widerberg

Indeed. I can't believe all the bellyaching already. I can.. so many negative people on this forum. They're everywhere and routinely more active. Well, if we were winning, or at least playing good, there'd be nothing to be negative about, right? Play like dookie = fans get negative.

Where's that "Ain't nobody got time for that" video from the other thread? That song is running through my head watching this.

I realize this is the first game, new system, new coach, etc., and kinks have to be worked out . . . but I was hoping to see something more explosive here. I'm getting that ol' heartbreaking USF feeling again. This could be a very, very long year.

We're spotting them some points to make things interesting, right? Please?

For me, really, it's about being a wannabe. Ever since USF announced football, I've been chomping at the bit for USF to become a football power. Yes, it takes generations. But, I was hoping. I never wanted a IAA program, never liked the idea of being Indie. My hope for USF was for us to build our program and start playing in the Orange bowls, etc. and eventually (maybe not even during my lifetime, but eventually) becoming a power football school. Naive? It would seem so. But, the idea of fielding a IAA or Div II or Div III team just for sake of playing football never appealed to me as a fan or as an alum. That's my emotional attachment to bowls. Serious teams used to go to Bowls and got rewarded for it. Histories were made in them. Reputations were made in them. Now, for us, they'll be gone.

YES!!! Have a straight playoff. I still think Aresco's idea of a nationwide conference can take off if others are willing. Blow everything up, take the teams with the most potential from AAC, MWC (MAC and C-USA?) put them in a 'conference' with four tightly-geographical divisions. Rip off the NFL, but take the concept and sell it to the networks. I think if teams from the other conferences see the potential, they might bite. How is this CFB anymore? If the P5 are going to be NFL Lite or Minor League NFL, the best of the rest in some sort of playoff scheme is going to be Arena League 2 Lite. I guess they've already killed tradition and the spirit of amateur competition, but if we do get relegated to some bizarro division 2 with a straight playoff, we're going to be losing fans in droves. I won't watch it. I love USF, but I'd be done with CFB in general. It would be completely foreign to what I love and grew up watching (not that it isn't already).

9 bowls for 12 teams. Wow. At least, numerically, we should be looking good each season. I hope.

I haven't even been paying attention. Are the 3 tie ins counting the access bowl, or in addition to it? Also, and it's only rumor, but wasn't there talk of the access bowl only being temporary? As in, give it a few years and there won't be one?

The idea of a playoff is depressing. CFB is about a lot of things and one of those things is bowls. I guess these lesser bowls could host a Div II (or whatever) playoff, but it just doesn't feel right. I'd like to see hardware in the trophy cabinets, even if it's crappy hardware. So, I'm for any bowl that we can get. It's hard to feel positive about developments, and it's hard to hope for something better when every door seems to be closed off. I know many people called out the OP for being negative, and I admit to only being on here sparingly lately so I don't know the scope, but there doesn't seem much to be positive about lately. What else are we going to talk about except whatever the method du jour is that USF and/or the Ack is getting kneed in the beans. Ugh.

Well, a few differences I see on that list versus USF are: national championships, national name/brand recognition, history, etc. I don't know that anyone has singled out attendance as the metric that defines power or not power. Georgia Tech and Stanford, to count just two, blow us out of the water on just about every metric there is.

Whatever happened to Georgia Tech? Didn't someone post some inside knowledge a few months ago about a 1 and 1 or something with Tech? That was the only thing to stifle my tears over the last few months.

No doubt on telling ESPN to F off. I thought the NBC deal was a joint NBC/CBS deal that would have paid almost $30 million per year? I thought I'd read upwards of $25 mill from NBC for football only and another $3 or $4 mill from CBS for basketball. Given that, I don't get how ESPN offering $20 mill for football and basketball combined is even close to "matching" the NBC offer (and that's not even counting the exposure disparity). We need to reject ESPN on principle. If USF manages to flee the BE, then who cares. If we're stuck in the BE, let's at least try to pair up with a network that hasn't actively tried to destroy or devalue the conference every single day for the past 3 or 4 years. Either scenario, F ESPN.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post/_/id/42365/qa-with-big-east-commissioner-mike-aresco

The key point I pulled out of that is "not come close to matching the main show." And it's hard to argue with that. That's what I was saying when I was moaning earlier about being on the outside looking, etc. We'll keep playing football, maybe we'll even win the conference a few times, if NBC Sports makes money we'll eventually get a better deal. But, we're still outside looking in. Maybe there's nothing wrong with that. As someone who wanted to be inside, it does hurt, though. But, maybe Hem's right and we do get picked up by a big boy conference. I sure hope so.

