(11-07-2013 09:00 AM)10thMountain Wrote:  South Florida is fine. Simply because its a distinct region of the country pretty much everyone is familiar with (similar to southern california). If they dont want to change their name, they really dont have to.



ECU is more problematic.

North Carolina Tech would be best but they aren't a Technical school at all.

"Greenville" (the equivalent of Auburn or Clemson) still sounds like a small town and therefore small time.

Perhaps the route would be to go like Rutgers or Purdue and choose an important person in the school's history like a president or major donor that made the school possible.

East Carolina will always sound like a small time directional school ala Eastern Illinois or Eastern Michigan and be a hindrance to their ambitions.

The irony, of course, is that USF isn't actually located in South Florida at all. Tampa is very much Central Florida (geographically, culturally, etc.). South Florida is Miami up to the Palm Beach area on the Atlantic and then Naples/Marco up to Sarasota on the Gulf (plus the Keys).

very true, but the good news is that when perception is everything, just having the name and not the geography is more or less fine!

(11-07-2013 01:25 AM)msu_bears Wrote:  

(11-06-2013 10:32 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  I'm sure that in most states that there are some good options for renaming. NW Missouri State U could just become University of Northern Missouri, or one of those Wisconsin branches of UW could try and become Wisconsin state. Worst case scenario, you can just make up a name like Truman State. One thing I never got was why Missouri-Rolla become Missouri S&T (science and technology). Sure, the clarification makes a lot more sense than the branch campus connotation, but Missouri Tech would've been a lot better.

With MO S&T, the name was to help draw more out of state students by not sounding like a commuter branch of Mizzou and it has supposedly worked as out of state enrollment was up last I heard. I'm a Rolla grad from before the name change and I was opposed to it and I still am but I prefered s&t over Mo Tech or some of the other community college sounding names they had proposed. Most people still just refer to the school as Rolla anyways.

Makes sense, though I usually don't think as a college with tech in its name as bush league, provided that it's not for-profit or something like that. I think of Texas Tech, Cal Tech, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, etc., I don't think people associate them with a community college.

Going from UCF to University of Orlando would be a good idea for a name change. I don't know how UF would react, but changing to the University of Florida-Orlando would be an improvement. Either way, UCF is something like the second or third biggest college in the nation, a directional name isn't very appropriate anymore.

I've really come to appreciate that in VA the Div I public schools not named UVA or Va Tech aren't Directional U or City U. They're all pretty much named after historical persons (James Madison, George Mason, William & Mary) or are related to the State without a direction involved such as Old Dominon (a nickname of the Virginia) and Virginia Commonwealth University (which I guess if you think about would be our State U but since VA is a commonwealth instead of a state you get VCU instead of VSU).

I think this helps each school have a sense of identity instead of UVA-Richmond, UVA-Norfolk, etc.

(11-07-2013 09:00 AM)10thMountain Wrote:  ECU is more problematic.

North Carolina Tech would be best but they aren't a Technical school at all.

"Greenville" (the equivalent of Auburn or Clemson) still sounds like a small town and therefore small time.

Perhaps the route would be to go like Rutgers or Purdue and choose an important person in the school's history like a president or major donor that made the school possible.

East Carolina will always sound like a small time directional school ala Eastern Illinois or Eastern Michigan and be a hindrance to their ambitions.

Agree completely and have had this exact same convo w ECU alums/fans.
They could become University of the Atlantic, since Atlantic U is taken (similar to Univ of the Pacific, which everyone calls "Pacific" and is in the West Coast Conf vs Pacific Univ, Div 3 Northwest Conf).

They'd be known as the "Atlantic Pirates", which would play perfectly with their rowdy 50k + stadium.

(11-07-2013 12:31 AM)LastMinuteman Wrote:  Montana State and Tennessee State both exist. They're even Division I.
Wyoming State was listed.
I guess California State could have been included. I excluded them because they have a Cal State system, but none can claim to be THE Cal State University.

