Does new BE make OCS a priority?

[Danm1983]

Recruits might like Ray Jay, but saying "their OCS is horrible" is subjective. Recruits go visit and see the atmospheres at on campus stadiums, and that alone can win them over, even if it's only like 40,000 people. RJS is novel and stuff, but it's not a deal maker like it used to be. Perhaps Leavitt sold it to kids better than Holtz does.

I still don't think it's a priority, but once we get the indoor facility, it will become the final piece of the puzzle and start taking shape. I'm really hoping we can figure out a way to get some big bucks out of Syracuse, Pitt, and West Virginia to divide among the 5 remaining BE teams, and flush us with a little cash. An indoor facility isn't too hard on the wallet, so we might be able to get that knocked out in the next few years and set our sights on that OCS down the road.

RJS will still be incredibly fun when Boise State, SMU, Houston, ECU, and UCF come to town. For some reason, I feel like the "rivalry" intensity might be higher with the new teams. WVU will be missed, but our series with Pitt and SU are kinda ehhhhh.

ECU is not coming to Raymond James Stadium.

Oh, I forgot, Temple will be coming

[Jihme]

the new OCS will be more costly than the entire athletics upgrades we've done altogether. it will be hard to push it forward in the time line, but it needs to happen. at the earliest i would assume it gets into the conversation of planning if/when we sign new TV money. in theory, if Pitt and SU didn't screw us then we might already have plans for an OCS.

[Mission9]

Recruits might like Ray Jay, but saying "their OCS is horrible" is subjective. Recruits go visit and see the atmospheres at on campus stadiums, and that alone can win them over, even if it's only like 40,000 people. RJS is novel and stuff, but it's not a deal maker like it used to be. Perhaps Leavitt sold it to kids better than Holtz does.

I still don't think it's a priority, but once we get the indoor facility, it will become the final piece of the puzzle and start taking shape. I'm really hoping we can figure out a way to get some big bucks out of Syracuse, Pitt, and West Virginia to divide among the 5 remaining BE teams, and flush us with a little cash. An indoor facility isn't too hard on the wallet, so we might be able to get that knocked out in the next few years and set our sights on that OCS down the road.

RJS will still be incredibly fun when Boise State, SMU, Houston, ECU, and UCF come to town. For some reason, I feel like the "rivalry" intensity might be higher with the new teams. WVU will be missed, but our series with Pitt and SU are kinda ehhhhh.

ECU is not coming to Raymond James Stadium.

Thank you, God!

[widerberg]

We don't need to spend money on an OCS (although I've whined for years that we need one). What we need to do is save up money for payoffs, hookers, and drugs to get some better players in here and make sure we own the new BE . . . until we get poached by the ACC, at which point we go OCS.

[Cow Pie]

I think that it will be made into a priority once USF recovers from the depression, and the current improvements are paid down considerably.

[swamprat]

First off, I want to say that I want an OCS.

However, just look at last night's game at UCF. The announced attendance was a little over 36K, but I'd be surprised if they had more than 25K there. The place holds 45K and it looked more than half empty. An OCS does not guarantee sellouts. Winning produces sellouts.

Cincinnati finds their OCS so valuable, that they have started moving games to Paul Brown Stadium.

USF simply cannot afford an OCS. There are no donors who will cough up enough money to even support a finance package to build anything other than a glorified high school stadium. Do you really want to settle for that piece of crap they have in Orlando?

[smazza]

no

but orlando school will get better fast

usf needs to bump up reruiting efforts

[Danm1983]

First off, I want to say that I want an OCS.

However, just look at last night's game at UCF. The announced attendance was a little over 36K, but I'd be surprised if they had more than 25K there. The place holds 45K and it looked more than half empty. An OCS does not guarantee sellouts. Winning produces sellouts.

Cincinnati finds their OCS so valuable, that they have started moving games to Paul Brown Stadium.

USF simply cannot afford an OCS. There are no donors who will cough up enough money to even support a finance package to build anything other than a glorified high school stadium. Do you really want to settle for that piece of crap they have in Orlando?

Cincinnati's stadium holds 35,000 and easily sells out, so they move their rivalry game with Louisville to PBS, and big games like WVU and Oklahoma there. If USF had a 50K capacity stadium, they wouldn't really need that extra 15,000 to go to RJS because it would negate the atmosphere and home field advantage an OCS provides. I think UC also benefits more because the Bengals' ownership lets them collect more revenue than the TSA does with USF.

Other points agreed, don't want a tin can bounce house for sure.

[smazza]

the new OCS will be more costly than the entire athletics upgrades we've done altogether. it will be hard to push it forward in the time line, but it needs to happen. at the earliest i would assume it gets into the conversation of planning if/when we sign new TV money. in theory, if Pitt and SU didn't screw us then we might already have plans for an OCS.

pitt and su didnt screw us

[TherapyBull]

I think the whole RJS is a recruiting tool train left the station several years ago. It was an advantage when we were first starting out in Division 1 AA, when recruits were choosing between us and the likes of the Citadel and Charleston Southern. The novelty of playing in an NFL venue did help. Its has lessoned over the years when we went 1A independent and our year in Conference USA and it more or likely didn't help or hurt.

Once we got Big East acceptance and were competing with the big boys for recruits I feel RJS became a disadvantage. High Caliber recruits aren't impressed by the Novelty of an NFL venue. Recruits do not care about seat backs, good sight lines, and modern amenities such as clubs and suites. Taking a potential recruit to a packed out on campus stadium whose colors and university prescense are everywhere, as well as having an engaged fan base, is far more impressive then visiting a 2/3 filled NFL venue with Bucs logos everywhere, and a bland gameday experience. Its just very hard to compete along those lines.

Miami can get away with this, they have tradition, National Championships, and the so called "Swagger"

I think a lot of the OCS and priority talk is gonna come down to how much we want to compete with UCF. For this reason I think their acceptance into the Big East will help the fans. In the end Consumers win with competition. If UCF gets a bump in attendance with a Big East schedule, and moves forward with their stadium expansion plans, I think it will be real hard for USF to sit back and watch.

Worst thing any of us can do right now is not attend games.