Quo Vadis

I don't see much b!tching, just some expressing their opinion that it isn't a good name.

It definitely was fun while it lasted .... What part are you guys going to miss, the butt whoopings that we received on a regular basis or being outnumbered by visiting team's fans in the SunDome? j/k I'll miss the occasional bursts of glory, like making the big dance last year and beating Georgetown this year. True, we never came close to raising our game to Big East level, and that was a big disappointment, but still ...

WTF? Every conference in the USA is an "American Athletic Conference". Utterly generic. Useless, IMHO.

Props for the pre-1995 plate. Those were quite rare to see on the road. I didn't switch to Bulls plates until the 1995 "Iron Bull" logo came out. Thanks man. FWIW, i liked the older one better because the gold-colored bull stood out more.

.... and add to the list the PAC 12 champion Ducks, who fell to Louisville last night.

I think when some use "scared" they are overstating a fact which should not be ignored. The big programs would prefer to schedule teams which have virtually no chance in Hades of beating them. Just look at Florida for example. They rarely play anyone out of conference which even 1 out of 10 years would have a shot. So when Clemson and Ga. Tech come calling, I am not sure why you would not make something happen. UF plays FSU every year. they play at miami this year.that's in addition to lsu, georgia, south carolina, arkansas etc. our conference mates will for the most part be considered cupcakes. our entire schedule is loaded with them. they play a very tough conference schedule. they have no need to make it any tougher. it's usually a top 5 schedule every year even with the cupcakes. imagine if we played alabama, lsu, auburn, georgia, south carolina as an OOC every year. BTW there are plenty of top programs that play tough OOC opponents. using UF as an example is misleading at best. You missed my point. FSU does not count because it is state mandated. They do not play UM on a regular basis. The SEC teams they have no say and have to play them. So the teams they actually have a choice are usually 1AA or lesser 1A programs (UM on the rare occasion is the exception). My statement cannot be denied and overlooks what is important.... When one of the bigger schools reaches out to you, you have to make it happen.We have never been seen as equals to any of the "big 5" so while big program from the SEC may play a big program from the Pac 10, each may be reluctant to schedule a "lesser program" on an equal home and home basis. That said, it is the AD's job to find the programs which will do this and they may have to take the one and done road games in the future. Pointing out the reality of tougher scheduling does not mean it is and excuse, just a reality. If the AD chose not to find a way to work with Clemson and Ga. Tech, this has to be a negative mark for him. it's not mandated according to wiki quoteAs the impasse dragged on, a bill was proposed in the Florida Legislature in 1955 which would have mandated that the two schools compete against each other in football and other sports. The bill was voted down. Shortly thereafter, however, Florida Governor LeRoy Collins personally requested president J. Wayne Reitz of the University of Florida to schedule a yearly football series between the two state universities, and the two schools' athletic directors eventually negotiated a contract that started the football series in 1958, the first available opening on the Gators' schedule http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_–_Florida_State_football_rivalry comparing Uf's OOC schedule to USFs is ridiculous. UF plays a top 5 schedule every year. the goal is to play a togh schedule period. not a tough OOC schedule. sure there are plenty of teams that must play tough OOC games in order to strengthen their schedule (us being one of them) while there are some schools that can play sisters of the poor 4 times and still have a top 5 schedule strength (UF). if we continue to use the same scheduling philosophy that we have in the recent past then our strength of schedule will plummet. we need to schedule 4 tough OOC opponents in order to increase our overall strength of schedule. where it might have been somewhere in the 50's or 60's with west virginia, louisville, pitt, etc it will now be in the 90's with smu, tulane, etc. this stinks froma competitive view as well as a fan interest view. this is on woolard to make it happen. it's why he gets paid over $500k per year. excuses are for losers. if he can't make it happen then we need to bring in someone like UCFs AD who can. like someone else has said we can't control our conference schedule but we can control our OOC schedule. stop putting crap opponents on it. we have plenty from our conference schedule to deal with. No, we CANNOT control our OOC schedule. No matter how many times you ask a girl out, she controls her response. If the big boys don't want to play us, they won't. And until you have some evidence we ain't asking, kwitcher whining. Seriously, what's the evidence that we are asking big-time schools to schedule us, and they are turning us down?

