks both Academics and Market so it's irrelevant if they won the National Championship several times over, ESPN isn't going to make a return on their investment.

You think TCU and Louiseville are Marquee teams? They are both new to P5 and historically haven't accomplished anything. But I guess that is something you guys are used to seeing as a virtue as long as your Marquee wins are in play. Teams don't leave because UCF joins, they leave because every team wants to maximize their potential and UCF wasn't handed a silver spoon like usf. It doesn't bother me the order you value certain things. Most UCF fans would love more than anything to watch you guys justify why an OCS is a bad investment, AAC Championships are pointless and attendance isn't important. That way when the chairs start moving in 2024, the powers that be will know usf squandered their opportunity and made zero effort to rise up. That leaves UCF in a prime position. I just find it laughable how most of your fan base has such backwards entitlement and think the AAC is beneath you when you can't even win it.

Since there is no precedent (big word for you, meaning - there is no prior example) you are guessing that P5 wins are necessary. However, as I've shown in an example - P5 OOC wins do not yield an NY6 bid. Period. This is a fact that you can't argue because this is specifically stipulated (another large word, I know) that the only path to the NY6 is being the highest ranked G5 Conference Champion. Your problem is that you think that since the bid winners had a P5 or two, that is some how relevant to your viewpoint. It's not. Does winning a game against a P5 help earn a higher ranking? Sure. Does it matter if the next closest G5 team isn't a conference champion? Not one iota. I've just soundly defeated your "OMG OMG OMG but p5 wins are the only thing that matter" flawed mindset, but I'm sure you'll end up replying with the same tired old argument while side stepping facts. Also, news flash genius - usf played in Conference USA. So no, it's not the worst conference. Furthermore, if you think the AAC is the worst, yet haven't even played for a division title much less a championship, what's that say about your program? No IPF, no OCS, a Tulsa level fan base, and no hardware of any kind. Yeah no, you guys aren't in any position to cast stones until you do something.

What you are describing has yet to happen, one way or another. You made a blanket statement that losing two P5 games but running the table doesn't net you a bid to the NY6. Prove it. The point is, you can't - one way or another. So in your fantasy land, you just make the assumption in order to further your view that P5 wins trump everything. The NY6 has NOTHING to do with P5 wins. It's simply based on the highest CFP ranked G5 Conference Champion. Let me give you an example. Let's say Boise State was ranked #41, and usf was ranked #20. Usf ends up losing to say GT and Wisconsin who were ranked #15 and #9 (at the beginning of the season) and drops to #27; but goes onto run the table and finishes #20. Boise beats #15 WVU and #18 Northwestern and gets ranked #13. But loses a critical conference game and doesn't make the MWC Championship, or say they do but don't win their Conference Champ game. Who do you think is going to the NY6? My point is, the AAC conference play and championship garners WAY more potential than putting all your energy into beating just OOC P5 games. Your example of telling 100 people that usf won the AAC every year and people not caring holds zero weight. Why do you think Gameday came to Orlando when we played against Cinci if nobody cares about AAC teams? ESPN isn't into charity work. Also, do yourself a favor and look up the last few AAC Champ game ratings, if it's as meaningless as you assume it is - I wonder why there are that many people tuning in to watch? (Hint: That's one of the reason's ESPN is paying the AAC 3-4x more than they were previously).

Here's the problem (not that you could fathom you are ever wrong despite black and white evidence), you have extolled the past of usf as being some kind of world beater since you upset a few teams back in the day - like anyone outside of you and a handful of fanatics remembers or still cares about. Yet, in all your imagined glory, these wins over teams over a decade ago have gotten you what exactly? What makes this hilarious is that UCF has FINISHED top 10 multiple times and owns 50% of all Conference championships. You guys were ranked #2 for less than a week and fell back into obscurity. In fact, from a national standpoint, no one has any idea who usf is. At best, you get confused with UCF. That's a testament to just how irrelevant your program is. With all your chest beating, usf has literally accomplished the same as App state - nothing. Meanwhile, UCF enjoys nationwide publicity for doing the exact things you don't think matter - winning conference games/championships IN ORDER to get to the NY6 and then doing something like winning them more often than not. You have gone on and on about how P5 wins > AAC wins/championships. Then your fellow board members called you out . Instead of eating crow, you just doubled down and said, "well gee - what I really mean is ALL games matter, BUT P5 wins matter most and you can't get to a NY6 without them!" Until there comes a time when an AAC champ doesn't schedule P5 or loses both P5 but runs the table and gets snubbed - you are simply making up what is and isn't possible which is an opinion, not fact no matter how many paragraph replies you respond with. The question was asked, would we rather win the AAC and lose both P5 games, the answer is absolutely. One scenario gets you to the Bad Boy mowers bowl, and the other has a pretty **** good chance to get you to a NY6 bowl. A regular season win over one or two P5 means nothing if you end your season playing a nobody on a time slot that nobody cares to watch. Go see a replay of you all playing Marshall, I think you had around 100 fans in the stands.

Are you honestly trying to compare Coach Frost to Strong? Coach Frost reinvigorated a winless team and brought in a bunch of talent. He added a ton of things like playing music at practices and instilled a brotherhood culture that became so strong, even after hearing that he was heading to Nebraska - they band together and won the Conference Championship/Peach Bowl. On the other hand, Coach Strong neutered amazing talent and tanked the team. It's not conjecture, if you actually watched your team play - there was no fight in them towards the end of the season. There's a reason he had to kick out 11 players. In fact, there is even a player saying that "they were just going through the motions."

