Fennelly- Another Collapse Just Won't Cut It

[Matt]

The reason some teams struggle or "collapse" midseason is it is conference play.

Much like Bulls Basketball, it seems we suddenly collapse every January/February.

yeah but i think the difference is between football and basketball is that we are supposed to be at the top of our football league and we all know where we stand in basketball.

big east football is much different than big east basketball.

i think we just tend to play up or down to our opponets way too much.

[Rizman]

Leadership on the sidelines is where is starts.  Last season, when the team was having an off game at FIU I saw no leadership on the sidelines.  I should see players trying to pump players up, and think through problems.  That FIU game was a tell for the season.

[Brad]

The reason some teams struggle or "collapse" midseason is it is conference play.

Much like Bulls Basketball, it seems we suddenly collapse every January/February.

yeah but i think the difference is between football and basketball is that we are supposed to be at the top of our football league and we all know where we stand in basketball.

What have we done so far to deserve the label "top of our football league"?  I've not seen anything yet that leads me to believe we will win it all.  We haven't.  The proof is in the pudding.  For some knucklehead to draw the line in the sand based on running up 5-0 records against patsies and then being vaulted to the Top 2 in the country because those ahead of us lost, is just ridiculous.  Let's get there first, before claiming we deserve it.  Much like Leavitt's perspective on being in the "Big 4".  Let's beat the Big 3 first.  Then we can start claiming we're there.

Let's win the Big East first, then the antagonists can open every season with a "you better win it all or else" column to get people talking.

Matt, you know me.  I'm not at all interested in the negativity and slams that come from the know-nothing tabloid like Fennelly.

I'd rather have a simple discussion based on facts.  Was 2-5 last year good enough?  No.  Will it be good enough in 2009?  No.  Based on what we have and assuming all stay healthy, I would think we should be able to compete for the title.  But it appears those that follow the Big East believe we'll finish 4th.   So if we finish 4th is that something that just won't cut it?

[bullwark]

Based on talent alone, USF should never finish as low as sixth in the Big East.  This team needs to just play, don't worry about rankings, focus on that weeks game.  And please no more "Grohawks".  The Bulls have always been the overachieving program, however, since the past two seasons the Bulls have been labeled underachievers.  

[nobull.Bulls]

Not with guys like Fennelly there to tell us we're no longer a young program...

He's probably still bitter that he bought into the whole #2 ranking and all that went with it.  Those that truly follow the program know that was an undeserved ranking.

I truly follow the program and can tell you that is not true.

2007 was the craziest year for college football ever. And quite frankly, NO OTHER Team could hold on to the #1 or 2 ranking the whole year. After beating Auburn, WVU and killing UCF, we deserved that ranking based on performance and the collapse of other teams. We only deserved it for 4 days, but it was still deserved.

Overall, that whole year showed how retarded polls are in deciding a champ.

[Matt]

What have we done so far to deserve the label "top of our football league"? 

well there is only 8 teams in the football league, we only have to be better than 4 of them (one of which is syracuse to be in the "top")

  For some knucklehead to draw the line in the sand based on running up 5-0 records against patsies

we beat Auburn,North Carolina, WVU (patsies?), and DESTROYED UCF. 

and then being vaulted to the Top 2 in the country because those ahead of us lost, is just ridiculous. 

umm,,,brad....with the polls its just as much as what your team has done the prior week as it is what the teams ahead of you have done.  how long have you been watching college football???

just because we were RANKED #2 doesnt mean we were the second best team in the country.

but that doesnt change the FACT (since you like facts) that we were ranked #2.

[Brad]

Admittedly I am a novice compared to some others.  I have only watched college football since about 1997.

The fact is we were ranked #2. Okay.  The fact is that we weren't the second best team in the country.  Okay.

So let's stop using that as some kind of barometer of where the program itself actually is.

[IncrediBULL]

I don't like writers who have little or nothing to do with our program (unless they are ragging on us) to put ultimatums out there.  

BS journalism.  Who exactly is Fennelly to call them out.  We are still new, we have a new conference, we are new to the top 40.

Why is UCF ranked like 80?  They have 25 years of football, are bigger than USF, and cannot manage to do well even in CUSA.  

I think his article is just like all of the others in the Trib, crap, when it comes from either he or Brett.  I cancelled my Trib subscription and get the Times once again.  Not happy with either paper, but certainly the Times more than the Trib (except at election time, but that is another subject).

[dabull80]

Admittedly I am a novice compared to some others.  I have only watched college football since about 1997.

The fact is we were ranked #2. Okay.  The fact is that we weren't the second best team in the country.  Okay.

So let's stop using that as some kind of barometer of where the program itself actually is.

Don't disagree with you often but we were ranked # 2 and everything had to happen just right to make that happen and it did.  If we had played the whole season at the level we did against VW,Auburn and UCF we did deserve to be that high.  Now we know we didn't have the depth to maintain that level but it brought us great national recognition and was a point in our past that will always be a proud moment.  So to say we didn't deserve to be #2 or we weren't the second best team is a disservice to us.  With that being said I understand your point about writers or others judgeing our whole program as of one point in time and now sayinng we underachieve - just not accurate but you have to be a real Bulls fan to better understand our program and how it has grown - which you and many others here do.  I took some time awhile ago to vheck out all the #2s ever ranked and we are with  a group of elite programs.

[Matt]

I don't like writers who have little or nothing to do with our program (unless they are ragging on us) to put ultimatums out there.  

BS journalism.  Who exactly is Fennelly to call them out.  We are still new, we have a new conference, we are new to the top 40.

i dont understand your point.  i guess you only notice it around USF because you dont follow other teams or sports as close or with as much passion...

but writers who have little or nothing to do with our program is ALL writers.  I really wouldn't want to read an article from someone involved in our program because its just a PR piece at that point.  I'd just read the press releases from SID.

look at ANY big program or ANY professional sports team....you are gonna have people question things.  thats what writers do.  i guess too many of our fans want to read 'ho hum glam pieces' that are safe and dont ask tough questions. 

i love greg's work and he does dig up some interesting facts and does a wonderful job of keeping us all informed...but i doubt if he is capable of asking any tough questions if/when they come up.

writers dont have to be as over the top/out for blood as brett can be but stuff like this is NOTHING different then what happens to any major program.  if you want to be a big boy and sit at the big boy table you gotta deal with the big boy problems too.

how many papers around the country have written articles about bobby bowden (the most winning coach in NCAA) that were in a bad light??

our fans are just WAY TOO SENSITIVE or WAY TOO NAIVE about what happens in the rest of the sports world.