UCF has really grabbed the spotlight by signing those home and homes with Penn State and South Carolina. Our athletic administration has clearly fallen down on the job. We will not build a big-time fan base playing the likes of McNeese State, Florida A/M, and Ball State. Going forward, we will be playing in a denuded "Big East" with lesser names like Memphis, Temple, and ECU instead of schools like West Virginia, Pitt, and Rutgers. That means we must augment this unattractive conference schedule with better OOC competition. Of course I'm not saying anything that isn't blitheringly obvious so it makes you wonder why our athletic department hasn't been more productive on the scheduling front.

Yeah, before the recent Catholic divorce I never knew about tourney credits and the big money involved with them.

I wish I had an answer. It has baffled me since the 1980s. We have every conceivable structural advantage in putting together an A+ level baseball program, and believe me, living just a few miles from LSU I know what one of those looks like. It truly is ridiculous.

Yeah I know, neither Marquette nor Syracuse will be conference mates of ours next year, but as of now they are, and they did us and the real Big East proud last night.

Some "old school" plates. The first I had in 1995, the second from 1989 - 1994:

These pics are really cool. I'm going to have to add some of mine.

That's awesome.

Good move. Always liked ECU, thought they should have been in the Old Big East. Couldn't understand why we invited schools like Houston, Memphis, and UCF before them.

Heath's results have been better than his predecessor's (not saying much, but still ..) and objectively very mixed. I say give him another year or two to become a consistent winner.

I agree that the best traditions evolve organically over time. That said, USF is a relatively new school so it can't hurt to try and brainstorm some ideas for traditions. No need to dump on everything USF representatives try to do, eh?

Agreed. It's 2 games. Just made the most of the opportunity. I'm happy for them. Major props but comparing us to them?? Come on Who do you think we are? A program with lots of NCAA apearances and wins? A national rep? A program in the Big East vs a program in the A-Sun. Compare the schedules, who we beat and who we lost to, who they beat and who they lost to. Then tell me they are ahead. There is absolutely no comparison between the two schedules. Outside of Miami and Duke, the toughest teams they faced all year were Mercer and Kennesaw State and still they lost ten games. We played 8 games against teams that finished in the Top 25. Here is a list of some of the teams on their schedule: Ava Maria, South Carolina UPstate, Samford, Alcorn State. Are you really going to tell me that we couldn't have won as many or more games against that schedule? Please. Every single team we lost to would have destroyed the FGCU schedule. They have taken advantage of the system and gone for a fun ride. We obviously played a far tougher schedule but they are also obviously much better than us. We will clearly have to agree to disagree. Look at the schedules, there is no way they are better than us. I'm all for agreeing to disagree. Playing a schedule is one thing, winning against it is another. They are in the Sweet 16 ergo they are better than us. Just my opinion.

Agreed. It's 2 games. Just made the most of the opportunity. I'm happy for them. Major props but comparing us to them?? Come on Who do you think we are? A program with lots of NCAA apearances and wins? A national rep? A program in the Big East vs a program in the A-Sun. Compare the schedules, who we beat and who we lost to, who they beat and who they lost to. Then tell me they are ahead. There is absolutely no comparison between the two schedules. Outside of Miami and Duke, the toughest teams they faced all year were Mercer and Kennesaw State and still they lost ten games. We played 8 games against teams that finished in the Top 25. Here is a list of some of the teams on their schedule: Ava Maria, South Carolina UPstate, Samford, Alcorn State. Are you really going to tell me that we couldn't have won as many or more games against that schedule? Please. Every single team we lost to would have destroyed the FGCU schedule. They have taken advantage of the system and gone for a fun ride. We obviously played a far tougher schedule but they are also obviously much better than us.

Agreed. It's 2 games. Just made the most of the opportunity. I'm happy for them. Major props but comparing us to them?? Come on Who do you think we are? A program with lots of NCAA apearances and wins? A national rep?

