windbane

Question for those who say we must win consistently or field a winning team.  What do you mean by that?  Undefeated seasons?  We have been 9-2, We have been 8-4.  it is definitely more than just winning games.  It will come down to winning meaningful games.  

I would say even if we go 10-2 or even 11-1 this year, you won't see the payoff in a major way until the following year unless there is something on the line down the stretch.   You will see marginal improvement in attendance, but the big growth won't happen while the season is a work in progress.

well, yes, we mean meaningful games.  USF didn't play meaningful games on the national scale until at least the C-USA but I'd argue until last season (2005).  We played a meaningful game at UConn and lost.  That would have garnered us national press all week and we had great attendance for that WVU game because many people bought tickets before we lost (and WVU fans, and other reasons).  If we happened to win that game (perhaps more motivation had we beaten UConn) then we would have hit the big time a little sooner.

This year, had we beaten Rutgers and Cincy we would have tied for first.  Those were meaningful.  We will play meaningful games every year now.  If we went undefeated this next season we'd have a chance at the championship.

soooo, winning is all it will take.

Well, should we start losing and hope the fans catch up that way?

I'm not worried at all about attendance.  If we starting beating teams like Auburn and continue to beat UL/WVU/Rutgers then it'll fix itself.  When we win the big east there will suddenly be thousands of fans that claim to have always supported USF, just like people came out of nowhere when the Bucs stopped sucking.

I'm pretty sure he called for his death before, but ok, I'll write that 1 off as a figure of speech.

Mark my words....WHEN we beat Auburn, the pundits will be saying that Auburn is down this year.  If we get credit for anything above #25, it will come late in the season.  We are top 25 material but the pollsters probably won't see us in action enough to give us credit for that.

it looks like we're going to start out the season in the top 30 at least so beating auburn would probably be enough to vault us.  even if we lose that game we could get back in the top 30 by beating WVU (after UNC) by the end of that month.  would just need a little winning streak from there to be ranked, imo.

btw the great wins that you thump your chest about Mike, are usually weak teams. How many teams with a winning record do you think we have beaten?

We do now have 1 quality win.

Thanks for proving me correct for once again blasting the team for actually winning games.  You are a freaking idiot for doing that.  Why should the team bother to win when so-called "fans" simply blast them for it?  Fricking dumbass.

I haven't "thumped my chest" about anything this season.  I am simply happy to see the program improve.  That is all a REALISTIC fan can expect.

if getting blown out the last 2 games is improvement then I'm glad you're happy.  simply happy.  I wish I could be so simply happy.  

except, if you are so happy why are you name-calling so much and calling for people to commit suicide?

IF THE TEAM WON THERE WOULD NOT BE NEGATIVITY.

Baloney.  You get on here whining everytime they win, talking about how the other team was weak, unprepared, or played down to USF.  You've even made posts on blogs to that effect and bragged about it here.  You are a lying sack of sh@t.  Worst so-called "fan" in the world.  Do USF a favor and go jump off the Skyway.

you are the crappy fan.  you say we have the worst fans. fans that care about winning get UPSET when they team loses all the time!  that's freakin natural!  you want changes so the team will get better!

he meant if they won consistently with a sign of long-term improvement, obviously.  he was actually positive after the notre dame win (so was ari).  whatever, more importantly,  isn't this the second time you called for someone to die or kill himself?  and wasn't the last time shortly after dorsey's death?  that's sick, man.  you need help.  being negative about a team that loses as much and as badly as USF basketball is understandable but saying someone should kill himself because he doesn't agree with you is uncalled for.

in one of the worst years in the big east the bulls will struggle to make the tourney

rmc needs to go

The #1 reason I want USF Basketball to succeed is so that smazza continues to never be right about a topic because his posts are negative 99% of the time.  He is 100% right here.

