Mike Stuben

Conferences want schools who will make them the most money. They don't care who earns it by winning. (ex Boise)

Winning doesn't matter (ex Rutgers) ....... but - schools that win, often are the ones who can make conferences the most money as they draw the most tv viewers.

Yes we want to win, always, but a narrative "we haven't earned it" is not a factor. With many schools just being in the right place at the right time is what matters. 

Did DePaul earn their way into the Big East? Did Maryland and Rutgers in the Big 10? Does Vandy belong in the SEC? Wake in the ACC?  

Yes win, I love winning, but we don't need to wait until we won "enough". 

15 hours ago, Triple B said:

 

Sorry, Mike, but that doesn't seem to jibe with the actual timeline. The first games were apparently set in 2003 while they were still in the MAC and we were getting ready for our first year in CUSA, per this article. CJL's awesome reaction:

"I'm focused on summer workouts, (the 2003 opener at) Alabama and Conference USA. I'll focus on UCF when the time comes," Leavitt said. "I live day to day. I hope I'm alive when we play them."

And I'm maybe a little fuzzy about this but didn't we go to them in the early days to schedule and they declined ...... which would explain some of Jim's warm and fuzzy about them?

 

You are right, it was the second 2 games of the series that was our C-USA exit payout buydown, not the first two. My apologies. My memory of us paying down our exit (as did all 5 departing schools) with games against C-USA opponents was correct, it just wasn't the first two games. 

Here is a quote from The Daily Stampede:

But of course, the game did get scheduled, not long after that in May 2003. Initially a two-game series, it was extended to four when Conference USA allowed USF to count the games towards their league exit requirements. To both parties, the UCF-USF rivalry was really just a by-product of self-interest.

History of the USF-UCF "Rivalry," Part I

WWW.THEDAILYSTAMPEDE.COM

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More words about the I-4 rivalry than you could possibly stand.

54 minutes ago, MMW said:

So it sounds like we were obligated to play them.  

But even if we weren't, they were VERY popular games and highly attended.  By that reason alone the games should have happened - the fans wanted it.

Unless the argument around here is for some esoteric reason that only makes sense on a message boards, we should not play a team down the road because it would give them a small advantage. 

If we didn't play them it would seem like we were afraid to play them for some reason.  I think there was some truth to that.  

Absolutely. Every day I try to remind a few of their fans on twitter that we are their rival. I am 100% in favor of playing them in every sport as often as possible. 

On 4/27/2024 at 6:55 PM, Triple B said:

First, Leavitt didn’t consider them a rival. Second, one of LRS’s few mistakes was scheduling those assclowns in the first place. 

LRS didn't schedule them per se. 

When the 5 schools left C-USA bound for the Big East, a negociated package for the schools allowed us all to pay reduced exit fees if we agreed to play home and homes with C-USA in football and MBB. (just MBB for Marquette and DePaul) C-USA cashed that chip in to get the first 4 football games with UCF. 

3 minutes ago, CousinRicky said:

Just hard to go against the big schools. Overseas kids know about him and our program and know they'll be accepted, not talking scholastics, here. He does recruit in the country as seen by the new FR coming in this year. And some of the internationals are transfers.

Also worth noting that this was an adaptation during his time here. Our first run of great teams was all domestic players (or mostly domestic). 

2005-06 Women's Basketball Roster

GOUSFBULLS.COM

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The official 2005-06 Women's Basketball Roster for the University of South Florida Bulls

3 minutes ago, jmbull said:

I know it’s just random people on twitter. But still funny to see. 

Tony isn't a random person, he has the ears of ADs. 

Hitman hoops is a Memphis fan, only posting pro Memphis stuff. His post carries equal weight to my posts about reaignment, he is rooting for Memphis. 

Dominating! 

12 hours ago, KB said:

Thanks for the heads up Mike.  Purchased 2 before the game yesterday.

Awesome, love to hear it! Thank you! 

39 minutes ago, 79 Bull said:

I really hope the Claw redevelopment is for a "USF Main Street" with shops, bars, movies and food joints for the students.  Easy walk over Fletcher on a new pedestrian bridge (hopefully not the FIU contractor) to a safe and lively area that students would want to hang at.  I've said before, other than Greenery and that area at one time, USF has really had no college town environment for students. 

 

Big picture ..... 

I hope they turn the Claw into a giant parking lot, make almost all commuter students park there and take shuttles onto the main campus ......

Then, I hope they take some of the parking lots on the main campus, and turn them into that USF main street, with restaurants, bars and activities. (UCF area around the arena is great, would love to see something like that on campus. 

So, I love the idea of the main street .... but why not put it near the resident halls, and just move some of the parking to the more remote area. 

Edit to add propose site of that main street .... lots 17A, 17B, & 37 https://www.usf.edu/administrative-services/parking/documents/parkingmap.pdf 

36 minutes ago, 79 Bull said:

If the ACC is looking to add only AAU schools moving forward, then I would think Kansas is the only one in play from the Big 12 as the four corners schools probably wouldn't move so fast.

Utah (if the ACC stayed mostly intact) would jump in a heartbeat. They want to be away from BYU. 

28 minutes ago, flsportsfan83 said:

What sizes do they have?

Last I heard Youth Large to XXXXL (I think the XXXL is sold out). 