Yea its baffling, and IMO embarrassing for us. Seriously? I'm going to have to take another break from these boards. I can't believe the thought process on these boards sometimes. FGCU played in the A-Sun, USF played in the Big East. This USF team easily wins 25-30 games in the A-Sun. FGCU has done a great job with what they have. They are fun and entertaining. To say they have surpassed USF is laughable. They have a nice, little arena. Doesn't remotely compare to the Sun Dome. They have some nice basketball players that don't compare to USF players. Did we forget that USF also beat Georgetown? Can we get a bit of perspective? My perspective is that FGCU has advanced to the Sweet 16, something we have never done. Furthermore, even if they lose this weekend, they will almost surely finish the season ranked in the final AP or Coaches top 25 poll. Do you know how many weeks we have spent in either poll? I am not 100% sure but i believe the answer is zero. That's right, in 50 years of playing basketball, USF has never spend a single week in either major poll. So while it would be silly to say that FGCU has "surpassed" Georgetown, a team with a long pedigree of success, based on just one year's results, it is not silly to say the same versus us. FGCU is breathing basketball air that we have never sniffed before. That means they are ahead of us right now. They might not be ahead of us next year, but as of right now, they not only compare to us, they have surpassed us, and I do find that somewhat embarrassing. It will also make recruiting more difficult for us, as our recruiting territories surely overlap to a significant degree. If i were an official in our AD, i would be seriously asking my basketball coach and his staff how FGCU has managed to steal thunder right from under our noses, and what they plan to do about it. Sorry, but that is my take.

Yea its baffling, and IMO embarrassing for us.

Someone enlighten me, when was FGCU actually a part of USF? I know New College was down in Sarasota, but I was unaware that FGCU was actually part of our system From 1974 to 1997 we had a branch campus in. Fort Myers called USF-Ft. Myers. In 1991 the state decided to convert that branch into a seperate university effectve in 1997, which is what happened.

Well, this FGCU team has now achieved more than any USF team ever.

I doubt Houston and Temple were put in group A because of market size, as neithwr of those schools comes close to owning its market. Like cincy and ucon, they were singled out for being bigger brand names than us. Temple is a second tier basketball brand while Houston is semi-known in both football and basketball.Both are clearly better known athletic programs than us.So all 4 are there because of branding, to some extent ... I can buy that ... Bottom line still, there's nothing anybody at USF can do about it but roll with the punches. I agree 100%. We have to struggle forward.

+1010101002907810810829048209890144123441 ESPN/NBC literally put the most important schools in a group in writing and you're still in denial. What will it take to make some of you not so biased? It's a punch to the gut, but I'm not going to ignore it and spin it every way possible to make myself feel better. In YOUR opinion that's what those groups meant to NBC. NBC is not the end all be all of University worth and quality. Unless you were there when the contract was being written up, you have no idea. @usfvoodoo5 ESPN matched NBC's contract exactly. NBC owns Comcast. Comcast has regional sports channels in Philly and Houston. Thus UH and Temple are A Comcast does not exist in the Tampa market, at all. ESPN could not negotiate terms or change verbage in the contract, it was an "accept or pass" option. +1010101002907810810829048209890144123441 ESPN/NBC literally put the most important schools in a group in writing and you're still in denial. What will it take to make some of you not so biased? It's a punch to the gut, but I'm not going to ignore it and spin it every way possible to make myself feel better. In YOUR opinion that's what those groups meant to NBC. NBC is not the end all be all of University worth and quality. Unless you were there when the contract was being written up, you have no idea. @usfvoodoo5 ESPN matched NBC's contract exactly. NBC owns Comcast. Comcast has regional sports channels in Philly and Houston. Thus UH and Temple are A Comcast does not exist in the Tampa market, at all. ESPN could not negotiate terms or change verbage in the contract, it was an "accept or pass" option. Plus, the Houston and Philly markets are larger than ours. You've got 2 in group A due to brand naming, based on history and 2 due to TV market. Neither reasons of which anybody at USF can do a thing about. I doubt Houston and Temple were put in group A because of market size, as neithwr of those schools comes close to owning its market. Like cincy and ucon, they were singled out for being bigger brand names than us. Temple is a second tier basketball brand while Houston is semi-known in both football and basketball. Both are clearly better known athletic programs than us.