WoolyBully

Recruits.

That's something that never occurred to me: not just how these losses look to us - but how they look to recruits. I never gave that much thought to the impact it would have on trying to get talent to show up. I think, going forward, the portal is how we would get impact players who, being kids, think that playing back home outweighs playing in The Bigs. I would imagine that if I were a kid in high school, and USF wants me to play here...I may be exercising my other options. Saturday was not a good advertisement for the program in any way whatsoever.

Lost to Bama by 14 points, Lost to UAB by: 21 points

Lost to Florida Atlantic (where USF was favored to win) by 35 points.

In the event USF does not go to a bowl game this season, and we're hanging onto a five-win season as a point of pride, I would imagine the die-hards will embrace the level of progress compared to the previous three years. However, anything under five wins* makes selling season tickets just that much harder for next year.

* REMINDER: pre-season O/U was 4.5.

Well, with five games left, the Magic Eight Ball, shows USF favored to win in three of them (Uconn, Temple & Charlotte), which should not be difficult games. Bear in mind that same Eight Ball had USF at a 56% chance of beating FAU. A loss to FAU would not have been unexpected, but certainly not a blowout of week-one-cupcake-opponent proportions. So, is it possible to go to a bowl game? Sure. It's possible, but a lot depends on how USF rebounds from this loss (by EVEN MORE POINTS than losses to each team from Alabama...or we could say by the combined total of both 'Bama & UAB! But we won't...). 

Anyway, it's still possible, but there is no cushion in the event of an upset. Can't recover from that. 

5 hours ago, Cmr3 said:

I think we need to move up to a power five Conference to attract the really good guys in the area or we need a super recruiter like Deion.

Both of which can be accomplished easily clicking your heels together, three times, and saying "...

11 minutes ago, Brad said:

CANCELED

Oh, so that's how it is, huh? When we're beating lesser opponents, teams which we believe should be unceremoniously ejected from the conference for not doing the heavy lifting, we can wallow in the victory and break our arms patting ourselves on the back. But when we've been trounced by OUR BIG IN-STATE RIVAL, at homecoming (the week we schedule a guaranteed win), we are nowhere to be found. I, for one, am shocked and appalled by this sort of behavior, and will not darken this site with my presence until this is rectified!!

Nah. I'll be back later tonight. I would imagine the conversation would be less than fun. See y'all later. 

I wonder what it's like to have "well respected friends"? I s'pose, if I ever had any, I might value their knowledge. But, until then I'll just rely on my disreputable, criminal adjacent cohorts for conference realignment dope.  

I'm in. 

So, what if we do something like this at halftime. Make it some sort of contest to participate, and then, at halftime, the show is all yours. Gotta make our live mascot stand out...

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Xu2VtBM3cGI?feature=share

Six games left and three wins needed: UCONN, CHARLOTTE & TEMPLE would satisfy the minimum requirement. So, I'd shift from possible to probable at this point. A win over our big in-state rival, FAU  , would advance the cause before having to wait until the last game of the season to dot the i's and cross the t's. 

The O/U was 4.5. And thanks to the smart boys at William Hill and their software update my $100 on the under was thwarted. The ESPN Magic Eight Ball Prognosticator had USF at 47.5% (under 50%) chance of winning against UAB. According to that same bit of soothsaying technology, USF is above 50% against four more opponents this season. 

3 hours ago, Bulls On Parade said:

Watched a video..he is interesting guy he was a hedge fund manager early on and coached 13 years HS program and won many state titles.   He donates his pay to the program, he is a different type for sure.
 

Indeed he is. He is not from the mold where normal coaches are formed. I think this is more of a hobby for him - altough he does want to win, not like he doesn't give a crap one way or the other. That being said, our good friends at UNCC are going to have to make some choices along the way if the experiment doesn't pan out. But, until such time, he is entertaining. 

15 minutes ago, Cat941 said:

Yes.  We won't have the dang TSA-supplied numbers to distract us and for our detractors to audit. 

