Meeps

So what is the point in playing in Division I football? By your very definition, usf literally has no chance to make the playoffs. The strength of record as the sole evidence a team is undeserving to be in the playoffs only holds up when a team has yet to prove they are the real deal. That was answered when they beat Auburn in the Peach Bowl. While the Auburn win doesn't necessarily count for the 2018 football schedule - that was the eye test right there. When most of your team is returning the following season including your star QB, they deserve the benefit of the doubt. If a MAC or CUSA team goes undefeated and soundly beats a top team in their bowl then they deserve the benefit of the doubt the following season. When a team loses said star QB and performs better than they did initially (Memphis #1 win) with the star QB, they again deserve the benefit of the doubt. UCF decimated Pitt who went on to play in the ACC title game by approximately the same margin Clemson did. Notre Dame almost lost to that same Pitt team. Both Clemson and Pitt are playing in the CFP. Clemson's signature win was 7-5 Boston College. You can drink all the ESPN koolaid all you want, but both ND and Clemson's schedule are artificially inflated to look better than they really are and the misinformed sheep willingly believe that is not the case. But everyone is entitled to their opinion, however wrong it is.

Spoken like a true ESPN analyst. It's amazing how effective their dribble is that you actually believe that. Then again, if usf actually ran the table two years in a row - you absolutely would not be saying that.

Had me until you said USF, I think you meant University of West Central Florida Community College or UWCFCC for short. Lol

puc, no need to be bashful. I am here mainly because of you. And not because you make valid points.

Just so I have this right... 1. usf should be able to fill up Ray Jay to max capacity based on events over a decade ago. K.... 2. Nobody cares about the AAC, and thus the CCG. Yet, you'd still sell out... mmmkayy... 3. Even 7-0, you would be generous to say Ray Jay was near 50% capacity. Right.... so where are all these extra fans coming from? You guys couldn't fill up the rest of stadium with free tickets after UCF outnumbered you all 2:1 for a HOME GAME knowing full well anything can happen in a rivalry game. Yes - I am 100% telling you usf would have issues filling up Ray Jay. The hilarity doesn't stop a TBP.

I can't wait... it'll probably go something like this. HAH! Their stadium only has 41k in it. Who cares that they won ANOTHER Conference Championship and are going to another NY6 Bowl. They didn't sell out their stadium!!!

I agree. Keep the whole staff!! Consistency and what not. lmao

Kind of like using a player's death over a decade ago with the sole intent being to deflect the sad state of your football program now.

That's typically how awards work. When the lawsuit is over. The Plancher's continued to fight until the Florida Surpeme Court decided not to rehear the case then UCF paid what they were legally responsible for. Just because you think UCF should have paid $10 million doesn't make them morally culpable, that's just your opinion. I raised the point that FSU most likely paid the Darling's (also several years after the fact, and gee - also died from a disease that was easy to test for) more than what they were legally responsible, because they have more discretionary income due to athletic affiliation; not because they are morally superior somehow. I have no idea what UCF had in the coffers when the jury voted to give the Plancher's $10 million and neither do you. And bringing up that UCF had other expenditures as evidence that they some how stock piled all this cash literally does nothing to further your point. Regarding the sickle cell trait, if the staff knew first hand that he had sickle cell trait and the overexertion of training caused him to collapse - I can guarantee there would have been criminal charges filed. There weren't. Did they mishandle the situation when he was clearly having an adverse reaction to the workout? Of course. However, one of the players is quoted saying something to the effect that "if you didn't throw up during practice, you weren't practicing hard enough." So there were probably times where people passed out due to the brutal heat and tough workouts and what Ereck presented with wasn't out of the norm per se and may have been confused with just another person passing out. This is where the tragedy is and we dont have enough details of who knew what and when that person reacted to definitely pass judgement. Make no mistake, there are very few fans who idolize George O'Leary despite what he has done for the program. I agreed that the situation for the Plancher's sucks but it's not about what is "right" or "wrong", it's about what was legally decided in the courts to which UCF has followed through. I get it. Your program has nothing to show for it, so the only thing left is to try and nit pick any little thing you can including using a player's death as evidence. However, that's just bush league and incredibly disrespectful to the family and has nothing to do with what is happening now or the game coming up this Friday.

