michibull

This!! I really believe that Tampa has the worst sports fans in the country. Whether it's Lightning, Rays, Bucs or USF, no team gets the respect or loyalty they deserve. I could not believe the sports culture change from SE Michigan. I get that there is so much more to do in FL, but it's no excuse to not support your school or teams for 3-4 hours once a week for 6 weeks a year.

I would not be this down, because the experience of the high's would not be there. I was lucky enough to be in school during the Grothe years and I wouldn't trade them for 10 CUSA Championships. The thrill and excitement of '07 alone and being #2 with the whole country talking about us was phenomenal!!! I would be in Michigan or Ohio on break with my USF hat on; and would have people come up to me to talk USF, it was so much fun. The heisman talk, Selvie breakout, Auburn win and WVU win, just everything. It would not have been as big if we were still in CUSA. I love where we have been and hope for a bigger future, but my memories of those years won't soon be forgotten.

serious!?!? Ok, so based on your criteria let's mark Western Michigan, Western Kentucky, Marshall, San Jose St, Northern Illinois and Utah State as major football programs, just to name a few that cracked the top 25 at the end of the year; awesome, everybody gets a trophy. Look we can argue this all day, the bottom line is the AAC isn't taken serious and the playoff and TV money is skewed to the P5 in a big way. Other than on field performance, what's your qualifying points that we are major........ OCS, rabid fan base, large donors, TV exposure, deep recruiting, conference championships? I mean, come on, I don't like sounding negative because there is so much that is good with our school, but dude, be real, you sound like a UCiF delusional fan. We have a small loyal following, impressive academics, great athletic facilities, we do things the right way (unlike UCiF), university development is wonderful. Let's be proud of who we are and work toward who we want to be, but let's not think we are something we're not.

QF is awesome, he is the total package as a player AND person!! In that respect, I don't think we will have another QF; but, I do think we will have another talent like him. With USF it keeps getting better, I remember thinking George was phenomenal, then QF came along. I think USF will continue to progress and attract more and more talented kids.

I agree with you that Auburn lost t themselves, my point is just that they had nothing else to play for. In terms of motivation, we'll just have to agree to disagree, and that's fine because we don't know how the team felt or thought. Yeah, G5 conferences beat P5 teams regularly, I agree, but that wasn't my point. My whole piont was that G5 schools are the mid majors of football and even schools below them can beat P5, so just because a G5 school beat Auburn doesn't mean they're major, you kind of helped my point in the fact that any team can beat any team on any given Saturday, it still doesn't make them something they're not. P5 = Major Conference/team and G5 = Mid Major Confernece/team. Money walks, BS talks. There is a reason we want to joint the Big 12 or any P5 conference and it not because we can beat a P5 team regularly. If we were a Major, would we be begging the Big 12 to join, NOPE!!

I'm totally with you on that. I think we have phenomenal athletic teams. We are major players in most sports. It helps a lot in the non football and basketball worlds, most conferences are on a more level playing field. There is too large of a gap in the football conference world that doesn't exist else where in college sports.

Yeah, because we know small schools or mid majors can't catch a major team off guard or not motivated. I suppose that Jacksonville State beating Ole Miss in 2010, Georgia Southern over Florida in 2013, Appalachian State over Michigan in 2007, oh and let's not forget McNeese State beating USF in 2013, those were all major schools right? Give me a break. The reasons UCiF could pass is because their front line was good against AAC opponents, Alabama would destroy that line. They got a team in Auburn whose whole hopes and dreams were taken away by the playoff committee, why would they be motivated or care to play anymore games after that, let alone a UCiF team. We seen how the Texas Tech fans viewed us, you don't think that players feel the same way. These are kids, not robots; I refuse to think any intelligent person would think UCiF got Auburns best effort. I don't like sounding negative, but some people need a dose of reality.

Um, lets slow down and take our green and gold glasses off and step away from the kool aid for a minute. Acceptance is the first step, we are a mid major school in SPORTS!! I love my university more than anyone and I'm so proud to be an alumni, but at this moment in time we are a mid major whether we like it or not. If we don't accept and realize where we are, we can't progress. We are not in a P5 conference, our undefeated conference champion did not make the CFP and we can't get more than 30k in our stadium without playing a P5 school. With that said, we have the potential to be a major school, large student body, rapidly improving academics, great impact on a major city, great recruiting area and large TV market. We need to focus on where we are and where we want to be and continue to work toward our goal.

Last night shows that UCiF is NOT the national champion. Alabama and Georgia would obliterate them!! They showed that there is a large gap between Alabama, Georgia and Clemson and everyone else. UCiF played an Auburn team that did not want to be in that game, there were just left out of the CFP and had nothing to play for. UCiF's win was nice, but NOT real. This also shows that there is no reason for a "P6". I love USF, but the CFP is perfect at 4 teams and there is not team from the AAC could ever compete for a natty against those teams and their recruiting, which renders the whole P6 thing useless. Yes money would be nice, BUT, AAC teams don't generate money like the P5. Are we competitive with the Big 12 and ACC, absolutely, but let's keep things in perspective, it's all about money, and our conference just don't generate money like the P5. Let's just focus on winning our conference and if expansion happens, great; but when it comes to P6 talk, it's pointless (when it comes to National Championships and CFP). USF and UCiF are mid-majors and all of us will go through cycles of good times and really bad times, due to good coaches coming in and leaving for bigger jobs. That is the reality we live in as a G5 conference.

