Bowl Analysis -- South Florida

[USFMikeB]

USF sold 5000 tickets and the Meinike Bowl was so happy that they ammended the contract to allow them to take Navy if the qualified.  USF did not travel well and that will play into who goes.  You can tell yourself that USF traveled well and the Meinike Bowl was happy with USF's 5000 in attendance and are being shut out in last years game, but your deluding yourself.

So now it's USF's fault that the Meineke Bowl put the deal in for Navy?  :

Yeah, it has nothing to do with the fact that the coast in NC is full of Navy personnel and Navy retirees.  All USF.  Uh huh.  Put the crack pipe down and step back for a few minutes. :

[RMF5630]

So, you can sit there with a straght face and say that USF participation was successful at the Meinike Bowl last year?  Talk about smoking crack.  The whole thing was a disaster!  We only brought 5,000 people, the University spent 380k to buy the remaining tickets, and were shut out on the field!   Do  you have any idea what the national perspective on USF was after that game?  

Look at the numbers below.  The Meineke Bowl had a 21% reduction in attendance 3rd most when you consider that the New Orleans Bowl was moved from Katrina.  TV ratings were down as well.  The place was only 79% filled with NC State being with a 100 miles, that is a disaster any way you cut it.  

So, yes USF played into them looking for more attractive options.  Funny, they ARE taking a worse Navy team than USF this year, even if USF has 8 wins they are not being invited back.  And don't spout the BS that they won't invite the same team twice, Virginia went to the first 2 Meineke Bowls.  If they made good money, they would not think twice.  Geez, I don't mind fans, but at least live in the real world.  You will never correct something if you won't look at the truth!  

Bowl Game      2005-2006 Attend      2004-2005 Attend      Percent Change

Music City Bowl      40,519                                                 -38.70%

Sheraton Hawaii      26,254                           39,662                           -33.80%

New Orleans **      18,338                           27,253                           -32.70%

Meineke Car Care      57,937                           73,238                           -20.90%

Capital One      57,221                           70,229                           -18.50%

Emerald                      25,742                           30,563                           -15.80%

GMAC                      35,422                           40,160                            -11.80%

Toyota Gator      63,780                           70,112                             -9.00%

AutoZone Liberty      54,894                           58,355                             -5.90%

Chick-fil-A Peach      65,620                           69,322                           -5.30%

Insight                      43,536                           45,917                             -5.20%

MasterCard Alamo      62,016                           65,265                             -5.00%

Independence      41,332                           43,000                             -3.90%

Nokia Sugar**      74,458                           77,349                             -3.70%

Motor City                      50,616                           52,552                             -3.60%

SBC Cotton      74,222                           75,704                             -2.00%

Vitalis Sun                      50,426                           51,288                             -1.60%

Pacific Life Holiday      65,416                           66,222                             -1.20%

FedEx Orange      77,773                           77,912                               0.00%

Rose                93,986                           93,468                               0.50%

Tostitos Fiesta      76,196                           73,519                               3.60%

Outback                      65,881                           62,414                               5.60%

MPC Computers      30,493                           28,516                               6.90%

Champs Sports Bowl      31,470                           28,237                              11.50%

PlainsCapital Ft Worth      33,505                           27,902                               20.10%

EV1.net Houston      37,286                           27,235                          36.90%

Las Vegas                      40,053                           29,062                               37.80%

Poinsettia Bowl      36,842                                NA                                 NA

[usfgrad84]

Unfortunately, there is little if any national perspective about USF.  I travel constantly for business and unless it is someone very familiar with the Big East, no one has any clue who we are.

We are very well rceived by the Meineke bowl people.  They understood it was our first bowl.  They liked the crowd we brought along and they liked our enthusiasm.  

Last year's team has nothing to do with this year's team.  The shut out has nothing to do with anything.

[RMF5630]

I agree about the national prespective and the Meineke people were polite and understanding.  But, USF is going to have to do better when the opportunity presents itself both on and off the field.  We can only rely on the "new program" and "1st Bowl Game" cards for so long.  

