EduBull

This is the key issue - when is it not worth it anymore? If you are a fan of the University, and view the football program as something that serves the needs of the larger University (in other words, actual USF fans), we're at that point where the return on investment is questionable, and it might be time to shift those resources elsewhere. If you view the University as existing to serve the needs of the football program, then sure, keep throwing money down the hole. But don't pretend you're a USF fan.

Should be clear which phase we're now in. College football played on a national stage potentially provides an important branding opportunity for a University, and it was worth pursing. But it didn't work out for us, and at this stage we're doing little but reinforcing our image as a 2nd rate university. It's time to direct those resources into other areas that might be of more benefit. Our own state legislature has clearly defined us as a 2nd tier institution behind UF and FSU - why not redirect our top-tier coach's salary to lobbyists or other forces necessary to raise our profile and funding in our own state? Or to raise the profile of another of our research programs to international prominence? These things would have direct benefits for all of us. Again, a nationally competitive football team was a worthy goal. But we didn't make it. Maybe one day we'll have a chance to try again, but not for the foreseeable future. So for now let's cut it back to a small program in a small conference and direct our energies elsewhere.

I agree with the other reply that OP likely heard Victor Crist's dream for a USF stadium. Somehow I think I heard the same three points over a decade ago. Raymond James stadium was supposed to be a venue that allowed us to participate in a major conference, with the idea that eventually the program would grow to stand on it's own with a moderately equivalent (i.e. major conference caliber) on-campus stadium. That ship has sailed (at least for the foreseeable future). No one in their right mind would approve or fund a major conference football stadium for USF at the present time. If we leave Raymond James now, it will be because we aren't big enough to afford it any more. Under those circumstances do you really think you'd be proud of the OCS we would build?

ACC seems committed to being a basketball conference. That makes us persona non grata. We have NOTHING to offer in that department. At least nothing the ACC would want.

Note that USF is not a "pre-eminent state research university." http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/04/22/3357874/fla-gov-to-sign-sweeping-education.html

My sources tell me there's a chance that, however grim the reality, we're not going anywhere anytime soon. We've taken a step backwards and that's just the cold, hard truth. So deal with it. We're going to have to rely on winning, and only winning, to earn respect.

The Mad Cow is supposed to be a pissing contest - proof that arguing on the Internet is like competing at the special Olympics. Even if you win you're still retarded. This forum ought to have a sense of unity that keeps arguments from degenerating into rancor.

The other thing is that UNC is still a basketball school, and I would imagine that's the context from which any conference change would be evaluated. From a Florida perspective that's hard to wrap your head around, but from a North Carolina perspective basketball is the big sport. I grew up there, and I can recall the teachers in elementary school putting the ACC basketball tournament on the classroom TV if games were during school hours. Would never have happened for football. You've got a lot of UNC alumns who are absolutely immersed in ACC basketball and have been their whole lives. Not saying that UNC won't leave the ACC, but am saying it's unlikely short of something earth-shattering.

I've read a few places that UNC turned down the B1G. If that is really true, than UNC is expecting to get into the SEC or they are really stupid. Or both. I think I'd rater go to the B1G, more realistic chance at competing and more prestigious and more class (well, excluding Rutgers). I doubt UNC is quite as anxious to bolt the ACC as some of you think. The in-state rivalries between UNC, NC State, Duke, and Wake are powerful reasons to stay. Many of the ACC schools have been playing together for A LONG time.

I was gone for a while and TheBullsPen.com definitely does not seem as active. Could be that people have simply shifted somewhat to Facebook and other social media. But our current standing as a 2nd or 3rd tier sports school no longer on the rise can't be helping.

Someone on the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs message board posted a link from a local sports writer in Missoula, Montana who overheard a guy in LAX talking on the phone to a friend who works in the athletic department of Spokane Falls Community College say that an administrative assistant at the University of Texas accidentally posted a Facebook status that said that Wake Forest was joining the PAC-12. It also said that the AD at Boise State let slip in an interview with the college paper there that with Wake's move to the PAC-12 Florida State and Virginia Tech would bolt for the Big 12, Dade Community College would join the ACC, and the SEC would expand to 32 teams. The SEC is expected to announce the addition of USF to its east Tampa Bay division very soon.

What news sources?

Poor Manti - his stock is falling. Chewed up and spit out by the Notre Dame marketing machine, and can't live up to the hype. How long before the E! True Hollywood Story?

You've got to consider those donations relative to what other universities (those USF sees as peers, or aspires to see as peers) spend on academics. Also, you have to consider what your goals are and what you want USF to be. Personally, I want to increase the value of all USF degrees, and see USF respected as a national research institution and public university. Athletics can potentially help with this, but at the current time I think USF Athletics has reached a plateau it won't transcend in the near future, regardless of funding. So better to put resources into other areas.

It would appear so. Sorry - the game had a late start time. I have to be in bed by 11pm on school nights. I'll ask my mom to let me stay the whole time at the next game.