And, Hem, I never said we should close up shop. I'm saying we should give up the dreams we had of making it big any time soon. And that's not taking our toys and going home, that's being kicked off the playground. Hey, it is what it is. We just have to moderate our expectations of where we will fit in the world. That's not even pessimistic. Pragmatic, if anything.

How do you know what the ACC would be thought of if reloaded? Yes, you are pessamistic. Which is fine in itself, but these past couple hysteria-laced posts with you and Balto are a bit much. How do I know? Um, because if the ACC needs us, that means that FSU and Miami are gone (otherwise, why would they want another Florida team)? And if FSU and Miami are gone, I think it's fair to predict that Georgia Tech, Clemson, etc. will also go. FSU and Miami aren't going to go and be the last teams to move. If you think so, why do you think that? And if all of those teams leave the ACC, well, the ACC ain't going to be the ACC anymore and the Power 4, where all of these former-ACC teams will have gone to, will then have ALL of the "good" teams. Hysteria-laced? Okay. We have different definitions of hysteria. But, have I said (or has Balto said) anything that is patently wrong? Or illogical? Or outside the bounds of possibility given what we can see is actually already happening? I'm not having fun raining on anyone's parade. I'm powerless to any of this. I'm just commenting on a message board (kinda what it's here for) on news reports, rumors, and other bits of information that have to do with USF, our conference, etc. $2 million per year, for 6 years, from NBC. This makes you excited? This gives you hope for the future? Please tell me how. What am I missing?

Well, for one, none of us has any influence on this at all. Not even a little. It's happening to our school, so we do have a vested interest, but we're spectators. Second, all we can do is comment and fuss about what we're seeing. Unless you're privy to information we the Chicken Littles are not, what are you so excited and hopeful for? Seems to me that the best case scenario involves the ACC needing to reload with us, but as others have said, then that would mean the ACC is as devalued as the BE was/is, and we'd still be on the outside looking in. Conference realignment isn't done, but that's only because the Power 4/5 haven't finished consolidating their power yet. In what reasonable reality do you see us being included in that consolidation of power? Which Power conference would want USF if you're really honest about it? I admit, I'm pessimistic. I'm damned pessimistic. I don't want to be. I'd LOVE to be jumping up and down and celebrating an invite to the B12 or anywhere else. But, I just don't see any possibility of that based on what's happened, why it appears to be happening, and on what we can try to predict will happen based on statements from the likes of the B1G, etc. about wanting to cut OOC games. It's bad news and more bad news, just about every day. Talking about it makes us Chicken Little's, I guess. To me, seeing what's happening and thinking we're going to come out smelling like roses is kind of, well, delusional. That's magical thinking right there.

No, but we'd better get used to being in a violation conference, playing violation teams, having very little money to spend on athletics, and going to violation bowls. We're now minor league. Having said that, it can be a lot of fun. There's still plenty of pride to root for. Our alma mater still has a football team. But, if like many on here, your ambition for USF was to break into the big time and earn a spot with the big boys (to become, and I cringe, part of the "big 4 in Florida") . . .well, that's not going to happen anymore. The faster we accept what's happened and get used to being relegated to the minor league, the better. BUT, I don't think Tampa fans are going to embrace that. We won't be getting 50K average attendance. We won't be going to a marquee bowl, etc. And we're never going to be realizing TV revenues of $20-30 mill per year per team. The progress of USF football has been knocked back a decade and our climb is going to be a LOT slower now. But, since you make the brilliant suggestion to close up shop and cheer for women's softball, how do you really see all this playing out for USF? Where do you see hope in our current situation?

That may be true, but there are three traditional, power schools in Florida: UF, FSU, and Miami. They're not going anywhere. Who would boot out a BC, Indiana, or Iowa State-type program and take USF? I don't think anyone. If the ACC survives and FSU and Miami are still there, they certainly won't need a third Florida team. There's no way we're ever going to the SEC. B12, B1G, and PAC just don't make sense. We're back where we started--there's no place for us at the big boy table. There just isn't. And as Balto showed, we can pull a Boise State and have a decade-long run of 1 or 2 loss seasons and we still won't make sense to be picked up by a power conference. It's over. We're done. What happens 30 years from now or 40 years from now doesn't interest me. What happens 5, 10, or 15 years from now is what's relevant and we're well on the outside looking in. We're probably right where we should be, but what stings is that we had a taste of the big boy table and got kicked out of it.

