The destruction of the Big East killed enthusiasm for many fans I'm sure. Despite how much trash was talked about the Big East, it WAS a BCS conference. The American isn't a bad conference by any means, but the drop in perception now with the Power 5 and the Greater 5 we are on the outside looking in.
Also, Skip Holtz.
I am excited about the season of course, but USF is going to live on die hards until an invite to one of the P5 conferences. Nobody is packing the stands for USF-Tulsa. It is what it is.