TallyBull

Someone should ask Todd Wright whether we had to scratch out our top 50 coaching names, due to the subterranean status of USF athletics, to land Taggart. I suppose Taggart was number 51 on his list. People like Wright are schmucks. I wonder if anyone has called him out on it? I don't listen to his show.

Let's just see how he does at WKU. He's done well at previous stops but, as you know, "past performance is no guarantee of future success."

I agree. Setting all hope for a "big boy" seat aside, a conference made up the following 10 schools could be quite fun over time: USF UCF FAU FIU USA UAB Georgia State Tulane La Tech La Monroe Games could be picked up by Sunshine Network of FoxFlorida, or a similar regional entity. Call it the Gulf Coast Conference Why dont we just rejoin CUSA lol? Same thing. No, it's not. C-USA has teams all over, like in Tulsa. I could give two ****s about Tulsa. C-USA wouldn't be regional. In terms of quality, yes, it's similar. But AGAIN, this assumes we CANNOT get into the Power 5 and have no other choice but to be demoted. If I'm getting demoted, I want to at least have fun with my demotion.

OK, how's this, twelve teams, two divisions: East: ECU USF UCF FAU FIU Georgia State West: USA UAB Tulane La Tech La Monroe Southern Miss

I agree. Setting all hope for a "big boy" seat aside, a conference made up the following 10 schools could be quite fun over time: USF UCF FAU FIU USA UAB Georgia State Tulane La Tech La Monroe Games could be picked up by Sunshine Network of FoxFlorida, or a similar regional entity. Call it the Gulf Coast Conference

+1 **** right! +2 Yup, my point exactly!

+1,000,000 Only becauswe we are in the leftovers. Rutgers, Louisville, Maryland, etc fans probably pretty glad on the whole Yes, but the ACC is now in the cross-hairs.

I agree. Unless they're bringing TV dollars with them (and they aren't), let them go. If our conference will be "inferior," I think it would be nice for it to at least be normal and not full of misfit toys. We can still try to position ourselves as the top middle-tier conference, but with a structure that is a little more stable than the current one.

Unfortunately, this conference is illegitimate (from a "Power 5" perspective) with or without Boise. And I don't care if they get to an access bowl as part of the Big East or as part of the MWC. My goal is for USF to get in before them. Whether that happens with or without them in the conference, I care little. The only possible upside would be SOS, but I'm not sure that SOS is important enough of a criterion to bend over backwards to make a geographical, football-only playing misfit work in the Big East. .

Well, why would they? And why would we even want them to join our conference? The reason we wanted them to begin with was to help keep our AQ, which we (and everyone else) lost. The reason they wanted to join was also for the AQ, which they now can get without the Big East. They don't bring basketball or a market, thus they won't help us in terms of TV revenue. Why bring in Boise and SDSU when by all appearances is does nothing but inconvenience the hell out of everyone travel-wise with no associated benefit? I'm starting to lean toward a model that separates us from western, basketball-only, and football-only schools. I'd rather have my little POS conference where everyone has full membership and we can create some rivalries and have some fun again. To be clear, I want to get into the ACC or similar "Power 5" conference, but in the meantime, let's just have some freaking fun again. JMHO.

+1,000,000

Why do you believe Miami also has to leave? I'm not so sure I agree.

FWIW, Greg Swaim keeps saying that Cincy will not get an invite from ACC over UCONN because Cincy is already within UofL's footprint, which they already have. Now, the same could be said about adding another Florida market in USF. Seems to me if you're overlapping footprints in either case, I'd just pick the larger market. While Tampa clearly picks up FSU and Miami, "locking down" Tampa with some overlap in USF would be better than "locking down" Cincy with some overlap in Cincy (by virtue of UofL). Having said all that, who the hell knows what happens.

I hope it happens, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Never thought I'd be thankful Temple rejoined the conference. Here's to you, Temple!

""The league was not happy the way Cincinnati and UConn reacted to the news they were not selected by the ACC," a Big East source said." That's why USF's current approach - do what you can to get into another conference, but without publicizing it - seems to be the most mature and prudent way to go about it. Pounding our fists and demanding we get into the ACC doesn't make it any more likely the ACC will extend an invitation to us - and THAT'S what we need to make a move. An invite. I have no doubt that USF would accept one, if offered.

I agree. Holding on to greatness, when you're clearly past your prime, is kind of pathetic (e.g. Madonna, Cher, etc.). I'd almost rather set out a new course for the Big East. Full-membership. A core of mostly urban, geographically appropriate schools. Over time it could develop into something better. What I do know is that we're now well past the point of arguing that the Big East deserves a seat at the "Big Boy" table, whether that be in basketball, football, or both. EMBRACE THE SUCK.