5 minutes ago, Cat941 said:

When are the 2024 tees going to be available? 

Probably about a week before Fall classes start. (We traditionally start around 7/1, but will push back a little bit to sell down more of the current ones during the orientation sessions over the summer. 

If they lose 2, I bet they only backfill 1. (They are on an odd number currently). 

USF or UConn. 

But, if the Big 12 can't add any of the ACC, they may be more in play for us. 

I wanted to get a plug in for the Our Shirts. $6 each, they are a steal! Sold in the USF Bookstore which is open from 10-4 on Saturday, so I wanted to encourage anyone coming onto campus for the Spring Game to come a little early and pick up an Our Shirt (or a dozen). 

We have a lot left, and the money from the shirts helps SG provide funding for programing like the shuttles to the games for students. (lots of programing, all for the purpose of benefiting students)

1 hour ago, pistonpete said:

So unfortunately, my group as well as my friend and his son now all have obligations that preclude us from going to the Spring Game this Saturday.  As a longtime season ticket holder (15+years), I got these tickets when they were first announced and had full intentions of going as this is the first Spring Game I'll miss in about 5 years.

Anyway, I can transfer them to anyone who can use them.  I know how to do it on Google Wallet but not sure how else to transfer them so if you know a way, let me know and I'll send them.

Go BULLS!!!

 

Those aren't assigned seats. Ticket master just needs made up row and seat numbers to count the distributed tickets. Section GA1 just means General Admission. FYI

22 minutes ago, Jim Johnson said:

This is evident just looking at basketball... the fourth- and fifth- year players on a team like Oakland manhandled the more talented, but significantly younger, players at Kentucky.  Sure, the talent difference was remarkable... but when the game gets more phyiscal, that difference can be mitigated.

A lot of people like to compare the top college teams with bottom NFL teams... "Alabama could beat ..." this year it's U Conn could beat some NBA teams.  No.  No they could not... 18-22 year olds could not beat teams that are just as talented but 8 to 10 years older, stronger, and more experienced.

Consider how many rookies go from college to starting their first game and succeed.  For every CJ Stroud there's plenty of Ryan Leafs... and there is even more disparity for the late rounders.

Even the best college teams only send a small portion of their roster to the pros, where the pro team is full of guys who were stars in college. The backups on the pros were stars in college. 

20 hours ago, Gismo said:

This data also includes the 3 years under Jeff Scott.

And we’re right at the heels of GaTech, Pitt, and Rutgers. 

Football is just a small factor in DC points. They are a measure of overall athletic success. (schools that play more sports, score more points, which is why Stanford for example does so well)

The story here: Of all the AAUs not in the P4, that play FBS football, USF is tops! 

1 hour ago, BDYZR said:

Assuming the NFL talk is legit, why would any conference entertain expansion now? 

I'm not sure it is an improvement for the Big 10 or SEC, and thus would be hard to get off the ground without their buy in. 

25 minutes ago, Gatorbull325 said:

This has to be the most quiet off-season for our football team ever. Barely a peep on the progress. 

Winning men's basketball took a lot of the public focus away from spring football. 

4 minutes ago, UCF_rustbucket said:

I don't think the question was about actual viewers but rather what do the media and distribution partners count as the teams respective markets for carriage fees of a conference network on cable customers. It's why the B1G took Maryland and Rutgers. Not because those two teams have expansive fan bases they were hoping to draw in, but rather the fact that they are in the DC and NYC markets respectively means the B1G could add 2 new large markets and the carriage fees for all those customers. Regardless how many actually watch or care about B1G sports.

If ESPN and their cable partners count FL as one whole marker, then USF won't add anything new. But if the Miami and Tampa markets and customers are counted separately, then yes. I'm leaning towards the latter but don't know for sure.

Not sure the ACC Network is set up that way, with varying carriage fees. (not saying either way)

1 minute ago, belgianbull said:

Verry true. San Diego State is slowly becoming an elite program.  Good football and great basketball. Add to that a top class OCS, and I think there is little doubt that they have moved up when it comes to future consideration in conference realignment.

Agree - I don't know how much we compete with the west coast teams, in that a league either wants west coast or not, and what we do has little impact. 

But until we find our next home, I can't root for any of the teams we may be in competition with. 

Wish him the best. He went from a starter to a role player (through no fault of his own). I can see where he would want more playing time. 

While I always want players to stay, wish him the best. 

I don't want UConn/SDSU MBB to win the Natty this year. (nothing against their programs)

The schools we may be competing with for a spot in a power conference (UConn, Tulane, Memphis, SDSU, Pac 2) can only hurt us when they win. 

I loved our 9 player rotation this past year. It kept guys fresh, and coach seemed to trust all 9 of the guys on the court. 

Placer is clearly gone. 

Jennings and Brown are coming on and will likely be in that rotation. 

While the few guys on the team this past year who didn't get many minutes are all welcome back, I won't be shocked if any of them decide they want to transfer for more playing time. 

2 minutes ago, Professor BullDawg said:

I agree, except it will very difficult for anyone leading Miami WBB to even win the ACC title. Much more competitive league with Louisville, Notre Dame, NC State, Va Tech, North Carolina, Syracuse, FSU and Duke all very good this season.

That is a thought. ACC much better league than AAC, that can work for or against a team's chances.