I’d be interested to hear your theories . . .

[Dave_Glaser]

. . . about how we’ve gotten to the current state of our “rivalry” with Oviedo Community College. For the better part of 40 years, we dominated this matchup in nearly every sport, with a few exceptions, yet somehow it is now lopsided in their favor. Is it as simple as a series of bad hires by us and good ones by them? Is it a matter of a different focus in resources - ours on the academic side and theirs in athletics?

[JTrue]

It’s all because we fired xCJL.

[puc86]

Because we had a bunch of bad hires, thought we could be stronger together and welcomed them into our conference with open arms. In order for one of us to go up one of us must come down and since we were they were beneath us they dragged us down as we raised them up. They thought we were blackballing them from joining the BEAST and if we were this was obviously smart and we should have stayed the course. Also they focused on athletics to a greater degree while we focused on academics, clearly where we stand today reflects those choices. 

[Rizman]

We had stumbles with our hires and our athletic leadership.  That situation is probably solved but it will take time.  Big East imploding really hurt us.   AD is working on that and hopefully we will be in a good position by 2023/2025 to jump to another conference. 

Remember, UCiF could go through another down turn so it is like the tide it ebbs and flows.  It is about getting the right players and system together.

 

 

[Bulls4ever]

Who cares about those clowns!!  Most delusional fanbase EVER and their fake natty title.  So SICK of them and everything about them.  Their day is coming it's all cyclical.  

[BulledOver]

25 minutes ago, Dave_Glaser said:

. . . about how we’ve gotten to the current state of our “rivalry” with Oviedo Community College. For the better part of 40 years, we dominated this matchup in nearly every sport, with a few exceptions, yet somehow it is now lopsided in their favor. Is it as simple as a series of bad hires by us and good ones by them? Is it a matter of a different focus in resources - ours on the academic side and theirs in athletics?

Yeah, you mentioned much of the diff in your question. All that plus, watch their students/fans during games they appear to be having a great time. Sure they have their own stadium which helps centralize/focus your people. Their AD was promoting like mad. Orlando is bigger area and seems to show support for the college. After the downfall of the O'Leary days they have rapidly gotten a lot better. Are they better funded in Orlando? More deep pocket sponsors?  As for the weekends bball loss..? We had no outside game to bolster our strong game underneath. Maybe the home game will go differently. 

 

[Gismo]

No good deed goes unpunished. 

USF has maintained high ethical standards as an institution, and academics and fiscal responsibility have been USFs priority for the past two decades. It seems the academic restrictions on recruiting were too much for Holtz to overcome. 

Also, UCF made better coaching hires in last 6 years. Being in the same conference has leveled the recruiting playing field. It’s mostly the coaching hires and conference realignment that contribute to them outperforming us recently. 
 

UCF also has better local support in Orlando than USF in Tampa. I think it’s because  they have way more alumni and way more students, and one local pro team instead of 3. 

Edited January 20, 2020 by Gismo

[OnTheBus]

We let them have the 2010s to lure them into a false sense of security now, as our plan was always to dominate the 2020s.

EDIT: Hindsight is 2020.

Edited January 20, 2020 by OnTheBus

[El_Toro_86]

They prioritized and invested in Athletics - IPF, OCS, etc - while USF rested on our laurels athletically and invested more in Academics and that has born fruit with Preeminence status, but athletically we are woefully behind and have a lot of catching up to do.  

This all starts at the top and permeates down.  With MK in charge and a new President, I think things will change but it will take time.

[East lake bull]

All of these factors,  bad hires, Big East imploding,  lack of AD leadership, higher academic standards, led to our current situation, and maybe beating us means more to them than it does for us, after all we've been in a big time conference. In the final analysis we will be the ones chosen to move up when realignment comes because we are an academic powerhouse.