Article mentioning USF numerous times - "Changing the Pecking Order"

[Paisa el Toro]

http://www.411mania.com/sports/other_sports/64986

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Sports On Campus 12.11.07: Changing the Pecking Order in College Football and Basketball

Posted by Dan Martin on 12.11.2007

Traditional powers in both of the major college sports have struggled. Upstarts are making noise. Why might this be happening?

Year of Upsets

Consider that Notre Dame went 3-9, Nebraska went 5-7, Alabama is 6-6 and Michigan is 8-4 headed into bowl season. This college football season saw Notre Dame lose to both Army and Navy, Alabama lost to Louisiana Monroe, and Michigan lost to Appalachian State. College football has been the most rigidly hierarchical sport for many decades. Good schools win a lot of games and smaller schools as well as schools in big conferences such as Vanderbilt or Northwestern lose. That is the order of college football right? This season saw teams such as Arizona State, Kansas, South Florida, Cincinnati and Rutgers flirt with major success. Still, LSU and Ohio State are in the title game. Some order prevails for now, but college football was one weekend away from Missouri vs. West Virginia for the national title.

College hoops in the 2006-07 season as well as the 2007-08 season to this point has seen its share of upstart movements. Mighty Duke and Coach K lost to Virginia Commonwealth in the first round of NCAA play. Butler won the 2006 pre-season NIT and reached the NCAA sweet 16. Kentucky recently lost by 16 to Garner Webb in Lexington. Of course, blue bloods North Carolina, UCLA and Duke are all riding high in current polls. Teams such as Georgetown and Memphis who do not have the pedigree of UCLA or UNC are also near the top of college hoops and the Hoosiers of Indiana University look to be as good as they have been since Mike Davis' second season. NCAA hoops have not gone insane, but Duke losing in the first round and Kentucky losing to Gardner Webb suggests that things are not functioning at the status quo level either.

Southern Sports

To lay my cards on the table, I grew up in Louisville, KY surrounded by great teams coached by guys named Denny Crum, Rick Pitino, Joe B. Hall and Bobby Knight. I was and am a Kentucky fan, but living in an area with three major hoop powers and no real professional franchises instilled in me a love for college hoops that extends to the present day. People just south of Kentucky tend to focus on college football due to both tradition and the lack of dominant professional sport teams. College sports provide a sense of community and pride for many southern states. So, how is it that Louisiana Monroe could beat Alabama in football or Gardner Webb beat Kentucky in basketball? How could the fans let this happen?

3 Smaller Reasons Parity is Here

A few reasons come to mind when I consider that a school with less than 20 years of football experience such as South Florida stood ahead of many name powers. These same reasons explain the parity in college basketball as well. First, the scouting services have managed to uncover talented players in every possible location. High School sports, AAU sports and the glut of sports media have made it less likely that a talented athlete not find a spot somewhere in college sports. Denny Crum won 2 NCAA titles and reached 4 final fours between 1975 and 1986 while at Louisville in large part because he recruited guys from New Jersey and the Deep South who had been overlooked. Talent disparities based upon discovering talent that others overlooked is highly unlikely in the current climate of college sports.

Second, high school players want playing time and face time. A top flight high school basketball or football player can make choices to attend a traditional power and perhaps be subordinated to other more experienced talents already on the roster or attend a school with lesser talent and play immediately. O.J. Mayo chose to play basketball at USC rather than UCLA in part because he could make his own mark at a school with less tradition. Similarly, many high school football players might be converted to play defense or special teams if they attend a school such as Nebraska vs. playing their favored position at a school such as Rutgers or Kansas. The result is that Nebraska cannot run roughshod over people like they did in the 1990's.

Third, good coaches are not rare. The number of guys that can break down film, come up with good game plans and put their players on a fitness program is not finite. Because of this most schools can be fundamentally sound. If a school can play disciplined football or basketball while collecting talent with promises of playing time and exposure on ESPN, that school can beat a traditional power. This is why you can get Kentucky beating LSU in football despite less than usual success in basketball over the past 2 seasons. Miami, Florida State, and Nebraska have all declined precipitously since their 1990's form. The University of Florida is did in 2005 and 2006 what Duke did in 1991 and 1992 by winning back-to-back national championships despite having thin basketball tradition.

The Big Two Causes of Parity: Money and Media

Aside from mid major programs rising, schools that excel in one college sport have to place the revenue somewhere. LSU reached the 2005 final four in basketball and is playing for its second BCS title since 2003. Ohio State and Florida contested both the BCS and NCAA title games against one another last season. Louisville finished in the top 10 in basketball and football in 2004-05. This double sport success makes sense because as either football or basketball draw revenue a smart Athletic Director will build facilities so as to increase the success rate of the other revenue sport. Prospects can then look at Ohio State as a place to play in front of a lot of basketball fans without necessarily signing with Indiana or North Carolina. Similarly, basketball powers are putting resources into football with varying degrees of success, but when Kansas, Louisville and Kentucky all make noise in college football over the past few seasons it is clear that hoops is not the only priority. The drive to make more money is pushing athletic departments to support both football and basketball.

ESPN and the internet are the other major engines behind the parity movement. ESPN televises football and basketball at all hours. Sports Center runs over and over again. Therefore, a good wide receiver who could choose between playing defensive back for Miami as a sub for 2 seasons or playing wide receiver for Rutgers and being on ESPN from day one, that player will quite possibly choose Rutgers. Internet sports pages and 24 hour sports television networks need content, and if a player at a mid-major basketball program scores 32 points, he will get front page treatment for part of a 24 hour internet cycle whereas scoring 8 points per game as a sub at Duke will not produce that type of result.

Victims of their own Success

Traditional powers have used sports to promote their universities and make a lot of money for their athletic departments. Fans of Nebraska and Alabama might be scratching their head at how South Florida and Arizona State are more relevant than they are this football season. The answer is simple: other schools want exposure and money too. These programs become hungry for that and take Thursday night games on ESPN that traditional powers shun. From there recruits are siphoned off and suddenly college sports is almost as much about Xavier, Dayton, South Florida and Hawaii as it is about Notre Dame, Nebraska, Duke, and UCLA. College fans should enjoy this because even if success is less of a birthright the games and seasons are more enjoyable and unpredictable.

[smazza]

there has been talent in florida for 30 years

it is just a question of keeping it in state

[JoeB]

First of all, Notre Dame didn't lose to both Army and Navy.  They lost to Navy and Air Force.

Second of all, Rutgers didn't flirt too much with being a national power this year.  They were ranked 10th or so prior to losing all of those games.

Not a very professional article.......

[bulls96go]

as long as they are talking about you.

[Bullshark]

Rutgers lost to an unranked Maryland early, I believe it was the 4rth week of the season. 

[Paisa el Toro]

Exactly, any discussion about USF, no matter how unprofessional the article is, is good for USF. I think this year we've finally embedded ourselves in the minds of beat writers on a national level.

[BDYZR]

My take on the article is - Don't get to full of yourself. It takes work to get into that elite status and probably a little more work to stay there.

GO BULLS!

FINISH STRONG!