ESPN Rankings of Big East

[table]

[tr][td]School Rankings [/td][/tr][/table]

[table]

[tr][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td]Commits[/td][td][/td][td][/td][td]Position[/td][td][/td][td][/td][td]Scout Grades[/td][td][/td][/tr]

[tr][td]RANK [/td][td]NCAA SCHOOL [/td][td]CONFERENCE [/td][td]COMMITS [/td][td]ESPN 150 [/td][td]JC [/td][td]OFF [/td][td]DEF [/td][td]ST [/td][td]GRADED [/td][td]AVG [/td][/tr]

[tr][td]33 [/td][td]Pittsburgh [/td][td]Big East[/td] [td]25 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]14 [/td][td]11 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]21 [/td][td]74.9[/td] [/tr]

[tr][td]43 [/td][td]South Florida[/td] [td]Big East [/td][td]28 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]3 [/td][td]14 [/td][td]13 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]11 [/td][td]73.9[/td] [/tr]

[tr][td]45 [/td][td]West Virginia[/td] [td]Big East [/td][td]25 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]11 [/td][td]13 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]18 [/td][td]73.8 [/td][/tr]

[tr][td]47 [/td][td]Louisville [/td][td]Big East[/td] [td]18 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]5 [/td][td]13 [/td][td]5 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]10 [/td][td]73.7 [/td][/tr]

[tr][td]50 [/td][td]Rutgers [/td][td]Big East[/td] [td]22 [/td][td]2 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]9 [/td][td]12 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]15 [/td][td]73.4[/td] [/tr]

[tr][td]66 [/td][td]Syracuse [/td][td]Big East [/td][td]27 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]4 [/td][td]10 [/td][td]16 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]15 [/td][td]72.6[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]83 [/td][td]Connecticut[/td] [td]Big East[/td] [td]29 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]7 [/td][td]15 [/td][td]12 [/td][td]1 [/td][td]15 [/td][td]71.4 [/td][/tr]

[tr][td]104 [/td][td]Cincinnati [/td][td]Big East [/td][td]23 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]16 [/td][td]6 [/td][td]0 [/td][td]11 [/td][td]69.6[/td][/tr]

[/table]

2nd in the big east, smazza.  

6. Linebacker -

We only lose Mompremier, and maybe McKenzie(?)

yeah, whether he plays this year or not he'd still have his senior year in 2008 to play then we lose him.  and as you say, good depth there.  seems to me that we're set at most positions if our OL works out as we hope it will with the new recruits.  need a QB whether or not voss switches positions so at least voss would have competition and a backup.  I think that's our only pressing need for 2 season from now.  Crazy.

so what

4 teams recruited better than bulls in big east alone

50 teams in usa recruited better than usf

espn rated us the 2nd best class in the big east.  you always quote the worst opinion of our school.  why is that?

B, the same grade I gave it.  yay.

well, at least there can be laughter in the loss.  

I'm pretty sure most of us laugh at 83 after a loss OR a win .... It is easier laughing after a win, though.

and the Country laughs at USF Basketball. Example after the Notre Dame win during a Big East game they mentioned that ND lost and the other announcer laughs and said "Ya They Lost to South Florida"

The "Country" is not laughing at us .... You boys are like a bunch of overly sensitive Nancy boys worried about getting your feelings hurt because someone is supposedly laughing at us. The announcer you're talking about was Digger Phelps, and he wasn't laughing, he was disgusted.

Keep those green and gold shades on.

The only ones with green and gold glasses are the one who EXPECTED USF to leap over a bunch of the tradition laden basketball programs of the Big East in its' second year in the conference...

I believe the football team just achieved a .500 or better winning percentage against every "tradition laden" big east football team...oh yeah, it was our second year in the big east.  how awesome is that?

there are a lot of crappy teams in the big east right now, and we are one of the bottom ones.  that sucks.  that should be lower than anyone's expectations.

What's sad is that the darkside is making fun of the fact some fans had some optimism after the Notre Dame game. That game brought some hope to a very grim situation. After the St Johns game, a few fans held onto whatever hope there was, and they made fun of it.

How can you expect any changes in the program, if you crush any sign of hope?

dude, I was one of the only people that didn't have much hope after the notre dame game.  everyone here is looking for hope wherever it might come from, including me.  beating a ranked team (at the time, good luck this week) should be a sign for hope, and it was.  but then getting blown out by st johns almost completely canceled it out.  I think the full cancel was done after depaul also beat notre dame and then we got completely demolished by louisville.  that's depresing.  there isn't much hope to be crushed.  the hope is that we win at least 3 out of 5 games from here on and make the big east tournament so maybe we'll make the NIT.  

for me, unless there that is a sign that we might improve in the following years, that's not where I want the team to be anyway, but that is the only "hope" left.  no one crushed that hope for anyone, a lot of you people just get annoyed at negativity.  I believe I said after the notre dame game that we still have some games to win for it to mean anything, which is still true because the 2 following games we got blown out.

we'll see what happens, but I don't see much hope for the future with the current situation.

