Coach Leavitt endorses UCF for Big East expansion:

[Jamie]

How many Big East schools has UCiF pissed off by pulling scheduling shenanigans? I know they screwed West Virginia out of a return game a couple years ago. I can't remember if they did that to someone else in the conference - Syracuse, maybe?

Then there's that "0-4 against USF including two hellacious beatings" part.

[FazaUSF]

As much as I love to hate on UCF, there's no point in arguing that they wouldn't make a half-decent candidate for expansion. Anyone who does is just looking through green and gold glasses. They're not unlike we were just 5-6 years ago. USF fans seem to forget that easily. Many folks on this board are young - but many more have been around the block. I painted my body green and gold before USF was in a Div. IA conference, before the student section (just the bottom level) filled beyond 25%. We were mosquitoes to the Bowling Greens and Pittsburghs that we ended up knocking off in upset wins. USF fans have quickly forgotten their roots and where we used to be just half a decade ago. We have no business treating UCF like they're "unworthy" as a program, beyond the fact that we are rivals and we love rubbing our 4-0 record in their faces. By judging them, we're no better than the SEC schools that trod on our school and our conference because they're in a better conference and have much better winning traditions. And we all hate when those programs treat us as trivial like that, so don't do it to other schools like UCF, FIU, and FAU.

I think the biggest thing holding UCF back is their coach; they need to wisen up and axe him. A BIG part of the reason we were able to pitch entry into the Big East had to do with our credibility and star power - supplied by leadership such as Genshaft and Lee Roy Selmon (among many others who worked to make it happen). UCF is really held back by the credibility of their coach and the fact that they are constantly compared to USF, which frankly isn't a fair comparison given the two programs' histories and circumstances. We had little-to-no football history backing us up; we had many of the same attractive attributes that UCF does, and we had credibility and star power. UCF could easily compete with us if their leadership took a few extra steps in the same direction we did when we were in their shoes, so watch out, they may be BCS foes sooner than you think.

P.S. And when they are, I'll have a great time watching every time we beat the tar out of them on the field. GO BULLS!

[Matt]

my only concern is having the rest of the country lumping USF and UCF into one team and not being able to have seperate identies

like central michigan, western michigan, and eastern michigan.  arent they all in the same conference?  i couldnt tell you one from the other and i consider myself someone who follows college football

[Guest hm101]

my only concern is having the rest of the country lumping USF and UCF into one team and not being able to have seperate identies

like central michigan, western michigan, and eastern michigan.  arent they all in the same conference?  i couldnt tell you one from the other and i consider myself someone who follows college football

good point. in addition to of course that there are many many more options we should explore before sending an invitation to UCF

[South_Florida_Flip]

The bottom line in my view is we are the most viable candidate for these reasons:

A. 55,000 students

B. Huge Television Market

C. Facilities and facilities

D. Beautiful campus

E. Med school going up

F.  Fertile location

G. Great away game trip (Disney, SeaWorld)

H. Incredible academics

Bottom line

That's not a "bottom line", that's just your opinion and it's not an opinion that matters to those who make decisions about Big East football expansion. I guess you just can't get it through your head when the Big East Commissioner goes on record and states that there are no viable candidates for expansion for football to make the league better. So much for your UCF to the Big East in 2010. Keep on dreaming.

[South_Florida_Flip]

Well, I think if you're making a case for entry into the Big East, you might want to find a way to include the football program as a good reason....maybe in place of "Incredible academics" NOBODY's buying that one! 

:ROFLMAO

didn't USF have a losing record the season before being invited to the Big East? that throws out that argument

We played all freshman and sophomores on D in preparation for going into the Big East. I thinsk it's pretty safe to say that USF is viewed as a much better program than UCF is right now and 4 head to head wins back that up.

[South_Florida_Flip]

WoW... I had no idea that the Orlando market was that high up on the list... from an economic stand point which would factor more from a Big East market stand point... TV Audience or extra Bowl Game...

???

If TV market is a determining factor, then Miami/Ft. Lauderdale is a better market and FAU has done much more with their football prorgram and they have a new stadium on the way.

[Blackice12]

I hate to keep this stupid thread going... but

Rank     Designated Market Area (DMA)        TV Households      % of US

1         New York, NY    7,433,820         6.495     

2         Los Angeles, CA    5,654,260         4.940     

3         Chicago, IL    3,492,850         3.052     

4         Philadelphia, PA    2,950,220         2.578     

Let Temple back in.  They play at the new Franklin Financial Field. Easy Flight-Southwest.  Cheese Steaks. And you get to see the Liberty Bell.

I think if the Big East loses a school to the Big Ten then Temple would make sense. If that does not happen then I think elevating a school like Villanova to I-A would be a good option as well. Good School and great television market with potential rivals  with Pitt and Rutgers.

[Bull Dozer]

USF was 4-7 in its last year in CUSA but carry on*

Absolutely true, but by that time, we were already Big East bound. The deal was done in late 2003 if I recall.

http://www.fanblogs.com/big_east/003804.php

...yep, I recall.

So, in 2002, we were 9-2 with our only losses to Arkansas and Oklahoma, we had a winning season in 2003 in our first year in a conference. We were pretty attractive.

I agree that the only thing UCF offers is TV market. Disney and Sea World are very open to anyone coming to Tampa, it's not that far of a drive. I don't exactly remember, but it seems like ECU has a pretty nice campus as well. I often wonder if all of the people that keep saying how beautiful the UCF campus is have ever been to another campus outside of the state. There are a lot of really nice campuses especially in the southeast, so I don't think the campus makes UCF any more attractive than a lot of other schools.

Chad, please enlighten us with facts?

Fact - UCF has 3 losing seasons in the last 5, including an 0-11 season.

Fact - UCF has never won a bowl game

Fact - UCF won conference USA (the same year they lost 64-12 to the only Big East team they played, and C-USA was known to be WEAKer than usual)

Fact - UCF is in a lot of debt and is facing athletics budget cuts as we speak (thats attractive)

Fact - The BE already has a team in the Florida market

I don't think it's going to happen for you guys, if I were a UCF fan, I would be hoping that all of this 9th team in the BE stuff would go away for a while. Oleary needs to start recruiting florida better (and I think he did this year), and you guys need to put together a few good seasons to become more attractive.

Good luck this year. I will be pulling for your new defensive end Victor Gray. Hope he does well there, he's a good kid that I wish had come to USF.

Great post.

[Guest]

DC is 9th on that list - georgetown

Philly s 4th - Temple

Orlando - 20th and half are snowbirds probably  ;D

people complain when the Big East isnt given respect when compared to the SEC and Big 12, yet some go around and talk about adding UCF? Thats a little backwards in my opinion. If we want to respect of a legitimate BCS conference, we have to act like it, and not go knocking on our neighbors door for fun. if we're gonna talk expansion, the Big East needs to think bigger than that:

http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/does-the-big-east-need-to-form-a-super-conference/

We have Villanova in Philadelphia...