Is USF football growing TOO fast?

[USFPDiddy]

Not a good question.  The ONLY way we will get RJS filled is by winning consistently.  There are very few teams, college or otherwise, that can field a loyal fanbase year in and year out with poor play.  It is for this reason that I have quite a bit of respect for recent cleveland browns, detriot lions, and arizona cardinals fans.

There's nothing we can do about it.  Being "humiliated" by poor attendance in a BCS bowl/NC is better than every single option other than having that stadium rocking with our fans.  No reason to ask the program to slow down for its fans.  The fans will catch up sooner or later, sooner if we win said conference championships.

[usfgrad84]

Question for those who say we must win consistently or field a winning team.  What do you mean by that?  Undefeated seasons?  We have been 9-2, We have been 8-4.  it is definitely more than just winning games.  It will come down to winning meaningful games.  

I would say even if we go 10-2 or even 11-1 this year, you won't see the payoff in a major way until the following year unless there is something on the line down the stretch.   You will see marginal improvement in attendance, but the big growth won't happen while the season is a work in progress.

[BiggTipp]

I think everything will work out , I live up in Brooksville and have seen alot more people with Bulls Merchandise, License plates, Hats, Shirts ETC..   ;D

me too

[windbane]

Question for those who say we must win consistently or field a winning team.  What do you mean by that?  Undefeated seasons?  We have been 9-2, We have been 8-4.  it is definitely more than just winning games.  It will come down to winning meaningful games.  

I would say even if we go 10-2 or even 11-1 this year, you won't see the payoff in a major way until the following year unless there is something on the line down the stretch.   You will see marginal improvement in attendance, but the big growth won't happen while the season is a work in progress.

well, yes, we mean meaningful games.  USF didn't play meaningful games on the national scale until at least the C-USA but I'd argue until last season (2005).  We played a meaningful game at UConn and lost.  That would have garnered us national press all week and we had great attendance for that WVU game because many people bought tickets before we lost (and WVU fans, and other reasons).  If we happened to win that game (perhaps more motivation had we beaten UConn) then we would have hit the big time a little sooner.

This year, had we beaten Rutgers and Cincy we would have tied for first.  Those were meaningful.  We will play meaningful games every year now.  If we went undefeated this next season we'd have a chance at the championship.

soooo, winning is all it will take.

[Bobcat99]

It will be interesting to see how this works out. We are unique compared to all other BCS schools... we're the only true commuter school among them. UC has a lot of commuter students, but not to the degree we do. If we can overcome that, we'll be golden. I hope we can.

[BigShoop]

I think some of you are missing the time frame I'm speaking of here. I'm talking about in the next 2-3 years. A decade from now, I'm SURE the fanbase will be just fine. What I'm talking about is USF developing a reputation as a great team with no fans.

You never get a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression, is I guess what I'm trying to say.

[Brad]

it was the first 8 years where bulls missed the boat

The Jr. Bulls Club has been around at least 7-8 years.

bulls game should be on free tv in tampa bay area and should have been from day one

You know very little about TV don't you.  Unless you expect USF to pay Infomercial rates for a three hour game, they do not control whether or not a TV station or network feels they should carry their games.  You gotta think a little deeper some times...please.

[BJ]

Question for those who say we must win consistently or field a winning team.  What do you mean by that?  Undefeated seasons?  We have been 9-2, We have been 8-4.  it is definitely more than just winning games.  It will come down to winning meaningful games.  

I would say even if we go 10-2 or even 11-1 this year, you won't see the payoff in a major way until the following year unless there is something on the line down the stretch.   You will see marginal improvement in attendance, but the big growth won't happen while the season is a work in progress.

Well yea, that's kind of the point people are trying to make.  There's too many people who think that we are(or should) fill the stadium after a year, and things just don't happen that quickly.

We need to win the games we are supposed to win, and we need more upsets.  If we just keep winning, it will happen, but things take time.

Personally, after how we finished last season beating WVU and winning our bowl game, I'm interested in how that is going to translate into attendance.

[Mama_Bull]

I don't think our win against WVU is gong to translate into an evident increase in attendance at RayJay this year.   We are doing very well for where we are in the scheme of things.  After all we may have 11 years as a football program, but we have 5-6 years as a 1-A program.  

When talking about attendance, try and remember that WVU has nothing but college football in their state, and that translates into bodies in the seats.

Yes, I know some posters will say Louisville (for example)  has other sports in the area, and their attendance level is higher.  How long has Louisville had it's football program and these other sports?  Quite a while, and they have learned how to meld them into attendance figures.

Tampa will get there, but it definitely isn't going to be overnight.  And, no......USF's football program isn't growing too fast.  When you look into the question of longevity you will see that we are doing quite well.

[E.T.]

It`s not growing too fast, just the fan base is growing too slow.

Beating Auburn and winning the BE this year WILL help ... HomeComing will break the attendance record!

8-)