What's sad is that the darkside is making fun of the fact some fans had some optimism after the Notre Dame game. That game brought some hope to a very grim situation. After the St Johns game, a few fans held onto whatever hope there was, and they made fun of it.

How can you expect any changes in the program, if you crush any sign of hope?

So its the darksiders fault?

For the negativity that surrounds the team.

Don't give them that much credit. All the darksiders are responsible for is the negativity on this board, which, in the grand scheme of things, means absolutely nothing pertaining to the team.

good, at least you aren't delusional enough to think that people being negative on a message board actually changes how the team plays.

What's sad is that the darkside is making fun of the fact some fans had some optimism after the Notre Dame game. That game brought some hope to a very grim situation. After the St Johns game, a few fans held onto whatever hope there was, and they made fun of it.

How can you expect any changes in the program, if you crush any sign of hope?

So its the darksiders fault?

For the negativity that surrounds the team.

IF THE TEAM WON THERE WOULD NOT BE NEGATIVITY.

Good lord, could you amagine if our football team had 4 straight horrible seasons?

But yet I seem to remember a time when the team was 4-0, ad 7-1 and the rhetoric was "we'll choke".

if you are talking about this year...that's because we weren't playing anybody!  my gosh...

well, at least there can be laughter in the loss.  

If we win this game it could be the catalyst to winning a national title 2-3 years down the road. They are the only team that beat Florida last year.

we definitely agree on this point  

place i work at blocked facebook, myspace, game websites, etc, but thankfully does not block this site.  however, they also block proxies so good luck  

Windbane & VElcro,

Please read everything I write. It just seems you are picking and choosing what you want to hear. I have stated several times that this IS a good year in terms of OUR history. Just not in the grand scheme/national picture.[highlight] If you really think we did the best we COULD have done this year then let's just leave it at that. [/highlight]

If you knew a little bit more about me you would understand why I am discouraged with our recruiting class.

I coach high school football in hillsborough county and I got to witness some pretty incredible athletes. There was a ton of talent just at my school, CJL personally visited 1 time that I know of. Guess who was there on more than one occasion, early in the season and after the season, in fact just a few weeks ago, you guessed it...Urban Meyer.

The thing is I really don't pay attention to stars on a SCOUT or RIVALS. I know first hand where the real stars/athletes are at. WE DID NOT RECRUIT THESE KIDS, WHY! You may be thinking, "well he is just bias" truth be told I AM BIAS. I want my USF Bulls to be the very best I know they can be and this year... they passed on, ignored or didn't even talk to some very, very talented kids.

[highlight]This will be final word about recruiting. [/highlight]PS- don't ever compare me to smazza again, my thoughts are my own. I'm sure he is insulted as am I.

So by posting what you just posted you aren't looking for a response? I've made my points you have made yours...what do you want me to say, I really want you to sleep better tonight.

Heh, ok.  So you make a comment in response to mine and then say "this is the last word and I don't want to talk about it anymore."  Well, I responded to it because I disagree with what you say.  If you don't want to respond that is fine.  I happen to think you are wrong about the significance of this class and I'm going to post my dissenting viewpoint.  

I don't know if we did the best we "could" have done, but in my opinion we did the best we have ever done.  And, again, considering the success we've already had it seems to me that we're doing quite well.

That may have been YOUR final word about recruiting, but you can't say that and then claim I didn't read what you wrote just because I quote what you say and respond to it.  I understood the points that meant something.  I'm sorry I didn't acknowledge that because you wanted what you said to be the last word that what I said was not asking you to respond, merely stating my dissenting opinion.  

Windbane & VElcro,

Please read everything I write. It just seems you are picking and choosing what you want to hear. I have stated several times that this IS a good year in terms of OUR history. Just not in the grand scheme/national picture. If you really think we did the best we COULD have done this year then let's just leave it at that.