It's one thing to be optimistic, it's another to assume that you're going to win all your hard games after an abysmal ending while retaining the same captain responsible for it. I'll be the first one to eat crow if Coach Strong is able to turn that program around after losing the trust of many of those that are returning. You've got two extremely difficult games as your first two games with a brand new OC. It would be one thing if Wisconsin and GT were mid to late season, but my money is on some growing pains that will probably permeate for the rest of the season. Me personally, I would love nothing more than to see you guys beat those two and ride that gravy train of momentum towards our game on Black Friday. Makes for good football and gives the two fan bases something to really look forward to.

My first instinct would be to tear this whole thing apart and explain what they saw then and what they see now. But you actually took the time to articulate your opinion, so i'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Props for getting into the Big East when you did. That should have catapulted your program much farther than it did. Regarding your consideration for the B12, the B12 had zero reason to expand and simply was looking to leverage a clause in their contract for more money. But i'll bite. Let's just say the B12 was going to expand, did you see the materials that were sent to the B12 presidents regarding usf? It looked like it was compiled by a freshman. Spelling mistakes, hyping non-existent stats, it was bad. Memphis thought the ink was dry during that whole fiasco. If anyone was going to be selected, it was going to be Cincinnati and BYU.

Oh so you can actually step into reality on occasion.

Dead. Can you elaborate why it wouldn't be and then explain what would be considered a step up?

Can you tell me the last team that had a 7-6 record with 6 straight losses at the end of the season with a team that gave up on their head coach - yet, the same exact HC who lost the team went back and did much better the following year? usf is going to face lots of adversity next year and it won't take much for that same kind of quit to occur. The curses of being a home owner, am I right? Wait... even with McDonalds raising their minimum wage to $15 an hour, it's unlikely you could afford anything other than a trailer.

I mean I bet you could also throw a pigskin a quarter mile.

How can it possibly be considered a step down? You didn't win the Big East a single time, so winning the AAC would be a step in any direction but down. Winning your conference should be the #1 objective and goal as a fan. Many on here do not think that way. Puc specifically has such unrealistic expectations, he is one of the sole reasons I come to this board. Cracks me up every time.

Kind of like it was with CUSA and is for the AAC, but that's a foreign concept for you . How was your second 10 win season in school history? That sure must have been pretty neat. Up there with #2 for a week, am I right?

Looks like the strawman argument is your forte since actually addressing anything discussed would require you to address reality. Well, if you're offering - who am I to refuse?

Because never has a usf fan gone to the UCF board and made a post.....

Begging to accept you? Accept what? usf has literally accomplished nothing of note. Why would a team who is light years ahead in terms of accomplishments need any kind of acknowledgement from you or your program? I know you're one of the few ones that are so far off your rocker that you actually believe what you write. But the reality is, you're in the AAC and an AAC conference championship would be the pinnacle accomplishment of your program. For UCF, that would just be another trophy at this point. Your program didn't give a handup to anyone. usf did everything in their power to stop UCF from rising up and when you all got passed up for Pitt and Rutgers, let that sink it - PITT and RUTGERS were deemed better choices. If anything, usf was instrumental in destroying the big east. usf has had ZERO influence on anything UCF related - when realignment is discussed, it's usf that has to cling onto UCF as a pair because usf as a standalone program is quite frankly a dumpster fire. So get over your elitist BS. Every jump UCF has made, they've dominated that conference they've been in. Every conference usf has been, they've yet to win a single thing. So I believe the words you're looking for is - you're welcome. You're welcome for being in a conference that has members who actually do something than underachieve and elevate the conference for you all.

Newsflash, so will you. The difference between the two programs - one earns what they get, the other wishes on a pipe-dream.

It's a little slow during the offseason, so I decided to come see if I could get a quick laugh. You all never fail to disappoint. There are three constants on this board at any given time. 1. Hyper-inflated expectations (beating GT, Wisc, UCF) after coach strong went into a nose dive and lost the team, AND got embarrassed by Marshall. Yet some how in the off-season, all the woes were magically erased by hiring a different OC. Hint: You can only blame so much on an OC. 2. **** talk about the AAC being beneath usf even though for something to be beneath you, you would have to - you know, actually win it and consistently, neither of which appears to be happening any time soon. I'm not sure if it's the usf education, or something in the water in West Florida, but in the real world - people aren't promoted at work for vastly underachieving. And yet many are so fixated on getting out of the conference that they don't realize there has to be a reason for that to occur. This is probably the most hilarious while simultaneously baffling concept for me that there can be THAT many who think this way. 3. A circle jerk about CJL reliving the glory days of beating the powerhouses of WVU and the like, a decade ago before falling back into mediocrity. Oh excuse me I almost forgot west florida was #2 for a week over a decade ago. I will agree that the War on I4 is a joke. The only thing that matters is the W in football. But don't get it twisted, usf isn't anchored to UCF in anyway. One program actually has a resume and should be a candidate for expansion. The other thinks they should inherit "just because" well, you know #2 for a week.

Did you read through that thread? Looks like there are just as many if not more LSU fans "ready to shut UCF up", "Do what Auburn couldn't do" and "For a 3 loss team, that's pretty entitled thinking" than there are, "This is a meaningless bowl game so let's just surrender now". If you think Ed Orgeron is going to let his team get humiliated after what happened to Auburn and potentially jeopardize his HC career, then I don't know what to tell you.

Was really hoping the Sheriff would come revisit this, what a shame.

Thanks Brad. Saved me the effort. Can't be having anyone thinking the impending LSU defeat was due to the fact that UCF played better football. I'm still waiting on that article showing Auburn had no reason to win in the Peach. And I fully expect some links in the ensuing weeks to see several articles from the media all favoring UCF in this meaningless (G5 super) bowl game against an unmotivated LSU team.