Indeed. We - WE - will control the narrative and can manipulate it with complete abandon. Who controls the media, controls the mind. And once the stadium is in place, that control rests squarely in U of SF's hands. 

Quote

 the school really only cares if people are buying the tickets, they care more about that than people showing up for the games.

I'd say that's a fair assessment. It's the dinero that makes the machine operate, a nice wide shot on the tee-vee is just a bonus. It's nice to be able to market the game-day experience when you're trying to sell tickets, however. In an ideal world, you'd sell out every seat in the venue - and have a waiting list - with a packed stadium to show off to the visiting dignitaries. So until that day, we will adhere to the previously agreed upon ticket metric for external consumption. 

For this afternoon's performance, the part of USF will be played by "Harley" from Five J's Cattle, and the part of UAB will be played by Duane, part-time rodeo clown, full time Blazer. Tickets available at the box office. 

6 minutes ago, Triple B said:

They're using the same criteria that all other college programs use so I don't know what to tell you ....

I thought we agreed to this some time back, didn't we? Remember, we had that meeting where we all agreed to use some measure of 'tickets distributed' rather than turnstile flips? I'm pretty sure we covered this. Now, if one were resident in...oh, let's say, Neyland Stadium, Michigan Stadium or Bryant-Denny, nitpicking over distribution versus butt cheeks on bleachers is irrelevant. Remember kids, there's a difference between "the truth" and "full disclosure". 

Came straight from cutting the grass and cleaning the gutters to coach this game. That's dedication. Or shtick.

15 hours ago, TallyBull said:

if USF somehow gets into an auto-bid conference

I think that's pretty much what it would take to be in a position where coaches stick around for a while; U of SF being less of a way station and more of a destination. 

Poking about on the ESPN soothsayer board, USF has a less than 50% chance of winning at UAB, Memphis & UAB. So, in games with FAU, UCON, TEMPLE & CHARLOTTE, U of SF has a greater percentage probability of winning. Four more wins - at worst - would total to seven and make the bulls bowl eligible. Interestingly, the odds in favor of USF winning are all increasing, even if under 50% 

I'd be surprised if the wheels fell off and the losses mounted going forward. Momentum and all that good stuff. 

12 hours ago, Brad said:

Wait, who?  Tampa what?  I don't get it.

If we want any traditional "media" outfit to cover us, we probably need to pay them more in advertising.  Coverage is sold, not earned.

I think there are folks who don't quite think that through. Although football provides three hours - minimum - of entertainment, there's the business side of that enterprise as well. Part of that selling is the story that captivates, eyes on the page, traffic etc. I like it when people take pride in saying they don't read the paper (what's a paper? yuk, yuk, yuk) and then complain about the lack of coverage (though that knowledge was obtained second hand). Like the joke about two older ladies leaving the restaurant; one complains "the food was just awful" and the other opines "and such small portions, too". 

From today's Tampa Bay Times:

I think that's good. 'Cause a lot of really good humor is based in truth.

I'll swing by post-game. 

2 hours ago, Brad said:

ASU is a bunch of whores that will do anything for another dollar or half dollar.  

2 hours ago, TallyBull said:

the hope is to make it one day. So today’s discussion is about preserving access for when that day comes.

So, if we were sitting at a felt covered table in the desert, would you slide all of your chips onto either (a) by the time U of SF is playoff material we are in a P(X) conference or (b) by the time U of SF is playoff material we are reliant on the throw-the-dog-a-bone eligibility clause? 

2 hours ago, TallyBull said:

a proposal that seems to have little support among the other conferences

Yes, but let us be brutally honest. Do those 'other' conferences - you know, the little people - do they really matter? 

1 hour ago, Jim Johnson said:

USF called them 'a classic'

per my previous - just cause it's said, don't make it so. Regardless of source. 

You don't like middle-o-the-road-green-and-gold.

You don't like slime green.

You people are impossible to please. 

Oh, and just because you say it's 'a classic', don't necessarily make it so.