If we were ranked 29th in the country to end the season with a very young team, may be ranked to start next season, and just had our best recruiting class, then how can you say it is not good in the "grand scheme/national picture"?  that's a little confusing considering the success we have already had and the needs that we just filled for our future teams and ridiculous depth at a few positions (such as RB).  

Oh, and don't forget our coaching hirings where we seem to have former head coaches everywhere, and a former OC and Jets WR coach now coaching our WRs.  Just seems to me were are on the cusp of national recognition (that Rutgers received last year but as far as I know not before the season like we are now), and this class is the best we've had so far, with our best recruit (Mike Ford) already in class and getting ready for the spring game.  

I'm sorry we didn't recruit more students from your HS but maybe we weren't their first choice considering the popularity of the other FL schools.  But we seem to do just fine with recruiting as shown by our past and our success last season (nearly beating rutgers, beating WVU, going 9-4, winning a bowl game 24-7).

Like I said before... read everything I write.

Considering I've read this entire thread (as I usually do before I post something), please tell me how what I just posted indicates to you that I did not read everything you wrote.

Personally, I just hope these recruits dont lose to teams like Kansas or Cincy.. the day we don't lose to programs like these is the day that our recruiting will be on par with the Big 3.

Gameplanning wins games, but talent alone should be able to beat the Kansases and Cincys of the world.

cincy was a better team than kansas and should not be in the same category.

 FSU almost lost to troy last year and went 7-6.  Miami got beat by Louisville worse than we did and without UL's QB.  oh, and we beat WVU, a better team than either FSU or Miami beat last season.  so yeah, we lost to kansas, but do you really think we would have done that by the end of the season?  we got a lot better and should be even better next year, and this time a little earlier.

Windbane & VElcro,

Please read everything I write. It just seems you are picking and choosing what you want to hear. I have stated several times that this IS a good year in terms of OUR history. Just not in the grand scheme/national picture. If you really think we did the best we COULD have done this year then let's just leave it at that.

If we were ranked 29th in the country to end the season with a very young team, may be ranked to start next season, and just had our best recruiting class, then how can you say it is not good in the "grand scheme/national picture"?  that's a little confusing considering the success we have already had and the needs that we just filled for our future teams and ridiculous depth at a few positions (such as RB).  

Oh, and don't forget our coaching hirings where we seem to have former head coaches everywhere, and a former OC and Jets WR coach now coaching our WRs.  Just seems to me were are on the cusp of national recognition (that Rutgers received last year but as far as I know not before the season like we are now), and this class is the best we've had so far, with our best recruit (Mike Ford) already in class and getting ready for the spring game.  

I'm sorry we didn't recruit more students from your HS but maybe we weren't their first choice considering the popularity of the other FL schools.  But we seem to do just fine with recruiting as shown by our past and our success last season (nearly beating rutgers, beating WVU, going 9-4, winning a bowl game 24-7).

Hey, look at that, I've got 3 stars now...oh, if only I had 1 more star so maybe people would think I'm a better poster...

BELOW AVG, if you compare us to the rest of the nation

SOLID, If you know our history

Great or BETTER, If you don't know a **** thing about USF football

*sigh*.  I'd tried to respond to your negative posts with information before, but you are telling me that I "don't know a **** thing about USF football."  I voted great because we met our needs (QB, S, CBs, LBs, DTs, OLs, etc) and got more than necessary.  It's also our best class ever by most peoples' estimation (that actually do know something about USF football).

Why do you CONTINUE TO IGNORE THE RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF GREAT PLAYERS WE HAVE HAD AND HAVE THAT WERE TWO OR THREE STARS?  I don't understand it.  Please explain to me how our NFL players were 3 stars or lower, how we had freshmen all-americans that were 2 stars and how Grothe is doing so well only being a 3 star?  I'm tired of listing all the players (there are more), but the evidence suggests that we find more underrated players than anyone.

It's one thing to disagree with my vote and just say solid and that we met our needs, but you could disagree without profanity towards those that see it better off than you.  Oh, and lest I forget Mike Ford that more than filled a need, potentially of course.   We already have Moises Plancher coming back and 3 other RB/FB recruits.  Whatever.