Has anybody else seen this?

[jasonb56]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/ucf-knights/os-ucf-big-12-expansion-mike-bianchi-0414-20160413-column.html

[JTrue]

Neat. Now sub in USF's stats for all of the UCF ones. Same deal, plus better academics.

[GaUSFBull]

MB; DR

[Triple B]

Dear esteemed Big 12 presidents,

I know you're discussing expansion and a decision may come as soon as this summer, so I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know why UCF is the smart choice.

And by smart, I mean really smart; smart as in more National Merit Scholars than the University of Texas; smart as in the highest athletic graduation rate among public universities in this country; smart as in the kind of fine academic institution of higher learning that would make the Big 12 proud to have UCF as a member.

The reason I'm writing this letter is because UCF President John Hitt and athletics director Danny White are too professional to publicly politick and pander to get into your league. Unlike some other potential Big 12 candidates (see Cincinnati), UCF isn't shamelessly shilling to get an invitation.

While I'm sure UCF's leadership is working behind the scenes to educate you about the university's incredible potential, I wanted to make sure they aren't being too humble. In my mind, UCF should easily be the Big 12's top choice – geographically, demographically, athletically and academically.

I really want to talk to you about academics, but first let me quickly remind you about UCF's location — smack, dab in the middle of the third-largest state in the union and perhaps the No. 1 recruiting hotbed in the nation. The Big 12 is the only conference in the southern part of the United States that doesn't have a footprint in the Sunshine State. If your conference has a vision of starting a Big 12 Network someday, it needs to have a presence in our football-fanatical pigskin peninsula.

UCF is the second-largest university in the country with more than 60,000 students. If UCF's campus were its own metropolitan area, it would have a bigger population than four Big 12 cities – Morgantown, W.V.; Stillwater, Okla.; Manhattan, Kans.; and Ames, Iowa.

Scott Frost impressed with turnout at UCF football coaches clinic

Did you know Orlando is the biggest TV market in the country that doesn't have a professional football team? You know what that means? If the Big 12 comes to Orlando, it wouldn't have to compete with the king of all sports leagues – the NFL -- for football fans. That certainly wouldn't be the case in Cincinnati or Tampa. Orlando is a college football town first and foremost, evidenced by our three bowl games and several upcoming neutral site games.

Orlando is the 18th-largest TV market in the nation and already has many more TV sets than some of the Big 12's other top candidates such as UConn (30th-largest TV market) Cincinnati (34) and Memphis (48). And while Orlando's market is rapidly expanding, those other markets are slowly shrinking. Orlando is the fastest-growing of the country's 30 largest regions, according to new population estimates released recently by the U.S. Census Bureau. Our region added more than 60,000 net new residents in the 12-month period ending July 1, 2015 (166 per day), growing our total population by 2.6 percent to 2,387,138.

What's growing even faster than Orlando's overall population is UCF's scholastic reputation, which I know is important to academic-minded school presidents like yourselves.

UCF's football program — and its overall athletic program — had the highest graduation rate of any public university in the nation last year. If UCF were in the Big 12 right now, it would be the second-most selective academic institution in the league, but first in number of degrees awarded. Among Big 12 members, only the University of Texas awards more Masters degrees per year than does UCF.

But UCF has an even loftier vision. President Hitt points out that less than 10 percent of kids from the lowest socio-economic quartile will earn a college degree while more than 80 percent of kids from the highest quartile will earn those same degrees.

"That statistic hasn't changed in decades," Hitt says. "We think it has to change. Higher education has the unique opportunity to transform lives for the better. To me, that is the definition of a great university. We want to help change the definition of greatness."

Even the esteemed Washington Post has taken notice and wrote a few months ago that "[UCF is] in the vanguard of an insurgency that aims to demolish the popular belief that exclusivity is a virtue in higher education."

Isn't it time for the Big 12 to also demolish the popular belief among uninformed elitists in the national media that UCF doesn't belong in the Power Five?

Dear esteemed presidents, I urge you to look at the projections, the potential, the market size and the graduation rates and then make the smart decision.

A decision — and a university — that will get smarter and smarter in the years to come.

UCF to the Big 12.

It's academic.

[Mike Stuben]

4 minutes ago, Triple B said:

Dear esteemed Big 12 presidents,

I know you're discussing expansion and a decision may come as soon as this summer, so I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know why UCF is one of many possible choices.

UCF has more water fountains than the University of Texas; the highest graduation rate in Oviedo, FL; the kind of fine academic institution of higher learning that would make Trump University seem legit.

The reason I'm writing this letter is because UCF President John Hitt and athletics director Danny White are too sleepy to publicly politick and pander to get into your prayer chain. UCF will shamelessly shill to get an invitation.

While I'm sure UCF's leadership is asleep at the wheel, I wanted to make sure they aren't being too loud when the snore. In my mind, UCF should easily be the Big 12's 15th or 16th  choice – geographically, demographically, athletically and academically.

I really want to talk to you about academics, but first let me quickly remind you about UCF's location — smack, dab in the middle of the worst traffic jam you have ever been stuck in. The Big 12 is the only conference in the southern part of the United States that doesn't have a school in the Sunshine State, well, unless you consider the PAC12 and the Sun Belt. If your conference has a vision of starting a Big 12 Network someday, I look forward to watching USF games on it, because I secretly love them.

UCF is the second-largest university in the country with more than 60,000 students, clearly making UCF the quantity not quality option. If UCF's campus were its own metropolitan area people would starve due to the lack of food. 

Scott Frost is hoping to make UCF a stepping stone to a better job. 

Did you know Orlando is the biggest TV market in Orange County Florida. You know what that means? If the Big 12 comes to Orlando, it would likely be playing against Notre Dame or FSU in the Citrus Bow in a neutral site game. 

............

UCF to the Big 12.

It's one option of many, one bad option in a field of many decent to good options. 

I made a few updates. 

[slick1ru2]

USF > UCF in 4/5 third party ratings.

 

http://colleges.startclass.com/compare/830-942/University-of-Central-Florida-vs-University-of-South-Florida-Main-Campus

[JTrue]

And when someone unaffiliated with either school looks at the two, we're better 80% of the time.

[Azmodi]

OMG!!!!! read some of the comments on that page. It's so obvious to identify the UCF Trolls. I'm simply amazed at some of the data presented as well. It's clearly out dated. They need to research their entire list of earnings upon graduation. That entire list is inaccurate.

 

I love the complaint about the number of students per teacher. They don't even realize that USF has smaller class sizes then UCF.

[BDYZR]

Remember the old saying, "Sometimes it's better to be quiet and presumed a fool rather than speak and remove all doubt"?

I wonder just how stupid this writer thinks the Big 12 really is?

[Danm1983]

Classic initial self-proclaiming speech.

Anyone can tout what they do and make it sound cool.

Put it up against stats from some other viable options (i.e. not Memphis or Cincinnati, they're a totally different comparison), and then see how they stack up.

In any case, I still think if it ever happened, it would be both schools.

 

Let's give it 2-3 years and see how that athletic graduation rates look when you have new coaches in men's hoops and football. Scott Frost isn't old man O Leary holding "Study Sessions for 2 Star Athletes" every Friday.