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University of South Alabama Compared to USF/UCF


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While Birmingham-Southern certainly bucked trends in returning to football, most regional schools have gone the route of the Jaguars. A survey of area forays into big-time college football in the last decades finds plenty who have traveled the road USA now faces.

The success of the University of South Florida’s team in the 2007 season caught recent attention. The Tampa-based school began their program in the mid-’90s and this past season upset nationally renowned powerhouses, moving as high as a number two national ranking at one point.

"I think the success of South Florida’s team this year certainly had some effect on our situation," USA’s Ayers said. "It gave the alumni and students more motivation."

Still, quick comparisons with USF are difficult. USF is almost a decade older than USA and sports an enrollment of over 40,000, while USA contains less than half that number of students. USF is also located in a major metropolitan area with a population of almost three million, third largest in the Southeastern United States.

Tampa citizens have a healthy track record of active support for athletic teams including a 32-year-old NFL team with a Super Bowl title, a Major League Baseball franchise, a National Basketball Association outfit, a National Hockey League team with a Stanley Cup title and an arena football team.

However, just up the road from USF is another school whose journeys might have more in common with USA. The University of Central Florida in Orlando was established the same year as South Alabama although they presently boast an enrollment of 48,000.

According to UCF Associate Athletic Director Art Zeleznik, they began their football efforts on a club level in 1979.

"I think we had a club team at first, then moved into Division-III right after that," Zeleznik said. "When I got here in 1982, we were at Division-II. We moved up to Division-IAA in 1990 and made the conference playoffs. Then in ‘96 we moved to I-A."

"Until we joined the Middle American Conference, we had a hard time with the higher division status," Zeleznik said. "That helped a lot with scheduling."

USA is presently a Sun Belt Conference member in its other sports and that group currently includes nine other Division-I football teams. The Sun Belt office is eager to see the Jags join the action.

Zeleznik said UCF’s locale is a natural advantage. "It helps a lot in recruiting," he said. "This is about the most talent-rich area in the country and one of the reasons we started football."

"We kept it within our means financially, too," Zeleznik said. "There were growing pains. When we moved into Division-I, we saw everything grow much more, ticket sales, booster involvement, fan base."

"Now, it’s our biggest revenue source," Zeleznik said. "We have a 50,000-seat stadium that just opened and we premiered it by playing Texas in front of a sell-out crowd."

The UCF Knights have gained national fame playing such traditional heavyweights as Florida State, Auburn, Georgia, Nebraska and Iowa. In 2000, they upset Alabama for the Crimson Tide’s homecoming game.

Zeleznik’s advice for South Alabama? "Constantly build on your successes."

Other regional teams have grown into Division-I status and had success. The University of Alabama at Birmingham began with club football in the late ‘80s and entered Division-III in 1991. They moved up to top division in ‘96 and faced Auburn that same season. The Blazers most notably upset LSU in 200 and made their initial bowl appearance in 2004.

UAB also fights the competition from long-established programs such as Auburn and Alabama. They play their home games in 71,000-seat Legion Field-located approximately three miles from their urban campus-and have seen attendance rise as high as 44,000 though the average according to Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations Norm Reilly is closer to 17,000.

...................

Here's the whole article: http://www.lagniappemobile.com/article/1353

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"Tampa citizens have a healthy track record of active support for athletic teams including a 32-year-old NFL team with a Super Bowl title, a Major League Baseball franchise, a National Basketball Association outfit, a National Hockey League team with a Stanley Cup title and an arena football team."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

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UCF has a 50,000 seat stadium? Why don't they play in that one rather than the 44k seat stadium they are using?

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....................

While Birmingham-Southern certainly bucked trends in returning to football, most regional schools have gone the route of the Jaguars. A survey of area forays into big-time college football in the last decades finds plenty who have traveled the road USA now faces.

The success of the University of South Florida’s team in the 2007 season caught recent attention. The Tampa-based school began their program in the mid-’90s and this past season upset nationally renowned powerhouses, moving as high as a number two national ranking at one point.

"I think the success of South Florida’s team this year certainly had some effect on our situation," USA’s Ayers said. "It gave the alumni and students more motivation."