Do you know for a fact that UCF had the money but didn't want to pay them? You're making an assumption and passing it off like it's fact. Clearly UCF had more details on what happened than the article presented which could very well have been the basis for not settling. O'Learly was hired in 2004 and was fired in 2015. This happened in 2008. The stadium was built in 2007, again. This happened in 2008. Those costs don't just magically go away or get decreased because a player died. The 200k was disbursed recently because if you know anything about legal battles, they take a LONG time to resolve and it was paid out when the Plancher's case would not be reheard by the Florida Supreme Court. Again, not because UCF was withholding the 200k. Does it suck at this went down? Of course. But none of your points raised shows GOL deliberately went out of their way to target Ereck Plancher or UCF still owes a ton of money and is dragging it out in the court system.

1. So you admit to having it. Well played. 2. I didn't need to know you pay Brad. What you two do is non of my business. 3. Agreed. Now I feel dirty.

I'm not missing any point. I've fleshed out the point pretty well. Meanwhile you are inserting irrelevant information (e.g. the money legally owed to a coach, the buyout etc...) that was paid out several years later as the basis to prove that UCF has some nestegg that they are deliberately withholding. I'll spell it out for you again since you missed it the first time. The Planchers were awarded $10 million which they would have been entitled to if UCFAA was a private institution (hint: they're not) so UCF appealed. A jury sided with UCF that they are NOT a private organization. The Law states $200k is the max payout. The reason the money was paid out recently is that the Planchers have continued to fight for millions of dollars and the Surpreme court would not hear the case again. I have no idea what UCF spent to fight this, but it's irrelevant. The law states they were entitled to $200k. End of story. If you want to compare FSU to UCF in these situations then you would have to compare apples to apples from a financial standpoint. FSU's athletic budget dwarfs UCF's so they have more wiggle room on what they can spend.

Heh. This is probably one of the worst attempts at an insult i've ever seen. TBP donor huh? Do you pay usf in food stamps; because i'm pretty sure McDonald's employee's don't have much after taxes.

FSU makes just a tad more per year being in the ACC to have "whatever" funds to throw around than UCF does in the AAC. That opens the door to being able to compensate during a tragedy despite what they are legally responsible for; it doesn't make them more "morally" correct. If you want to try and say that the $350k they spent on the National Champion bonus' should have gone to the Planchers, last I checked, $10 million > $350k or even the $4.2 million. But I wouldn't expect a bull fan to know what those numbers mean so I apologize in advance.

It doesn't say anything because the death of a player doesn't magically come back from the dead based a certain dollar figure or when it gets paid. That's decided by the court system and the law, not UCF. Nice try though.

What happened to Ereck Plancher was a tragedy. George O'Leary had an old school way of toughening up players with brutal workouts. Ereck had sickle trait, which obviously wasn't conducive to said workouts because the body can't get enough oxygen to tissues due to malformed red blood cells. George O'Leary didn't single Ereck out and make him do anything different than all the other kids he coached. The fact that you are using this kids death to make a point is beyond low class and crosses the line between rival banter and just being a straight a hole. Regarding those peanuts you refer to; a jury, NOT UCF found that UCFAA was under UCF's direct control and thus considered a state agency. The law states that $200,000 is the max payout. UCF didn't concoct that law or find some loophole. So nice try trying to distort whatever you can fit your narrative because you literally have nothing to contribute to what this thread was about. If you want to blame someone, blame the jury who used the facts that were presented to them and came to a joint decision.

The problem is, usf got pretty much everything handed to them on a silver platter. Younger football program, got gifted into C-USA early on, then gifted into BE. Subsequently, your entire program from a fan base and administration standpoint is beyond entitled. You squandered the BE gift by beating some tough teams but fading back to obscurity every season. One poster even relishes in that fact - little do they know, that's EXACTLY why there is no foundation. You want an OCS but NFL quality that you can't afford, so you sit there with your hands in your pockets - accepting the status quo. Make fun of the hardware all you want, but it's tangible and shows commitment to the sport. No one's going to remember who you beat out of conference 2 years from now, much less a decade ago when you're unranked at the end of the season and have nothing to show for it. UCF has had to fight for everything they've earned and that's why our players have a chip on their shoulders. You guys go 7-0, lose one game and the wheels fall off. That chip is why UCF is undefeated with a different coach. You can make the comparison all you want about how if the tables were turned, UCF fans would feel the same way - the difference is - instead of sitting back wallowing in their own misery (0-12 in 2016) waiting for a golden ticket; they are hell bent on blowing down as many doors and scaring the **** out of the people holding the tickets until they drop one our way.

