USF Athletics' Golden Age, ahead or in the past?

[Mike Stuben]

It is ahead. Sadly, I fear it may be a little ways down the line. There is a bright future, it just may take a while to get there.

 

I also want to tip my hat to a pretty impressive time for USF Athletics that begins with our 10 years in Conference USA and through our time in the Big East (that I will say ends this year).

 

In that time USF:

Was the most successful school (in terms of all sports) in Conference USA (which was a good collection of schools when we were in it)

Had the most successful launch of a football program in the history of college football.

Beat traditional football powers: FSU, Auburn, Notre Dame, Miami, West Virginia, Clemson among others.

Rose to be ranked #2 in the country in football, and controlled our own destiny in terms of a national championship.

Won our first games in the NCAA tournament in both Men's and Women's Basketball

Had our first trip to the college world series in softball

Was consistently competitive at a national championship level in Men's Soccer.

 

While there are better days ahead ... the last 15 or so years will be seen as a time when USF laid the foundation that a lot of future glory will be built on.

[Dogma]

At the risk of sounding rude, this is a very dumb question.

[charsibb]

At the risk of sounding rude, this is a very dumb question.

 

+1

 

Because if they're behind us, I'm headed for the Skyway...

[Flowers4Heisman]

Well a lot of you bellyache like the sky is falling every day. I just wanted to see where people stood.

[Rizman]

 

At the risk of sounding rude, this is a very dumb question.

 

+1

 

Because if they're behind us, I'm headed for the Skyway...

 

You live in the wrong state...

[charsibb]

Nothing around here's high enough

[usfgrad84]

Absolutely it is still ahead.

With the drop in prestige of conference affiliation, it may take football some time to get to the next level, but things couldn't be brighter for the rest of athletics.

Basketball's success on the court should benefit by not having to play top ten competition seemingly every time they step on the court and we just completed the best recruiting class in school history. Ladies basketball is in a good position, softball continues to be competitive on a national basis. Soccer is turning into a perennial tournament program. Baseball, hopefully, finally, is on the rise. Ladies Tennis has been in the conference finals 6 of the last 8 years and with ND leaving we should be the top program in the league. Men's tennis is a strong program.

I know a lot of people only think of athletics as the football program, but there is a lot more than just that. Even with the conference situation, with the competition we have on the schedule for the next few years football will at least be on par with where they were before. Taking the next step to national prominence and respect may take a while longer now, but reality is we have not done anything on a national level yet so we can easily get back to where we were.

[Skingraft]

At the risk of sounding rude, this is a very dumb question.

+1

Because if they're behind us, I'm headed for the Skyway...

There's a skyway in VA?

[charsibb]

 

 

At the risk of sounding rude, this is a very dumb question.

+1

Because if they're behind us, I'm headed for the Skyway...

There's a skyway in VA?

 

 

No, but we got a SkyLINE up here, might have some suitable cliffs...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyline_Drive

[Danm1983]

This is still the foundation, IMO.

 

Football has had it's taste of hype. They have the facilities, and the indoor field will be icing for them. They have had the zero to hero, the scandal, and the bad coach. Now it's time to go steadily upwards.

Baseball has had glimpses but even with pockets of good play they should be consistently better. They have the facilities. I believe this coach isn't the one to get them there though, but he has helped overall.

Softball is primed. They have the facilities. They need to sustain their success and the accolades and title chases will seem more attainable.

Soccer is primed. They have the facilities. Same situation as softball.

Basketball is an enigma. They have the facilities. They have shown glimpses, but honestly the jury is out on the coach. I think he's solid, but the consistency needs to be there. Expectations need to be tempered a bit.

Women's basketball is primed. They have the facilities. They are on the track that I think men's hoops and football are expected to be on, slowly and steadily getting better. The coach is locked up.

 

I think the blips of success (football to #2, basketball going dancing, softball and soccer successes) are small variations on the long term scale and overall this is the foundation that has to be laid for a while to ensure the future eventual successes are maintained and not a quick plateau. It is painful at times, as we saw with the Holtz Error, and the frustrating baseball and basketball seasons and ups and downs.

 

Honestly, I think we're not far off, but we're not as close as we think or want to be. It's evident that we're not a UF or FSU and it's going to take time. We may have one or two sports dominate, and that's good but until the top popular sports produce consistently, we're not going to be known outside of niches (people remember Stanford for having great golf and tennis but it's not brought up in casual conversation).

 

The facilities are there for the most part. A few missing pieces, and one big missing piece that won't happen for a while (it need not be mentioned, because you already know). Overall, our AD has been average at best, but he has done a lot for us in his tenure. I think the next AD will be the one to get us closer, I think Woolard is what he is.

 

I just hope I'm not 60-70 when we hit the good years, I'd like to be able to enjoy them a little.