BullyPulpit

It is crazy how young and talented this team truly is. Looking at Joey Knight's projected starting lineup that he posted following USF's summer camp, we will be slated to return 20 out of 24 starters (including kickers) next season. That is just nuts and shows what a great job CWT and staff have done of recruiting talented youngsters. I'm excited for this year, but next year we should be loaded and have a MUCH easier schedule (Stony Brook, San Jose St., UMASS, and Illinois OOC, and we get Houston at home.) Here is hoping QF, Mack, and Co. all have a healthy year and return to play next season. Projected starting lineupOffenseTE Kano Dillon, So.LT Kofi Amichia, Sr.LG Jeremi Hall, R-Jr.C Cameron Ruff, R-Jr.RG Dominique Threatt, Sr.RT Billy Atterbury, R-Fr.QB Quinton Flowers, Jr.RB Marlon Mack, Jr.X Marquez Valdes-Scantling, R-Jr.Z Ryeshene Bronson, Jr.Slot Rodney Adams, Sr.DefenseDE Kirk Livingstone, R-Fr.DT Kevin Bronson, So.NT Bruce Hector, R-So.DE Vincent Jackson, R-So.WLB Nigel Harris, Sr.MLB Auggie Sanchez, R-Jr.CB Deatrick Nichols, Jr.CB Ronnie Hoggins, So.Striker Khalid McGee, So.SS Jaymon Thomas, So.FS Tajee Fullwood, Jr.Special TeamsP Brent Gordon, So.PK Emilio Nadelman, R-Jr.

I was wondering the same thing when I read that in the article. I think it was an easy out to justify switching and then subsequently having all the "higher profile" offers pulled before signing day. It really is unfortunate, as he seems to have his stuff together academically and seems like a legit player. Would love to know a little more on the subject.

Mike or John can correct me if I am wrong, but I don't believe the season ticket counts include the 3 game packs. I'm fairly certain that they only count full season tickets.

I believe he signed with Prarie View A&M. For some reason Joey Knight retweeted that and it is from 2014.

Only as a collateral issue because they pay a pittance to the AAC for its broadcast rights.

I'm not suggesting that either outcome is likely (less than a 1% chance of both happening), but, if we have a miracle season and they do as well, we will have to beat them in Houston. I would love an undefeated USF to host a one loss Houston team that beat OU and UofL.

This system virtually guarantees that an undefeated USF will not host the AAC Championship game against an undefeated Houston, as they will start out with too large of an advantage in the polls and public perception for us to overcome. Also, with OOC games against Oklahoma and Louisville, an undefeated Houston might be in the Top 4 if we played them.

There is no point talking to them. They are pompous and arrogant and they are able to say and do pretty much whatever they want without impunity. True journalism is dead. The new-age TMZ style of "journalism" is the way of the world from this point forth. Knight knew what he was doing and his intentions were clear. Fennelly is a clown. Tampa sports media is a joke.

I finally had enough this morning. I was driving in listening to 620 WDAE and Ronnie and T-Cras. They started talking about the USF "typo" and how it shows how unprepared USF is for the Big 12 and is indicative of why they aren't considered a front runner for Big 12 expansion. I was able to get through and immediately held them and Joey Knight to task. I got a little harsh and called Fennely and Knight clowns (but it felt so good to do so) and I called out Joey Knight for choosing to tweet the photo of the DRAFT version of the document rather than the finished product. I also called him out for not touting all of the positives that USF listed in their Big 12 package and instead finding the one negative that he could harp on. I think I caught the hosts completely by surprise that they were pretty much speechless. I concluded by asking them to ask Joey Knight about his choice to post the draft rather than the final version. After they hung up they said that I should take that up with Knight and the TBT myself....that would work out really well. We have all seen what a smug, defensive ass Knight can be on Twitter. It did lead me to the conclusion that we have a duty as USF fans to help drive and steer (see what I did there) the conversation on local talk media. If we call in and keep it positive about USF it will force the hosts to talk about it more and become more educated.