I think this is just another indication that sports media is going to go through a painful transition. Popularity is still there, but the effects of over saturation too many talk shows and live streaming are taking its toll on EPSN's flawed business model.

You are 100% correct. When football went to Nike, basketball went to adidas. Then they signed the UA athletics contract.

I agree 100%!! I love our school and am excited for the future. I confess that I am disappointed so far (yes, we still have UCF and hopefully a CCG to play). I think we are all passionate for our bulls and that's why we get down a little when we underachieve. I appreciate your post because it is a refresher to remember that there is a lot to look forward to!!

Fair enough, I can appreciate that, but at least we didn't have a glass ceiling like we have now.

I would much rather go 8-4 against the old BE with WVU, Pitt and Syracuse than go 9-1 against Tulsa, Tulane and SMU. I'm not a fan of the AAC, but it's what we have. Let's not kid ourselves here; 9-1 is nice but it's all relative. I think most of us strive for USF to be great, but your kidding yourself if 9-1 the AAC is as enjoyable as 8-4 in a real conference.

The bottom line is that we should have gone undefeated. There is no excuses for doing otherwise. Even if we beat Mickey Mouse U and win the conference, it's still a what could have been. A one loss group of 5 team does not move the needle like an undefeated team. We had one of the weakest schedules and the most talented team in school history and we still didn't get it done. I can't help but feel like this season is a giant kick in the nuts. Unlike in 2007 when ESPN and the officials robbed us of the Rutgers game (which started the 3 game slide), this was our own doing. I love USF, but unless they win out and win the Peach Bowl, this season is just another, "same old USF" season.

I agree 100%!! Living in Michigan for so many years, you almost forget just how beautiful our campus is. It's a lot better than when I went there, haha. Thank you for the pics and nestalgia.

I really like the soflo white helmet and white shirt. I'm not a fan the white helmet, green shirt and green pants look; so this a good improvement.

Our old gold helmets were the best!! No one had that color gold, it was ours. We were even listed as one of the best by ESPN in 2008.

I LOVE our football team and coaching staff!! Hiring CCS was simply amazing and he has already turned the defense around. There is always room for improvement, but overall, we've never been better. With that said, I think that's what makes our fan base so frustrating. If we would support him like we did CJL, he would be more inclined to stay. I fear that our fan base will end this beautiful partnership prematurely. Basketball has the right coach at the moment and our facilities are top notch. We just need a little stability. Every other sport is really competitive with great coaches and facilities. I think we are very fortunate as USF fans and alumni. Not only are our athletics very competitive with updated facilities and nearly no debt, but our schools academics are on the rise and well respected. Most universities don't have nearly complete balance of athletics and academics programs. All we need is more funding and we will have the complete package. I've never been so proud to be a Bull as I am now!! Go Bulls!!!!

So, 5 out of 7 games we score 7 points or less in the first quarter; against San Jose St, Stoney Brook, Temple, Cincinnati and Tulane (not exactly solid defenses). We may not pick our schedule, but we do control how we play. Scoring on our first drive against Tulane is not a good example of coming out ready to dominate. We are much better than everyone on our schedule, but we don't come out like it. There's no reason we shouldn't be blowing everyone out. That is what was expected, but we are not. Yes, penalties and special teams are not good, but attitude has a lot to do with it and I don't see that business like attitude from start to finish.

Mine is the slow starts. There is no urgency out of the gate. If we continue to come out flat, we will lose against better competition. This is the reason why I'm nervous for Mickey Mouse U.

Yeah, I can agree with the marketing aspect. I loved being up north and having people stop me to comment on my USF gear back in 2007/8. I just feel like the changing landscape of football seems like such an uphill battle that I'm not sure we can win. I would feel better about it if we could average 40k a game, but even with our best team ever, our support seems amateur at best. Without solid and consistent support, the task feels daunting.

True, but as flowers4heisman displayed, football loses money, so it doesn't matter if we can't get people to watch a great football team like we have There are plenty of schools that have football as secondary sports, Cincinnati, Uconn, Arizona, Maryland and Minnesota just to name a few. Just looking at the big picture, I fear the haves and have nots will destroy programs with flaky fan bases like ours.

As I look at what it takes to develop and maintain a solid football program, it looks like our best option at this point would be Men's Basketball. If you make the tournament consistently, it brings similar notoriety. Our infrastructure is already in place, we just need to commit to it. When the reshuffling of football conferences occur, I honestly think it will be 4-16 team conferences and we will be left out. I'm not saying to abandon football altogether, but I am saying that we should focus on basketball and try and become more of a basketball school. Basketball: - Great facilities - Only need 1 or 2 star players to be competitive - More teams make the tournament rather than CFP - Cheaper to maintain - Smaller arena to fill Football: - Non-P5 - Large and extensive system - Difficult to fill a larger stadium - No OCS or indoor practice facility - Difficult to get and hold onto good coaches

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