Oh, now I see what you mean. Yes, I agree we're already C-USA 2.0. While it's not ideal, it's what we're left with (reality). So my only point is let's make the best of a bad situation. And I think we can agree that trying to hold on to basketball-only schools that don't want to associate with the Big East is a losing proposition, and we may all be better off parting ways, even if it means a little less money (at this point our payday is already going to suck; might as well suck a little more but position the conference for long-term success).

TV dollars. We don't have big TV dollars now. If we get stuck going back to C-USA or Sun Belt we'd go from $5-10mil per year to about $1-2mil per year. Independent would be worse. Try paying even Willie Taggart and anything resembling a decent staff on that. Just speculation but I very much doubt we'd ever officially go back to C-USA or Sun Belt. We're far more likely to keep the Big East name in a reformulated/restructured conference consisting of full membership or football only schools, including some or all of our recent additions.. I'm not sure this is true. If western schools return to MWC, the BE is dead without basketball schools. What do you mean by "dead"? If you're suggesting that the remaining schools couldn't retain the Big East name and continue with a "coalition of the willing," I don't consider that "dead." I only consider the Big East "dead" if the remaining schools have no other choice but to remain independent or join a smaller conference. But so long as you've got eight members, you've got a conference, right? Why would any of the following schools HAVE to go back to a smaller conference, instead of just continuing an association with each other? (I'm honestly asking the question - there may be an answer that I just don't know): Connecticut Cincinnati Temple South Florida Central Florida SMU Houston Memphis Tulane ECU I guess my point is this: we're obviously in "retreat" mode. I'm not sure that having "football" only schools like Boise and SDSU really helps with long-term stability, because those teams will split whenever the Big 12 or Pac 12 come calling. I'm generally in favor of keeping the BIg East an "eastern" conference with full membership schools only. Over time, we can rebuild the brand. I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the schools above, based on markets alone, should be able to get a decent TV deal.

TV dollars. We don't have big TV dollars now. If we get stuck going back to C-USA or Sun Belt we'd go from $5-10mil per year to about $1-2mil per year. Independent would be worse. Try paying even Willie Taggart and anything resembling a decent staff on that. Just speculation but I very much doubt we'd ever officially go back to C-USA or Sun Belt. We're far more likely to keep the Big East name in a reformulated/restructured conference consisting of full membership or football only schools, including some or all of our recent additions.. I'm not sure this is true. If western schools return to MWC, the BE is dead without basketball schools. What do you mean by "dead"? If you're suggesting that the remaining schools couldn't retain the Big East name and continue with a "coalition of the willing," I don't consider that "dead." I only consider the Big East "dead" if the remaining schools have no other choice but to remain independent or join a smaller conference. But so long as you've got eight members, you've got a conference, right? Why would any of the following schools HAVE to go back to a smaller conference, instead of just continuing an association with each other? (I'm honestly asking the question - there may be an answer that I just don't know): Connecticut Cincinnati Temple South Florida Central Florida SMU Houston Memphis Tulane ECU

TV dollars. We don't have big TV dollars now. If we get stuck going back to C-USA or Sun Belt we'd go from $5-10mil per year to about $1-2mil per year. Independent would be worse. Try paying even Willie Taggart and anything resembling a decent staff on that. Just speculation but I very much doubt we'd ever officially go back to C-USA or Sun Belt. We're far more likely to keep the Big East name in a reformulated/restructured conference consisting of full membership or football only schools, including some or all of our recent additions..

+1 Exactly. I'll pick once all our assistants are in place.

I think Tag's going to be pretty busy recruiting until the dead period in a week. Then he's got to work on assembling the staff. Then he's got to find where to dispose of Cosh's body. Then recruiting will come roaring back. I hope they do something, but I'd rather it be after signing day in February. A public forum may not be the best place to discuss that one particular item... But, if anyone has any good ideas .... I think the answer is pretty obvious... between the hashes in the middle of the football field. No one would ever think to look for anything related to Cosh there. Lol! Very true!

D.J. Durkin is apparently a top-flight recruiter, although (as acknowledged in this article) UF almost sells itself, so I'm not sure how good he actually is. He's also great at special teams, which we could really use (particularly in the return game). He coached at Stanford while CWT was there, which could help land him. http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college_uf/2012/02/rivals-names-floridas-d-j-durkin-as-nations-top-recruiter.html If I were choosing between the two of them, however, I'd still pick Randy Shannon. Recruiting-wise, he's got lots of invaluable connections in Florida, and he has experience and a lot of success at DC and HC (which could help CWT - have to remember he's young and only has three years as a HC). But Durkin would be an excellent second choice.

Seems the focus this week will be recruiting until Saturday, then CWT will build his staff when the dead period begins.