The Bulls' reasons for a home-and-away with W.Kentucky explained

[BullyPulpit]

Unless something changes next year we will have 7 homes games, so that is pretty cool, although the slate is less than impressive: Stoney Brook, FAU, WKU, Pitt, UCONN, Cuse, and Rutgers, with road games at UF, UM, WVU, Cincy, and Louisville.

[SRQ]

road wins could be very scarce next year!

[TyBull]

Didn't we get a check from FIU for cancelling the game with us to play rUTGirls?

[Brad]

WKU has a link to South Florida

Teams' history led to football series

You could call it karma. Western Kentucky University athletic director Wood Selig prefers the term “professional courtesy.” Either description would explain how the WKU football team's home opener against South Florida on Saturday came to fruition.

The Hilltoppers (0-1) will have a Big East opponent coming to Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium, but it will not be the first time South Florida (1-0) has played in Bowling Green. When the Bulls were building a football program, the schools played a four-game series from 1997 through 2000. The schools were Sun Belt Conference rivals in all other sports.

Those connections helped lead to Saturday's game. The programs will play a two-game series, with the return game in Tampa in 2010. WKU will pay $150,000 for the Bulls to come to Smith Stadium, and that's the same amount South Florida will pay the Hilltoppers next year. So in some respects, South Florida is repaying a favor as WKU is building its FBS program.

“If any institution can appreciate the transition to (FBS), South Florida can,” Selig said. “There was the history already established between the two institutions. There is longstanding history dating to when South Florida was in the Sun Belt. With their athletic director, Doug Woolard, on board, he understood the significance for us to start 2009 (at home) with a quality nonconference opponent.”

Rest of Story

[hightechbull]

USF Athletics neeeeds mo' allowance, yodle-e-hiiiii-hooooo.

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

---snip---

Leavitt has compared this game for his team to last year's game at Florida International. Like Western, FIU had a record crowd in a newly-expanded stadium. The Bulls escaped with a 17-9 win.

This Brian Bennett at ESPN.com is so stupid it is not even funny.  "Record crowd" at FIU?  Yeah, a record number of USF fans who traveled to Miami for the game.  The FIU portion of the stadium was pathetically empty, and a local Miami native confirmed that the crowds are always small at FIU.

FAU did a better job selling tickets a few years ago when we went to Ft. Lauderdale, but 50% of that stadium were Bulls fans.

[E.T.]

ND is paying us $850K plus we get $100 for TV ...

Our fan base will grow as will our revenue.

Go BULLS !!!

[Guest hm101]

it is my understanding the main reason for the WKU home and home is to add the 7th home game in 2010. while i understand that reasoning, a home and home with a better team would have been just as effective in adding a 7th home game, plus that would give our home schedule a little draw to it.

[Triple B]

As it is now, I really don't blame people who harshly criticize USF's schedule this year.

Anyone who harshly criticzes a schedule that includes 2 of the Big 3, playing one at home, is probably definitely a chronic ***** and moaner ...

[USF_Grouper]

As it is now, I really don't blame people who harshly criticize USF's schedule this year.

Anyone who harshly criticzes a schedule that includes 2 of the Big 3, playing one at home, is probably definitely a chronic ***** and moaner ...

You think FSU and UM form any kind of Big anything?  This isn't the 90's.  As a fan, I am very excited about the home schedule.  Sure the first two games suck, but after that, RJS is gonna be rocking.

Attempting to be an unbiased college football fan, I have a hard time defending that schedule.  I could easily see us splitting with FSU/UM and winning every other game on our schedule and being just outside the top 10.  We will see, perhaps this is a rebound year for FSU and UM or perhaps some other BE teams step up.  I hope so.

[Triple B]

As it is now, I really don't blame people who harshly criticize USF's schedule this year.

Anyone who harshly criticzes a schedule that includes 2 of the Big 3, playing one at home, is probably definitely a chronic ***** and moaner ...

You think FSU and UM form any kind of Big anything?

 

Not sure what they form but I do know it's a helluvalot more than what we've formed and having them both on the schedule in the same year makes this one of our best, if not THE best, schedules EVER and anybody who criticizes it are of the ilk that criticize just for the sake of criticizing and don't have a clue ...