Still, quick comparisons with USF are difficult. USF is almost a decade older than USA and sports an enrollment of over 40,000, while USA contains less than half that number of students. USF is also located in a major metropolitan area with a population of almost three million, third largest in the Southeastern United States.

Tampa citizens have a healthy track record of active support for athletic teams including a 32-year-old NFL team with a Super Bowl title, a Major League Baseball franchise, a National Basketball Association outfit, a National Hockey League team with a Stanley Cup title and an arena football team.

However, just up the road from USF is another school whose journeys might have more in common with USA. The University of Central Florida in Orlando was established the same year as South Alabama although they presently boast an enrollment of 48,000.

According to UCF Associate Athletic Director Art Zeleznik, they began their football efforts on a club level in 1979.

"I think we had a club team at first, then moved into Division-III right after that," Zeleznik said. "When I got here in 1982, we were at Division-II. We moved up to Division-IAA in 1990 and made the conference playoffs. Then in ‘96 we moved to I-A."

"Until we joined the Middle American Conference, we had a hard time with the higher division status," Zeleznik said. "That helped a lot with scheduling."

USA is presently a Sun Belt Conference member in its other sports and that group currently includes nine other Division-I football teams. The Sun Belt office is eager to see the Jags join the action.

Zeleznik said UCF’s locale is a natural advantage. "It helps a lot in recruiting," he said. "This is about the most talent-rich area in the country and one of the reasons we started football."

"We kept it within our means financially, too," Zeleznik said. "There were growing pains. When we moved into Division-I, we saw everything grow much more, ticket sales, booster involvement, fan base."

"Now, it’s our biggest revenue source," Zeleznik said. "We have a 50,000-seat stadium that just opened and we premiered it by playing Texas in front of a sell-out crowd."

The UCF Knights have gained national fame playing such traditional heavyweights as Florida State, Auburn, Georgia, Nebraska and Iowa. In 2000, they upset Alabama for the Crimson Tide’s homecoming game.

Zeleznik’s advice for South Alabama? "Constantly build on your successes."

Other regional teams have grown into Division-I status and had success. The University of Alabama at Birmingham began with club football in the late ‘80s and entered Division-III in 1991. They moved up to top division in ‘96 and faced Auburn that same season. The Blazers most notably upset LSU in 200 and made their initial bowl appearance in 2004.

UAB also fights the competition from long-established programs such as Auburn and Alabama. They play their home games in 71,000-seat Legion Field-located approximately three miles from their urban campus-and have seen attendance rise as high as 44,000 though the average according to Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations Norm Reilly is closer to 17,000.

...................

Here's the whole article: http://www.lagniappemobile.com/article/1353

tampa and usf is head and shoulders above mobile and usa

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tampa and usf is head and shoulders above mobile and usa

Totally Agree!  We've got a whole different recruiting base and city.

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Article should of compared USA with FAU and FIU.

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Article should of compared USA with FAU and FIU.

That wouldn't be very inspiring though. I like the writer's direction. But his research and experience level are lacking.

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"Tampa citizens have a healthy track record of active support for athletic teams including a 32-year-old NFL team with a Super Bowl title, a Major League Baseball franchise, a National Basketball Association outfit, a National Hockey League team with a Stanley Cup title and an arena football team."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I even laughed at that ...... only thing funnier would have been if it had been said about Miami.  ;)

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"Tampa citizens have a healthy track record of active support for athletic teams including a 32-year-old NFL team with a Super Bowl title, a Major League Baseball franchise, a National Basketball Association outfit, a National Hockey League team with a Stanley Cup title and an arena football team."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I even laughed at that ...... only thing funnier would have been if it had been said about Miami.   ;)

ill give you that....

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Article should of compared USA with FAU and FIU.

That wouldn't be very inspiring though. I like the writer's direction. [glow=red,2,300]But his research and experience level are lacking[/glow].

agreed--- most knowledgeable UCF/USF fans can spot the errors in this article. Numbers being off, giving Tampa credit for the Magic (not that bad of an error since many of us do root for the Magic but still not accurate), the opponents for UCF (I don't recall a game against Iowa-- and they left out so many other more interesting teams).

Anyway-- there are better schools to compare their situation to--- both geographically and size wise. FAU would be a very nice example and they could paly it off of the struggles at FIU. FAU is even in their own conference and just won that conference.

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