I disagree in this case. You've got the Power 4/5 conferences building a wall around themselves. They're severely limiting OOC games. In a few years, the access bowl slot will be gone. The Power 4/5 conferences are striking long-term deals to play each other OOC. They're freezing us out. Sure, we can win and be the best of the rest, but what's that going to do? Let us be the best of the rest. That's it. There will not be any room for us in the Power 4/5. All the seats will be full and there will be no incentive to boot out a team from the Power conferences to take us. Why would they? Their money will be set is TV revenue, bowl tie-ins, etc. The ship's sailed and we're standing on the dock watching it. I wish I could be optimistic, but everything that's happening appears to be the worst case scenario for us. Sure, winning will be great. But, it's not going to open any doors for us. Not any more. Doors are all closed. The only way they open is if TV money is completely overhauled and it becomes an a la carte model where suddenly TV revenue is based on actual views and not on TV sets in a given geographic area. If that happens and USF has built a following and we get a violation ton of viewers, then maybe a conference would swap us out for an underperforming member. But, I just don't see that for a very, very long time. Suck is suck. We can't spin this.

I didn't realize that NBC Sports now held the rights to broadcast F1 and BPL. That doesn't change my feelings that the deal, financially, just all kinds of sucks. But, it does excite me and provide some reassurance that the network won't fold after a couple of years. I think that, potentially, this network could be huge and the NBE, I guess, would be on the ground floor of that. If NBC Sports grows and flourishes, I would imagine we'd ride their coat tails. Image is everything, and if they really do market the violation out of us, and do it properly, then maybe the BE would get some cred back over the next 10 years or so. Feels like it could be a great deal. BUT, I think the money is just atrocious. Just terrible on an epic scale. If the money were better, or at least there was a sliding scale based on stability or viewer/market growth, anything, then I'd be happy. But, locked into $20 mill for 6 years? That stinks and I think it's so bad that it cripples the conference. We'll be back to getting CUSA-level recruits, CUSA-level spending on facilities, etc., and it'll just be that much harder to try to eventually move up. USF doesn't have some rich benefactor or corporate bosom buddy to dump cash into the program. We're going to be operating on a shoe string with also-ran recruits. Not exactly setting us up for great future success.

You won't be able to watch it even if you wanted to. It'll be on freaking Amazon Prime or Hulu or something. Or YouTube. These are dark, dark days for USF and it's getting worse by the day. Clearly, we're being bent over, and if we do have a strategy or plan, it aint working. I want to hear something from USF leadership about our strategic vision here. Where we are now sucks. What are our goals, 5 years out, 10 years out? What are we going to do to recover USF? The entire NBE is going to be making less than a freaking Catholic basketball league! The entire NBE is going to be making less than a B12/B1G/PAC TEAM. That is unacceptable.

Obviously, it doesn't matter what any other conference makes at the moment because of the issues of instability and the addition of schools from lower tiered conferences has lessened the value of the Big East at the moment. What does matter is that the Big East is going to have a lot of marketing thrown its way. The spotlight is being turned on and its time to shine or fall. Well, Slick, I'd say we've already fallen. And, no, I don't buy the "****-ton of marketing thrown at it" thing at all. It's rationalizing a horrible deal. And if this were just a trial initial deal, then why write it like this? Why have it for so long? Give us $20 mill for one year with an option to extend a year or two years. Or, why not have a sliding scale? $20 mill the first year. If the BE survives with current members intact, go to $25 mill second year. Third year we're all still here, $30 mill and on up to some ceiling 6 years from now. If the CFB world hasn't ended by then, we're as stable as we'll ever be and we renegotiate a much longer deal for much more money then. No, $20 mill per year over 6 years is what NBC is willing to gamble on what is an unstable, stinking mess. And $20 mill per is all anyone is offering us. I will concede that we'd have a marginally better chance at marketing with NBC than ESPN since ESPN clearly hates everything about the BE. But, still, I don't see how this deal is good on any possible level.

How much does the MAC get paid per school? We need to get out of the Big East ASAP. Even if we "stabilize," this conference blows. I don't buy the "just win" argument, either. For one, we probably won't "just win." We haven't yet, what makes you think we will in the next 5 to 10 years? We'll have much less capital coming in than we expected, so will be spending less than we do now on athletics. And what blue chip recruit is going to want to play for USF in this dumpster fire of a conference now? Two, the Big East is poison plain and simple. ESPN's smear job and the original BE teams all fleeing like rats from a sinking ship have destroyed any cred that we may have had. If the "Power 5" are finished expanding, it sure feels like the Big East is the wrong place to be long term. It's better than the Sunbelt or CUSA, sure. But, I would rather try to get into the MAC than stay in the Big East. I could see a MAC team that starts winning in a Boise State way getting called up before a winning Big East time does. Former BCS/AQ or not, the Big East has been blacklisted. Ville may have been the last one out, the rest of us are being pushed down with the ship.

Nothing is going to add value to this turd of a conference. Can you blame NBC? If conference expansion kicks off again, you have to think that USF, Cincy, and Uconn are going to be gone, if only to the ACC to backfill them. With the three of us gone, what does NBC have left? Nada. We've got to get out!