Response to K_L's comments on W. Kentucky Games

I felt compelled to address this, and since I only read and don't post over there, I figured I'd do it here since K_L spends more time here than he does with his kids.

K_L's arguments for why UCF makes a better opponent than schools such as W. Ky are quoted below:

He [Leavitt] doesn't want hundreds of thousands of extra $$$$$ and national TV exposure by playing UCF...and will sacrifice all of that to play games in Muncie, IN and Bowling Green, KY...instead of playing in Orlando, FL.

Let's take a look at each of these arguments in detail.

1.  Money

Last time I checked, USF wasn't in need of money all that badly... we're not spending money before it's made (a la UCF) and, while our facilities are lacking, there are plans in place to use Big East revenues as they come in to improve them gradually. 

Also, just by running a few simple estimates, while more money is great, USF isn't hurting to pay the bills thanks to our Big East affiliation.  $2M in base revenue from the conference, $1.5M this year for our Sun Bowl appearance, and somewhere in the neighborhood of $600K for TV appearances from the conferences.... that's just football.  Based on WVU (who made $1.6M last year when not making the NCAA tournament), our non-football revenue should be about $1.5M.  That's roughly $5.6 million from the Big East before we sell a single ticket to a single game in a single sport.

Forgive us for not begging for the 10K fans who might visit us from Orlando every other year.  How will we ever pay our bills without UCF?  :

2.  National TV Exposure

Let's define "National Television" as ESPN, ESPN2, or national broadcast (national CBS, ABC, or NBC broadcasts).  Last year, UCF had three games on what can truly be considered "National" television.  Using that analysis, USF had five games on ESPN or National Broadcast (CBS).

If you want to expand it to include ESPN+ games and the fringe networks, every single USF game was available nationally last year.  Can UCF say the same?  Sure... if you consider online streaming broadcasts to be National.

Point is... with 100% of USF's games broadcast in SOME form that's available nationwide on a real live TV set... playing UCF doesn't buy us anything as far as that argument's concerned.  We get games on National TV all the time... hell, we're practically ESPN's favorite team.

Plus, last year's ESPNU broadcast was so riveting, they switched away to another game because we were blowing you out so badly.  IF anything, you should thank us for not raping you on TV annually.

Bottom Line.

UCF is the one with the big payments on the pretty buildings funded with shady, borrowed and illegally loaned money. 

UCF is the one with empty stores in the stadium village that are supposed to be bringing in revenue to help pay for the erector set.

UCF is the one that has 33% of their games only available to those who pay out the nose for a 360x240 grainy streaming internet feed.

YOU need the money.  Not us.

YOU need the exposure.  Not us.  Need proof?  USF (not counting the UCF game) has five more Nat'l TV games next year.  Take away USF, and UCF only has.... two, down from three the previous year... and one of those was for Texas, not you.

YOU need the opportunity to prove yourself on a national stage.  Not us.

If anything, Leavitt's giving you the big **** you by not giving you these things, because he sure as hell knows you won't get them vs SMU or Rice.  For you to play any sort of meaningful game with true national implications, you'll have to win your conference and go to the Liberty Bowl to play an SEC team, because the fact is, other than that one game, CUSA football basically Sun Belt football with better bowl affiliations.

Stop your bi*ching and face facts.  You had your chances to beat us... four of em.  We're moving on.  Salvage what's left of your pride and stop begging.  It's not becoming of a "champion".

Sorry, I have to step in on this one.

Let's clear up some things.

UCF is the one with the big payments on the pretty buildings funded with shady, borrowed and illegally loaned money. How is this money illegal?  The money was legally loaned to the UCFAA after the bond was legally graded and backed.  Seems legal to me.  Let's not forget that around half of the stadium cost was covered before a game was ever played.

UCF is the one with empty stores in the stadium village that are supposed to be bringing in revenue to help pay for the erector set.  Incorrect, sir.  The athletic village was a separate project from the stadium.  The retail stores, combined with arena events and revenue from those housing towers will pay for that project.  The stadium might utilize extra profits, but it was not originally planned for the stadium to be paid off with the village revenue.

UCF is the one that has 33% of their games only available to those who pay out the nose for a 360x240 grainy streaming internet feed. Incorrect again.  CBS College Sports, formerly CSTV, is available like ESPNU and CSS is a regional broadcast in the southeast, much like ESPN+, which handles regional broadcasting(not national).  Taking GamePlan/XXL/360 games out of the equation, more than half of UCF's games are viewable on a television set.  Not all CBS College Sports games for CUSA this year have been picked.  Like the NFL, they are leaving it open later in the year to pick the best matchup for that week.  A slot has been reserved each of those weeks for that CUSA game.

