They've got too much money...

[Brad]

Gators athletics helping support athletic programs

Associated Press

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The University of Florida Athletic Association, which produced national championships in football and basketball, is donating $6 million to the university to support academic programs jeopardized by state budget cuts.

University of Florida President Bernie Machen announced the gift Wednesday at the annual UF Joint Civic Club luncheon.

Our athletic programs have had tremendous success in the past couple of years. It takes a great academic university to be a top athletic university," Machen said.

The Gator football team won the national championship in January and the basketball team won the national championship for the second year in a row.

The money will be used to help pay for continuation of the Florida Opportunity Scholars program. The scholarship pays for tuition, room and board for qualified students who are the first in their family to attend a four-year university and have family income less than $40,000. The program, in its second year, contributed to gains in minority enrollment over the past year.

Since 1990, the association has given $40 million to the university for its academic programs.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2977037&campaign=rss&source=NCFHeadlines

[Triple B]

They've always had too much money ....

[SRQ]

Further evidence that for the near-century prior to Spurrier/Donovan, UF was THE most underachieving school in NCAA history.

[Triple B]

Further evidence that for the near-century prior to Spurrier/Donovan, UF was THE most underachieving school in NCAA history.

That fact is not even open for debate ...... although the hoops part not so much as the football part.

[GatorMarc]

Further evidence that for the near-century prior to Spurrier/Donovan, UF was THE most underachieving school in NCAA history.

I'd agree on the underachieving... but for a century is a bit of an overstatement.

You seem to be forgetting that until about 1950 or so, Florida was one of the least populated states in the south. It wasn't until the 1960s that the state got to the point where there were enough people and enough money that one could expect a school to be highly competitive.

From that point on, I think you could judge them based on our current standards and expectations.

1960s - good decade for UF

* A Heisman trophy winner

* 5 bowl appearances (very good when you consider there were 8-11 bowls that decade)

* 3 9-win seasons (when there was a 10 game regular season schedule)

* Finished 2nd in the SEC once, 3rd 3 times

1970s - a very bad decade for UF

* 4 bowl appearances (lost all 4 games, during a time where there were 11-14 bowl games)

* 1 9-win season (where there was an 11 game regular season schedule)

* Finished middle of the pack most years in the SEC

1980s - a mixed decade for UF.

* 7 bowl appearances

* 3 9-win seasons (when there was an 11 game regular season schedule)

* 2 SEC titles (one stripped later, one ineligible for due to NCAA sanctions)

* NCAA Probation for half of the decade

1990s - a great decade for UF

* A Heisman trophy winner

* A national championship

* 8 bowl appearances

* No worse than a 9 win season

* 6 SEC titles (one ineligible for due to NCAA sanctions)

2000s - a good decade for UF so far

* A national championship

* 8 bowl appearances

* 3 10+ win seasons (7-5 was worst record)

* 2 SEC titles

Most of our rivals have losing records against us going back the last 50-60 years. You are right that UF underachieved over the decades... but I just can't see going back a decade given the resources that were available in this state vs. the other great powers from before the modern era of football.

Fortunately for us, we've been making up for lost time the last 2 decades or so

[SRQ]

Sorry, not buying it.  Not when prior to the 90's Tulane had more SEC titles than Florida.  Tulane!!

But just to clarify, UF prior to the 90's was the most overhyped, obnoxioulsy arogant underachievers in the history of collegiate football.

[Triple B]

Sorry, not buying it.  Not when prior to the 90's Tulane had more SEC titles than Florida.  Tulane!!

But just to clarify, UF prior to the 90's was the most overhyped, obnoxioulsy arogant underachievers in the history of collegiate football.

"The arrogance of Notre Dame and the history of Wake Forest"....

[GatorMarc]

Sorry, not buying it.  Not when prior to the 90's Tulane had more SEC titles than Florida.  Tulane!!

But just to clarify, UF prior to the 90's was the most overhyped, obnoxioulsy arogant underachievers in the history of collegiate football.

You seem to be confusing the Tulane of today with the Tulane that was.

In the 1930s when Tulane won SEC titles, you are looking at a strong private school in are large city.

Louisiana was a more populated state than Florida, and most of the population was right where Tulane is located.

As such, Tulane had a much larger fanbase, stadium, and resources.

Now, clearly as illustrated above, that all began to shift in the 1950s as the population centers moved.