It's absolutely hilarious that so many of you think the AAC is a dumpster fire conference, yet can't seem to win anything; EVEN with the best team you've ever fielded in 2017. If you were constantly dominating the conference, then you may have a point, but you don't. Then some of you contradict yourself by talking about how winning would equate to butts in the seat just as much as UCF has. Yet, after your most successful seasons of 2016 11-2 (Average attendance: 37,538) and 2017 10-2 seasons (Average attendance: 31,401) , you trended DOWN. The days of you having WVU and Pitt at Ray Jay are long gone, but feel free to live in the glory days to justify why an off campus stadium, 15 miles off campus is better than UCF's on campus aluminum stadium. Some of you also talk about how our low's are much worse than yours. OK great, we went winless in 2005 and 2016. We've also won 5 Conference titles 2 BCS/NY6's and on track for a 6th with another appearance at a NY6. You can't honestly say you would rather rather have your 3-9 and 2-10 and have literally accomplished nothing, versus what UCF has done. You're right about it being cyclical though, since 2013, UCF has won the conference ~50% of the time. Regarding "scientific proof" having an OCS stadium, since UCF doesn't disclose actual numbers per home game - AD Danny White publically stated that: "In addition, UCF makes about $2 million per home game and that number is growing exponentially as UCF’s season-ticket base grows." UCF Home Game Revenue Versus No plans to leave Raymond James Stadium Kelly echoed the report's sentiment that Raymond James Stadium remains a quality option for USF for many more years, even though the school has to pay $400,000 to rent the facility each game and USF doesn't collect on most typical stadium-related revenues such as concessions, parking and sponsorship opportunities. USF's typical crowds also fill just about half of the stadium, leaving a "lack of a traditional collegiate football atmosphere," according to the report. The 10-mile drive across Tampa presents an additional challenge to many students who might otherwise attend more games. USF Ray Jay Fee

No idea when that picture was taken. However, based on the ESPN broadcast of the game and looking at the attendance, it's safe to say it's around 15-17k. Whether it's UCF fans or USF fans, it's irrelevant. When FSU comes to Ray Jay, do you guys minus the FSU fans that overwhelmingly outnumber you? Bottom line, you're not going to convince a single person that usf some how manages more fans at their games than UCF does save the 2015 season in the last several years. A simple eye test will prove that time and time again since the numbers are skewed by both schools.

Sure about that? I was not at the game but this picture says otherwise. at the 36:00 minute mark HERE, you can see there is about 8-10k just on that one side. While I agree there is definitely not 26k in the stands, I highly doubt it was less than 17k.

So you're stating that usf averages more fans because of a one sample size game at the end of an winless season?

Yeah, I do. usf pads their announced stats by a minimum of 30% above actual attendance. Even with your "announced" attendance, you still get beat by UCF's actual attendance. If you honestly believe for a split second, usf is pulling in more fans into Ray Jay than ucf fans into the bounce house, then you are even more crazy than I thought.

On the flip-side, you guys were undefeated till recently and still managed to have predominantly empty stadiums. Winning is not the only factor in play. Even with the 0-12 season, we on average have by far more per game than usf over the last several years.

Wow... with an an attitude like this, why not just drop down to FCS? An unmotivated team on New Years? Honestly, you could use that same excuse any time someone is favored to win, loses. You don't get to that level of competition where you are playing in a New Years 6 bowl and decide to embarrass yourself on national television. People like you are the same that just hope to be at the right place at the right time (ala Vanderbilt, Kansas, Wake Forest et al) or wish they would win the lottery without actually playing.

The argument about not building an OCS because of the lack of money, is about as short sighted as when Blockbuster turned down the chance to buy Netflix for $50 million. If your administration wasn't so inept to see the overwhelming value building a college football atmosphere brings; they could easily start a campaign to get the City of Tampa involved, build hype around what the stadium would do for your program and reel in boosters. Where there is a will, there is a way. Instead, they don't see the immediate benefit just like Blockbuster didn't; and are letting the disparity between our schools widen each year.