For the record, it's not UCF having to argue that they are a better opponent than WKU, because we know we are the better team.  It's USF justifying going to Podunk, Kentucky, spending more money and getting less.  The way I see it is that since you already have a I-AA on the schedule for those 2 years, the next best thing is to take the I-A school most recently in I-AA.  Some here already have, but admit it, USF is padding the schedule.

I also do not think you get to keep all 1.5mil of that bowl payout.  I think there is conference sharing or something.

You may be the better team (that remains to be seen if WKU can keep it closer than 52)... but you've still not brought a compelling argument as to why this game makes sense for USF.

Fan support?  Yeah, you'll bring more than WKU, but we're selling season tix in the upper decks now... fan support not a problem.

Money?  Got plenty of that, enough where we can forego your 10K fans once every other year.

You need the cash (see the premium price you're charging for the USF game this year) and the TV exposure (see your decreasing national TV games) far more than USF does.  USF is screwing you in more ways than one by dropping the series... and as fun as it is drinking with you and Old Man River, I love it.  =)

And lets be honest....

The retail is paying for your convo center if I remember.  UCF built an athletic village on a minimum of money in the bank.  You can argue until you are blue in the face but UCF does not have any $$$, yet they rebuilt an entire athletic village on a dream that somehow your mediocre athletic program would somehow find it's way out of the middle.  It's going to be a blast watching you guys squirm when your new stadium is empty after your 4th or 5th consecutive loss this year.

It's going to be a blast watching you guys squirm when your new stadium is empty after your 4th or 5th consecutive loss this year.

I'm a little upset with this.  With all the stuff spewed about CUSA's lack of strength by you guys, do you really think we would lose 5 in a row?  I don't think we are going to pull a USF:  Drop 3 easy ones after the game with the neighbor school.

It's going to be a blast watching you guys squirm when your new stadium is empty after your 4th or 5th consecutive loss this year.

I'm a little upset with this.  With all the stuff spewed about CUSA's lack of strength by you guys, do you really think we would lose 5 in a row?  I don't think we are going to pull a USF:  Drop 3 easy ones after the game with the neighbor school.

YOu know what, you are correct.  I didn't look at your schedule when I posted that.  I just assumed you were doing the standard early season suicide.  It seems you do't have enough quality teams on your schedule to cover a 5 game losing streak.  Even a completely depleted offense and a medicore defense can find a win with your schedule

The athletic village is doing fine and wasn't built for football game days.  It's also a place for students to go and it's not empty.  In fact, they just opened a new sports bar there called, Knightros.  The retail is privately owned...but rented.

Second...the scheduling of WKU has nothing to do with UCF.  This was a move that was safe for USF and there a lot of schools that are having a hard time filling spots..but still want to win.  With 12 games (and being in the BE with only 8 teams) getting any 1-A opponent (although transitional...they count as a 1-A opponent) is tough.  I also think it's a filler game....USF wouldn't do a 2-1 or 3-1 deal and tie up spots on future schedules.  I think USF knows something...and is going to be prepared for additions to the Big East, too.

With the setup like it is now...these 1-1 deals are going to become more common across the footprint of college football if a school needs a 1-A opponent.  

Why not just re-schedule UCF?  I don't know...it would make more sense on paper.  We have slots available.

Who cares what ucIF fans think about USF scheduling?

It's USF justifying going to Podunk, Kentucky, spending more money and getting less.

Justify to who?? And I have no idea what "getting less" refers to ...

The way I see it is that since you already have a I-AA on the schedule for those 2 years, the next best thing is to take the I-A school most recently in I-AA.

No, the next best thing to taking another 1-AA would have been taking one of the 7 CUSA teams that were rated lower than WKU...

Some here already have, but admit it, USF is padding the schedule.

USF is finalizing their schedule with a formula they have pretty much stuck with for a while now just like most major college football programs do. If it makes you feel better calling it "padding", in a year where we already have away games at UM and UF, you go right ahead.

As I said on the other thread, the WKU deal gets done because USF did not want to get into the 2008 season with a hole in the 2009 schedule.  Take that chance and we could end up like FSU(Western Carolina/Chattanooga), Georgia Tech (Jacksonville State/Gardner Webb) and Clemson (Citadel/S.C. State) and play 2 I-AAs in one season, as all 3 are this year.  The 12th game is a problem for lots of schools scheduling.  I am sure schools like WKU are getting lots of calls since they are a low 1A for money games.  The reality is that the only way we could ensure getting a 1A game next year is to offer a 1-1 since we could not offer the money a VTech (who put WKU on the 2008 schedule) or others offered. 

ADs are going to be scheduling further and further into the future to ensure that they do not lose leverage. 

For the UCF faithful, your schedule is already full in 2009, so any deal with you guys would not have helped USF's schedule in that year.  As a few more years go by with the 12th game you will see more teams, mid and low BCS schools, give 1-1 deals to "lower" schools because even as BCS they may not have the clout or money that the upper level BCS programs have (USC/Oklahoma/UF/etc.).