This most likely means that they both had to take a summer class in order to obtain their AA and they are waiting for the paperwork to process (assuming they passed the courses). While they will be behind the learning curve, they will be extra bodies for practice and could come in handy if we run into injury troubles (hopefully not) later on in the season.

I'm an idiot. I meant to say Syracuse, not FSU. I'm just looking forward to the FSU game so much it is all that is on my mind!

I could see it being NIU or FSU. I hope we jump all over Towson and he leaves with only 100 yards or so. If that were the case it would take a massive game against NIU. He only had 1 game over 200 yards last year (Temple) and his only other games above 120 yards were against FAMU (131) and Syracuse (184). Even assuming a FAMU type of performance, he would have to go for over 170 yards against NIU, which would be his 4th best rushing game of his career. Not impossible, but also not likely. My heart says NIU, but my head says FSU.

Well, after watching that video, it appears that while the rest of the Universities Presidents/ADs vying for Big 12 inclusion were trying to use social media to make their pitch, our leadership was working on creating an exceptional video package that sells the University as well as anything I have seen them put out before. Great job Judy and company. If the Big 12 passes on us, that will be their loss.

I'm happy as well, but I do wonder if the number includes any season tickets purchased by FSU fans in order to get access to the FSU game?

Let him get his AA and stuff together in Kansas and then give him a look as a TE.

Stop being so optimistic that JK will actually tweet out meaningful information that he just didn't take from another media outlet.

While I don't put a lot of value into preseason coaches polls, the most disappointing thing is that we only received 2 votes and there were a total of 6 AAC coaches involved in the poll. Help the conference out a little bit fellas! (*They probably just didn't want to increase our chances at getting Big 12 attention)

I like his fearlessness, but that highlight reel just shows that he needs to learn how to actually tackle. 21 year old men don't fall down as easily as 15 and 16 year old kids.

Except that Boise State has a ton of exceptions carved into the deal that guarantees them far more than any other school in the MWC. They earn about $1.5 million more than the average MWC team and get to keep all of the money when they appear in one of the New Year 6 games. In 2015 that netted them $9.3 million in TV money versus $4.9 million for Fresno State, the #2 team in the MWC.

Army shunned us when it made more sense for them to join and Air Force doesn't make any geographic sense without having full blown Western expansion. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of adding Army and Air Force (truly "The American" Conference), but I just don't see it happening.

Fair enough. I wasn't challenging your opinion, I was just curious to see if you had additional insight.

The problem is that I don't see us being able to reel in the likes of Boise State and Colorado State without completely renegotiating our TV deal(s). Even then, it will be daunting as there will be a lot of teams out West that are left behind in that scenario. I agree it would be the most desirable result, but I'm just not sure that is feasible.

I can understand Army, but I believe they turned down the invite before when the conference was even more attractive than it will likely end up being. I also don't like the idea of expanding out west unless we go down to 8 teams and are looking to create a 16 team conference. Why do you rank UMASS ahead of Marshall and Northern Illinois?

Lets go ahead and safely assume that the AAC is going to lose between 1 and 4 teams to Big 12 expansion. What is your guess/hope as to what teams, if any, are added to the AAC? My guess/hope in order would be: 1. Marshall 2. Northern Illinois 3. Southern Miss 4. Western Kentucky (I could also see UMASS possibly being considered, especially since they don't have any conference contracts/buyouts to worry about)

I said early last year that the biggest difference between Leavitt's teams of old and Skippy was that Leavitt found a way to put the ball in the hands of players with incredible athleticism. He was able to get high 3 star and some 4 star athletes (like Judson) to commit to us with the promise of playing their preferred position. If it worked out, great. If not, they found a spot somewhere on the field for them to showcase their talents. I see CWT starting to do this (that is how we landed Flowers after all, who had offers from UF, Nebraska, and WVU) and with that type of athleticism on the field we will always be competitive.