WoolyBully

further intercept analysis shows this:

Another of my intelligence sources says this:

Let's think about that for a second. The "we" I keep hearing about...the AAC as an entity. The conference. Do we care more about USF or do we care more about the Conference? Or do we care, overall, about the conference anyway? How much pride is there to be had if the "conference" reps vis-a-vis the CFP? Does having some conference member in the playoffs really mean much if that team isn't U of SF? I don't think so. I'm having a real hard time envisioning U of SF as desirable property given the current state of realignment. If you had to pick between Conference Crapola in perpetuity, and greater potentail access to the CFP or take up residence in the lower rung of Conference Utopia and never sniffing the CFP, which would it be?

Be careful about where you place those chips, amigo. There's a whole lot of entertainment options available, and consumers are getting wise to what they pay for (just like those gym memberships gathering dust). Would I pay $15/month for USF football? Sure. Would I commit to a one-year package at $15/month? Un uh. I don't value ESPN programming enough to even spring for $9.99/mo. Just being honest, for the past few years, the decision has been "USF is on this channel, and SEC/ACC game is on that channel. Let's watch that channel."

On the plus side, however, we can hang out with our AAU homies, Stanford, so it doesn't look like we're really on par with Jacksonville State and the Mighty Akron Zips.

No. I am assuming that 100 is some arbitrary number. What does "5 20 team" conferences equate to? Why keep ACC, B1G, Big XII, PAC 12, & SEC? Why not just go with sixteen-team versions in the SEC, B1G, Big XII with no guarantee that all of the P5 participants are P5 in the future. I'm not talking about booting Vandy or Duke or Wake. Those teams are needed by the Heavy Lifters. Basically, the top tier, which will have poached everything of value at x-point in time, just calls it a day and opens their own non-NFL (wink, wink) college football enterprise.? Why not just three conferences of 16 teams each. The top 48 teams is, just being honest in the non-alma mater sense of the word, E-NOUGH. When it comes to sharing revenue, you can go the 'bigger pie' route, or you can go the 'bigger slice' route. Wanna split the lottery winnings among 100 people or just two? Thats what I see as the driving force for realignment. Another day at the office and more spreadsheets...wanna go down to the cafeteria?

Yeah. I'd say that is a very fair assessment. As such, the only thing left to do is look forward. Think back to the P5 upsets. Upsets. Can you really live off of that? One of the problems we have here is there is no clear line of demarcation between statement of facts and what constitutes - to some people - negativity. At the same time, there are those who have green and gold goggles surgically attached to their face. Our success is measured by what we can say we accomplished. It doesn't mean that our success is on par with other teams' measurement of success. Remember, come this fall, winning two games constitutes a 100% increase in winning over last year. Two games. I think that would be more along the lines of marginal improvement, but here at USF, we live in a take-what-we-can-get world.

Kids, we gotta rethink this whole conference naming business. Your numbers don't match up and the ATLANTIC is but a short THREE THOUSAND MILES from Beavers & Huskies.

What a great way to celebrate my 77th birthday!

I'm thinking that most reasonable (and yes, I know there is no objective standard for what constitutes reasonable) fans would like to see U of SF out of the AAC and in a P5 conference. How could you not pine for such? However, I also think those same reasonable people realize that we are not first round draft picks. All of the P5 shufflin' has to wrap up, media deals cut, and considerable improvement on the part of USF before THEY start looking at USF as a value-added component. Inclusion is not imminent. And while USF is doing everything it can to become desirable, the finished product is way down the road. Until then, however, we're going to fantasize and express our wishes and concoct scenarios where all of the stars align...ad nauseam. Why? 'Cause there's nothing good on TV and game day is still weeks away.

You're not s'posed to say that. We previously agreed that we're too good for certain P5 conferences and that we are just quietly biding our time until such time as the SEC or B1G realizes what a phenomenal asset we would be. Going forward, please stick to the script.

Might swing by Central Michigan w/father-in-law, and of course, the obligatory Charlotte game.

And how would that compare to the Monroe Enquirer Journal, newspaper of my youth?

Far from it. The Times keeps some members of TBP amped up on red-meat speed throughout the year. "Hey, how come the hometown (Now is this Mayberry or Mount Pilot?) paper doesn't blow bright golden rays of sunshine up our collective arse like any good local rally-round-the-team-boys cheerleader organization is s'posed to do? They never say anything good about us! We never get a Christmas card from them!" If it were irrelevant, it would NOT get so much mention on TBP. Kind of like swearing up and down that it's not a rivalry, but you just can't help but talk about YKW. Wanna get your Bull fix? Here's where it's going to happen. As for UF & FSU coverage, well the paper's going to serve the interests of that which matters. As soon as USF manages to make some headway, then coverage might change. How many days off is that now?

Look, we don't print these scripts so you can NOT STICK TO THEM.

Yep, and the great thing about it is that it don't cost you one red cent if you're as wrong as the day is long. Are we prone to use the term "hope" and "believe" interchangeably? The reason I ask is, I often run across "I can see us ...". What does that mean, 'see'? Is it a euphemism for imagine? Does it mean 'based on extensive analysis of facts and depth of knowledge there is a probability of x% that we win x-number of games"? 'Cause, we use the same words, but we apply a different meaning.

And since you mentioned it, the only two bowl games I traveled to were Meineke Charlotte x NCSU back in '05 and Brut/Sun El Paso x Oregon in '07. @bullsmania & I attended the St. Petersburg bowl just to see a football field wedged into Tropicana Field. Charlotte is where the relatives are encamped, and El Paso was the 'biggest' bowl game to date. @E.T. , @LakeBull (I think) attended some sort of senior bowl sort of game in Orlando once back when Huey Whittaker was playing. We - the Mrs. & I - have always said we'd head to another bowl game of merit, when it rolls around. Not being rude, or anything, but the list of current options are - just sayin' - not exactly engaging travel destinations and the opponents are not very engaging either (that's just opinion, still waiting on a big P5 option before using my Southwest air miles).

Oh, c'mon. You know you had a good time with the homies the night before. The game, however, was the poo.

A decade past, the Mrs. & I were in some sports bar, laden with Gators watching the Sugar Bowl. We were the only people in there supporting the Big East Louisville Cardinals. We heard plenty of the 'nothing to play for' line of thinking. But interestingly, you sat there to the bitter end watching your team lose, hoping for a win. Is it really 'nothing' if you stick around until 00:00, or does that get said to assuage the aching heart?

The correct answer is "none". Used in a sentence, it would be: 'I will be purchasing none of the items offered. What else do you have?'

I just completed this quiz. My Score 0/100 My Time 19 seconds  

Sent you a message. I think it has to do with how you navigate game to game. I believe it's working as intended.

Game three is selected. Interestingly when you navigate to Game 4 & Game 5 (and both have the "make picks" prompt), it's still the Wichita State & UAB game from game three. I'm guessing "the system" just grabs the latest entries regardless.

Awrite, got the FAMU CHARLOTTE game picked. It looks like you can't pick games 4 & 5 at this time; assume these to be locked until released by mod.