1 for 1 scheduling

[rich.sessums]

On 10/2/2017 at 10:05 AM, BDYZR said:

Who was the last team Alabama EVER played in Birmingham?

Without looking it up I am going to say Auburn.

[Mama_Bull]

13 hours ago, Triple B said:

Far too few out there like that and could be a real problem when/if conf expansion comes again .... USF would need to use that pic of the 2007 WVU game as the header on all correspondence going out when/if the time comes.

I found this related article. Too bad, the figures mentioned are "announced" crowds, rather than actual attendance, which would be considerably lower.

I presume, that USF is not unusual, among colleges, in the way they count announced attendance, or we would have heard about that.

College football attendance in 2016: Crowds decline for sixth straight year

...This year's average crowd was again the lowest since 2000 (42,631). Crowd sizes were down 7 percent since peaking in 2008 (46,565). Universities have tried with mixed results to keep fans in stadiums instead of watching for less money from the comfort of their home.

As always, the data for this year's analysis counts only home games and not neutral-site venues. Figures represent the announced crowd totals schools reported to the NCAA and not necessarily actual attendance. Many athletic departments count attendance differently....

Conference breakdown

AAC: The AAC, which averaged 31,611 (nearly the same as 2015), is clearly No. 1 for Group of Five crowds. Tom Herman's "H-Town Takeover" increased Houston crowds by 35 percent over two years. South Florida was up 41 percent in 2016 with a 10-2 record and a home game vs. Florida State. Temple fell 38 percent without facing Notre Dame. Other than BYU, East Carolina (44,113) had the largest crowds outside the Power Five...

College football attendance in 2016

Virginia	39,929	-8%	65%
Maryland	39,615	-11%	76%
Houston	38,953	+15%	97%
Oregon State	37,622	+4%	83%
South Florida	37,539	+41%	57%
Memphis	37,346	-15%	66%
San Diego State	37,289	+28%	73%
UCF	35,802	+16%	81%
Northwestern	34,798	+4%	74%
Purdue	34,451	-8%	60%
Boise State	34,273	+3%	94%
Cincinnati	33,585	-9%	96%
Syracuse	32,805	+2%	67%
Army	32,653	+5%	86%
Boston College	32,157	+6%	72%
Washington State	31,675	+8%	97%
Navy	31,571	Less than -1%	93%
Vanderbilt	31,242	-3%	77%
Duke	29,895	+13%	75

Read more at:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-attendance-in-2016-crowds-decline-for-sixth-straight-year/

 

 

 

[dabull80]

Attendance at ALL college games is down.  The game time experience vs sitting at home on the couch it seems the couch is winning.   I have always felt the Miami model was the way to do it.  Play anyone,anytime, anywhere.   When you rack up wins against other good programs it will build your profile and make you one of those name teams.  Does the Miami model work today ?  I don't know.  Bottom line is we have a terrible schedule and it just doesn't help our public perception.

 

oh.....and Thursday night games suck when you live on the East coast of Florida.

[BDYZR]

8 hours ago, rich.sessums said:

Without looking it up I am going to say Auburn.

The BULLS!

[Mama_Bull]

6 minutes ago, BDYZR said:

The BULLS!

Correct!

...Alabama played its last home game at Legion Field in 2003 against South Florida.

Alabama beat USF, 40-17, on Aug. 30 to open the 2003 season. The rest of the Tide's home games that year (and ever after) were played at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Alabama finished the season, 4-9, in Mike Shula's first year as head coach.

Read more at: 

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2016/12/the_surprising_connection_betw.html

[SANJAY]

So we've played in Birmingham 2 more times than Alabama since our game there? Who'd have thunk that?

[Mama_Bull]

Things haven't worked out as planned.

Flashback:

 

Courtesy USF:

 

USF TO PLAY HOME-AND-HOME SERIES WITH ILLINOIS

 

 

Bulls and Illini series will mark 10 games vs. Big Ten opponents for USF over next six seasons

 

TAMPA – The University of South Florida will continue its strong non-conference scheduling with the addition of a home-and-home series with the University of Illinois beginning in 2017 USF Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Doug Woolard announced Tuesday.

 

The Illini, currently in their second season under head coach Tim Beckman, will travel to Tampa on Sept. 9, 2017 for a contest in Raymond James Stadium. The Bulls will return the game on Sept. 15, 2018 when they travel to Champaign, Ill., for a contest in Illinois’ 60,670-seat Memorial Stadium.

 

USF is preparing to take on Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich., on Saturday. That game will mark just USF’s second ever against a Big Ten foe and the first of 10 scheduled games vs. five Big Ten opponents over the next six seasons. Michigan State will return the game in Tampa on Sept. 22, 2018. Along with the series with the Spartans and the Illini, the Bulls also have home-and-home series scheduled with Wisconsin (at Madison, Wisc. in 2014 and in Tampa in 2017), Maryland (in Tampa in 2014 and at College Park, Md. in 2015) and Indiana (in Tampa in 2015 and at Bloomington, Ind. in 2016).

 

The addition of Illinois to the schedule will give USF a pair of Big Ten home games at Raymond James Stadium in the 2017 season with Illinois and Wisconsin both traveling to Tampa and a pair of Big Ten foes on the non-conference schedule in 2018 with USF going to Illinois and Michigan State coming to Tampa.

 

Illinois has won nearly 600 games on the football gridiron and played in 17 bowl games, winning eight. The Illini claim five national championships (the last in 1951), 15 Big Ten conference titles and 24 consensus All-Americans. The Illini have played in five Rose Bowls, the last in 2008, and won their last two bowl game appearances in 2010 and 2011. The Illini posted a 2-10 record last year in Beckman’s first season. They opened the 2013 season with a 42-34 victory over Southern Illinois in Champaign.