Deion Sanders

[Triple B]

32 minutes ago, zarnozdabull said:

Probably the best thing that could've happen to all upper G5 teams.

You could definitely argue that we can make the playoff run if it's the top 12 teams.

If I'm misunderstanding what you're saying, my bad, but it's not the top 12 teams making the playoffs. It's the 6 highest ranked conference champions and 6 at-large teams ..... and this makes it even easier for us to make them.

[Bull Matrix]

Just now, Triple B said:

If I'm misunderstanding what you're saying, my bad, but it's not the top 12 teams making the playoffs. It's the 6 highest ranked conference champions and 6 at-large teams ..... and this makes it even easier for us to make them.

Yes you are correct. Basically AAC will be competing with Sun Belt MW. MAC, etc for that 6th rated conference spot. So basically it is the P6 now lol

[Sellular1]

3 minutes ago, Triple B said:

If I'm misunderstanding what you're saying, my bad, but it's not the top 12 teams making the playoffs. It's the 6 highest ranked conference champions and 6 at-large teams ..... and this makes it even easier for us to make them.

Agree except for the last part 

[Peatearpan]

13 minutes ago, Sellular1 said:

Agree except for the last part 

We will see how the new conference plays out. MWC and Sun Belt could easily slide into that last spot over AAC

[Jim Johnson]

13 hours ago, FazaUSF said:

"An offer making him among the highest paid Pac-12 coaches" has got to be around $5-6mil/yr. USF barely makes that in TV money annually from the AAC. There is an over $30 mil annual difference in TV money alone. I don't see how USF can reasonably compete.

I also wonder why state legislators don't work to elevate all of their tax-funded insitutions and allow such giant gaps to exist unchallenged. Lots of kids pick schools based on sports success. Is it a recipe for success? Maybe not as a primary strategy. But I think its pretty irresponsible that the legislature stepped in to force UF to play FSU 40 years ago but has sat on its hands ever since.

I will note UCF got into the "Big East" because state legislators (who were UCF graduates) threatened to take action against Judy Genshaft for supposedly blocking it (whether true or not).  Judy had pissed of the Legislature more than she should have -- which is why the Lakeland campus was spun off as a new university.

[FazaUSF]

2 hours ago, Jim Johnson said:

I will note UCF got into the "Big East" because state legislators (who were UCF graduates) threatened to take action against Judy Genshaft for supposedly blocking it (whether true or not).  Judy had pissed of the Legislature more than she should have -- which is why the Lakeland campus was spun off as a new university.

Nah, it got spun off because Chair of the Budget Committee J.D. Alexander's family owns a whole bunch of land around the Lakeland campus and perceived that in a few decades it will be worth a lot more as surrounding a standalone university as opposed to a branch campus. UCF lover, btw.. 

[Jim Johnson]

14 minutes ago, FazaUSF said:

Nah, it got spun off because Chair of the Budget Committee J.D. Alexander's family owns a whole bunch of land around the Lakeland campus and perceived that in a few decades it will be worth a lot more as surrounding a standalone university as opposed to a branch campus. UCF lover, btw.. 

For what it's worth, the original plan offered by JD was to make that USF Lakeland's campus.  Judy declined and actually fought JD trying to move USF Lakeland.  (I was a legislative aide in the early 2000s and still had friends in the legislature that gave me some info at the time).  JD wasn't trying to create a new state university.   He was definitely in it for himself -- he and his family also owned land that would have been part of the Heartland Parkway that he tucked into the budget one year.  (Then again, what do you expect for the grandson of Ben Hill Griffin?).

Edited November 25, 2022 by Jim Johnson

[bullsbucsfan426]

26 minutes ago, Jim Johnson said:

For what it's worth, the original plan offered by JD was to make that USF Lakeland's campus.  Judy declined and actually fought JD trying to move USF Lakeland.  (I was a legislative aide in the early 2000s and still had friends in the legislature that gave me some info at the time).  JD wasn't trying to create a new state university.   He was definitely in it for himself -- he and his family also owned land that would have been part of the Heartland Parkway that he tucked into the budget one year.  (Then again, what do you expect for the grandson of Ben Hill Griffin?).

I was in the room when JD Alexander brought Don Gaetz (yes, Matt Gaetz's daddy) to basically threaten the Board of Governors for the State University System. Michael Long, the student rep exposed him utterly then and there. 

I need to add that this isn't the first time Alexander and his family pulled that stunt. If you go down to FGCU, you'll see street signs for Alico Road-that's the name of their company. That used to be USF Ft. Myers. It was probably the right move to separate FGCU (way too far south to  be part of USF's ecosystem), but USF Poly was essentially a money grab engineered by blackmailing USF. 

[Gat-Rat Bull]

I love reading this insider USF history (seriously). Hopefully, Coach Sanders will be written into the USF history books soon.

[FazaUSF]

1 hour ago, Jim Johnson said:

For what it's worth, the original plan offered by JD was to make that USF Lakeland's campus.  Judy declined and actually fought JD trying to move USF Lakeland.  (I was a legislative aide in the early 2000s and still had friends in the legislature that gave me some info at the time).  JD wasn't trying to create a new state university.   He was definitely in it for himself -- he and his family also owned land that would have been part of the Heartland Parkway that he tucked into the budget one year.  (Then again, what do you expect for the grandson of Ben Hill Griffin?).

Ah, I thought that original proposal was to intro the idea and gain general support before the planned move of excising it from USF which was the ultimate goal. Did the initial actually have traction?