We need a  couple of big wins and a good showing at a bowl game.  I think the Birmingham Bowl would be a better selection than a bigger bowl that is further away, so we can bring enough people to show the bowls that USF will not hurt their bottomline.  We need a success both on the field and off the field to get to the Pitt, Syracuse, and Rutgers level.  Right now, we are down with Cinn and UConn in terms of football credibility.  Those programs had decades, the only way to close that gap is winning and travelling well.

[usfgrad84]

The Meineke people were extremely pleased about the way we spent money.  They told me that we spent a great deal more on restaurants and at the hotels than BC did the year before. (I did not realize USF people were such big spenders).

We do need to win.  Interesting how you throw Rutgers in with Pitt and Syracuse.  18  months ago you couldn't give Rutgers tickets away.  They were a laughing stock.  Schiano has done tremendous job on the field, but trust me, it's like an Iceberg.  What you see he has done on the field with the team is only a fraction of what he has done off the field.  

When we start winning some of the big games on a consistent basis, we'll be there too.

[RMF5630]

I agree the people that did show up spent money. It just wasn't enough.  Those who went I take my hat off to  you for supporting the program, we need more!

Rutgers has a latent fan-base in the tens of thousands that will support them when they win.  Rutgers has been pumping out alumni since the 1800's, so all they need is a little on the field success and it takes off.  It is the same with Syracuse and Pitt.  UCONN has not been is football so they are overcoming a BB bias.  Cinn is a commuter school like USf and does not have the following.

I am not saying this as a negative or positive, only as the truth.  We need to know our weaknesses, as well as our strengths.  There is no value in saying things are better than they were.  Ticket sales were down and the interest for the game was low.  Now, what can we do to correct it?

[WoolyBully]

Now, what can we do to correct it?

Who is this "we" you're talking about?  

Travel: next time you're at a game at RayJ, take a look around at who is

          at the game. The bulk of the sidelines are filled with families. Mom,

          pop, and the chu'ren. Getting 5K of our 16K season ticket base to

          show up in Charlotte is pretty good. And if you want a bigger crowd

          on the road, it's gonna have to be Miami, UF, FSU, GA, LSU etc. Quick

           in and out. I don't know how many were at UNC a couple of weeks back

           but I'd be surprised if it was 2K. Just eyeballin' it.

          However, after a while, you start to see the same faces at all of the

          away games. And, being honest, not all of our opponent sites are

          what we would call weekend-getaway-destinations. Ball game aside,

          not much reason to hop a flight. And that's a tough sell when you lack

           tradition and there's really 'nothing' on the line.

Bowl Game: we've gotten the 'first bowl game' thing over with.  As much fun

          as it was, it was an also-ran bowl. Hanging out here in BCS land,

          henceforth, the goal is a BCS bowl.

Just my opinion: Birmingham, Alabama. I'm sure the kids (players) will find

          it appealing (one more game, we get an additional month of practice),

          and it may draw similar to Mieneke. Bowl games are a tricky thing...

          it's one thing to go from Wisconsin or Iowa to Tampa, Florida for a

          weeks winter vacation. Quite another to sell leaving Americas tourist

          destination for [insert non-BCS bowl here].

[RMF5630]

The "we" is the USF fans, boosters, tampa bay area, students, and local media.  In my opinion, this is a "we" subject that USF fans can be part of the solution. When someone says that "we" called the wrong play on 3rd down, that is BS unless you are on staff and drive's me nuts.  

"We" fans have nothing to do with on the field performance, but everything to do with "travelling well to bowls." If USF wants to be in the same category as FSU and UF, we gotta put up like their fans do.  That will get you an invite to a bowl.  We are not close to that level off the field.  Actually we are closer on the field than off the field.

[Guest Sprtsfn627]

Getting 5K of our 16K season ticket base to show up in Charlotte is pretty good

I would say about 1/2 of that 5K were students.

[Joe]

2500 students? I think it was more like 750, least thats how many I was quoted (that doesn't include the band).