And you all say we are not rivals... The USF Alumni Magazine must disagree

[BleacherBull]

I think UCF is more of a rival for current students and younger alumni.  The difference between the two schools was much greater in the 1970s than it is today, and that difference is what most older alumni remember . . . anyhow, the road to a national championship has never gone through Orlando and probably never will.

[TRUTH D. Antagonist]

just what this forum needed:  another "UCF is/isn't our rival!" thread.

doesn't this subject ever get boring?

fact is, as of 9/6 we will likely not be playing them again for a long, long time.

we can be "rivals" in terms of recruiting, in terms of money, in terms of academics, student enrollment, school prestige, etc. etc.

but football is played on the FIELD...  if there is no rivalry on the field, then there is no rivalry.

[On_the_Chip]

Call me crazy but the way I see it.....for me anyways, a rival is with an opponent that you look forward to playing all year.....

you almost can not wait to play that team, and beating that team almost means more than any other accomplishments for the year.....

I'm not excited about playing UCF.....I could care less.  Maybe under this definition we don't have a rival yet.....

But WVU (for me anyways) is slowing becoming one with us.

[Rizman]

The rivalry with Miami will be contingent upon the outcome on the field.  If Miami were to soundly beat you several years in a row I suspect that USF fans would move on and not want to continue the series until the field were leveled at some future point. 

I guess that means UCF fans are ready to move on and do not want to continue the series.

[1Bullsfan]

Sorry, Sheriff, but you must catch up on your definition of a rivalry. Here are a few things to consider:

1) Close proximity...I'll give you that one.

2) Each game is close....Only the game in Orlando has been close

3) Each team does its share of winning....I think we are up 3-0!

4) Your backups don't score more than their starters!  ;D

5) A common respect of the other school....UCIF is still working on this one with me, but it is a long fight.

[Knight_Light]

we are rivals because no only do we compete for recruits ( not so much, we are clearly a better program with more to offer)  but we ARE rivals because we compete for TUITION!!

maybe im too young for this but when i graduated in 2000 there was FSU, UF, and Miami as far as football was concerned.....

i went to USF.  not for the football team but for the simple fact that i wanted to live in tampa not orlando.

USF and UCF compete for the college students who arent 100% sold on FSU or UF. 

i

Very good point...as there are many Orlando area HS students that end up enrolling at USF...and vice versa, UCF's Tampa Bay area enrollment has SOARED over the recent years.

Plus, with UCF College of Medicine opening up in 2009, as even back in 2005-2006 (just prior to UCF's COM approval), USF was already coming up with strategies to combat UCF's new COM program. (Klasko is the BOMB and has done GREAT THINGS for USF's COM/USF Health.)

USF and UCF will always be rivals went it comes to attracting top-notch students, profs, research $$$$, etc...regardless if they play on the gridiron or in a "lab".

[Knight_Light]

Sorry, Sheriff, but you must catch up on your definition of a rivalry. Here are a few things to consider:

1) Close proximity...I'll give you that one.

2) Each game is close....Only the game in Orlando has been close

3) Each team does its share of winning....I think we are up 3-0!

And?

It took Ohio State SIXTEEN GAMES to finally beat Michigan.

How did that rivalry turn out over time?

It took Oklahoma EIGHT games to finally beat Texas.

How did that rivalry turn out over time?

It took FSU 7 games to finally beat Florida.

How did that rivalry turn out over time?

It took FSU 6 games to finally beat Miami...and 10 games to finally beat Miami twice.

How did that rivalry turn out over time?

Bottom line...with USF needing to schedule FIVE non-conf games per year...its a fun game where many fans/students/alumni from each school know fans/students/alumni from the other school...and with the stadiums just being only 85 miles a part, it makes a very easy game for diehards to travel to see their team play a road game...especially since all USF and UCF conf road games are sooooooo far away (98% of the fan bases stay home because of distance/cost).

[Cubanbull]

Here is the thing, MAYBE to students going to USF now, UCF is a rival. To most alumni UCF is NOT a rival and playing them will do NOTHING to bring most of them on the fold.

Most of the old alumni that I know are jumping for joy and will be there when USF plays UM next year. They have NEVER attended a USF-UCF game.

Thats the reality. Now I dare that if you walk around the USF campus and ask the students who would you rather play and beat UM or UCF? I think UM would win in a landslide that would NOt be the case if UCF was a rival.

[Knight_Light]

Here is the thing, MAYBE to students going to USF now, UCF is a rival. To most alumni UCF is NOT a rival and playing them will do NOTHING to bring most of them on the fold.

Remember, 90% - 95% of USF's alumni doesn't even make it to USF home games so no clue how you can say that for the 200,000 alumni, UCF is or isn't a rival.

As the local Tampa media, players, USF Alumni Assoc and many USF fans (alumni too) have stated that to THEM, UCF is a rival.

So its not a rival to you...but please don't speak for the 200,000 USF Alumni.

PS. It's ok to have more than 1 rival (or 2, or 3, or 4, or even FIVE plus) on a football schedule.

[JoeB]

This is funny.  UCF just wants to be our rival.  We just want to win football games.  Do you see the difference in the two programs?