This is a perfect year to make a move on the big 3

[Guest BasketBull.]

UM has all kinds of problems...

FSU has 2 losses and is out of the national picture...

The lizards have finally come down to earth this past weekend...

Time for the USF BULLS to make a move! ---JUST KEEP ON WINNING!

[Supersurch]

Only if we won the Big East Title would any move be made.  That means winning out.  That's tough.

[Who'sYourData?]

The Gators are still light years ahead of us.  We've also got a long way to go to catch the 'Noles.  I'm starting to wonder about the 'Canes though.  They don't have many big time boosters, they play in a lousy and dangerous stadium, and their facilities aren't the best.  They lived off of the fertile Miami talent for years.  Now there are more options, USF, UCF, and even FAU and FIU in their own backyard.  FAU has a beautiful new stadium.  About all UofM has left is the name.  Gotta wonder if that will be enough.

[Jamie]

The Gators are way out in front. FSU and Miami are both about to go through a coaching change and they play in the worst BCS conference going. (By the way, I think the Big East is better than the Big XII, too.) There's a good chance that only UF will be playing a New Year's bowl this year.

[BullBlood]

To "catch" the big 3 in recruiting is going to take time. no way around it.  We need more fans, more national attention, titles, tradition, more NFLers, consistent rankings, more "big-time" games, and more school spirit.

We're going in the right direction, but one or two seasons of having a better team than FSU or MIA isn't going to make up for the above.  It's going to be a while before we see Corso putting a rocky-the-bull head on in front of 1,000 wild USF fans.  I can't wait for that day to arrive.  That's when we'll know we've made it into the big leagues.

[Joe]

They might be having down years, but as a program FSU and Miami are set up in a way where they won't struggle to get back to prominence no matter how hard USF tries.

It's going to take quite a few more years before USF will be in that position.

[namuh-bull]

They might be having down years, but as a program FSU and Miami are set up in a way where they won't struggle to get back to prominence no matter how hard USF tries.

It's going to take quite a few more years before USF will be in that position.

What do you mean they are "set up" to come back to prominence?  Tell that to the FSU fans who are getting fed up with Bowden.  I don't think Florida State would beat us this year, and I think that Miami would give us a better game that we might lose, but could win.  The Gators would take us, though.

We're years away from being on a par with FSU and Miami in reputation and national recognition, but I think we are there on the field, at least for this year and with Grothe at QB, probably for the next 3 too, especially if Bowden continues to coach at FSU.

[MikeG]

I have to agree with Joe. Yes-- these teams are not having stellar seasons but we just cannot compete with their fan base, war chest, and general perception. It will take a lot of years to catch up. No need to get worried about it -- we just need to stick to our business and build, build build.

Our focus at this point should be winning a Big East title and continuing to get bowl invites. YEARS of doing that will establish our football resume. At this point-- we've never won a conference title or what others would consider an extremely important game. The win against Louisville last year was perhaps our biggest achievement. Trust me-- I was very happy with the win against North Carolina and it was a great thing for our young program. However-- let's put it into perspective. They are still a 1-5 team and while their losses were to 3 ranked teams plus Miami and USF-- they are not seen as a big win by the majority of the country.

We just need to win as often as possible and we'll get there. But don't confuse progress with having arrived. We have clearly shown we are in the top 4 programs in the state but I think we have a ways to go to start thinking we have caught up to the Big 3.

[MikeG]

PS-- I think we can compete on the field with FSU/Miami as well. I wouldn't bet the house on those games though. We have a lot of rough edges but it's hard not to like our chances.

[Joe]

Set up meaning they have recruiting pipelines, they have the name, the support, etc where they can rebound from these bad years easily.

I think some on here 2 years ago were talking about how we had a chance to gain ground on UF because we were going to the BE and they were lost 5 games 2 years in a row. It only took a new coach and they're a top 10 team.

FSU and Miami might be down, but with the talent, etc they have they will have no problems returning to a top 10 team annually if the right changes are made.