Tennessee State (TSU) is a HBCU located in downtown Nashville. They are the only HBCU in Division 1 that is not in the SWAC or MEAC, I believe. They had some great athletics years ago, namely in football and track and field. Just look at their most famous alumni:

Wilma Rudolph
Richard Dent
Ed "Too Tall" Jones
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie


It is also the alma mater of Oprah Winfrey. Very interesting school. They haven't been able to get out of there own way in recent times (bad administration), but they have a premier location to excel. They are literally across the tracks from Vanderbilt. We just built a new vehicular bridge and added a new transit line to make a "university corridor". They are now connected to Vanderbilt, Belmont, and Lipscomb (the latter schools are both top 20 regional universities of the South).

MTSU has really become the "Tennessee State" University. I would love to see TSU rebrand as the University of Nashville. We do not have one, and they would fit much better with schools like Memphis, UAB, Houston, etc. than the typical State university.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_S...ity#Sports

(11-07-2013 08:59 AM)Lord Stanley Wrote:  

(11-07-2013 12:12 AM)john01992 Wrote:  montana state?
tennesse state?
california state?

Considering the shear amount of posting you do on a sports message board, it is remarkable that you don't know that each of these schools already exist. Actually, considering the poor quality of most of what you post, it's perhaps not all that remarkable.

(11-07-2013 07:18 AM)jnewyouth Wrote:  It would also benefit USF to rename themselves The University of Tampa.

So what should the current University of Tampa call itself?

Hillsborough, after the county?

(11-07-2013 09:43 AM)mturn017 Wrote:  I've really come to appreciate that in VA the Div I public schools not named UVA or Va Tech aren't Directional U or City U. They're all pretty much named after historical persons (James Madison, George Mason, William & Mary) or are related to the State without a direction involved such as Old Dominon (a nickname of the Virginia) and Virginia Commonwealth University (which I guess if you think about would be our State U but since VA is a commonwealth instead of a state you get VCU instead of VSU).

I think this helps each school have a sense of identity instead of UVA-Richmond, UVA-Norfolk, etc.

Yeah, I agree. I love the names of Sam Houston State, Stephen F Austin, and Lamar in the Texas system. It would be awesome for Tennessee to rename some of their universities as Andrew Jackson, Cordell Hull, Alvin C. York, or David Crockett. We already have Austin Peay.

U of Orlando logo mock up

(11-07-2013 09:37 AM)Love and Honor Wrote:  

(11-07-2013 01:25 AM)msu_bears Wrote:  

(11-06-2013 10:32 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  I'm sure that in most states that there are some good options for renaming. NW Missouri State U could just become University of Northern Missouri, or one of those Wisconsin branches of UW could try and become Wisconsin state. Worst case scenario, you can just make up a name like Truman State. One thing I never got was why Missouri-Rolla become Missouri S&T (science and technology). Sure, the clarification makes a lot more sense than the branch campus connotation, but Missouri Tech would've been a lot better.

With MO S&T, the name was to help draw more out of state students by not sounding like a commuter branch of Mizzou and it has supposedly worked as out of state enrollment was up last I heard. I'm a Rolla grad from before the name change and I was opposed to it and I still am but I prefered s&t over Mo Tech or some of the other community college sounding names they had proposed. Most people still just refer to the school as Rolla anyways.

Makes sense, though I usually don't think as a college with tech in its name as bush league, provided that it's not for-profit or something like that. I think of Texas Tech, Cal Tech, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, etc., I don't think people associate them with a community college.

Going from UCF to University of Orlando would be a good idea for a name change. I don't know how UF would react, but changing to the University of Florida-Orlando would be an improvement. Either way, UCF is something like the second or third biggest college in the nation, a directional name isn't very appropriate anymore.

I think University of Florida-Orlando was considered even though we don't have a state school system that would do that like other states. But UFO probably isn't what we were going for. I really do like the idea of University of Orlando or Orlando University. Either way. Don't think it happens though.

(11-07-2013 09:13 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  South Florida is Miami up to the Palm Beach area on the Atlantic and then Naples/Marco up to Sarasota on the Gulf (plus the Keys).

The most commonly used designation of south Florida is the 3 counties in southeast Florida (Dade - Miami, Broward - Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach - West Palm Beach). Naples (Collier) and Fort Myers (Lee) are almost never considered south Florida by those who actually live in south Florida: They are southwest Florida. And the Keys are the Keys and not usually considered south Florida as well.

That's an expert opinion on the matter.

=================

What about FIU?

Should they change their name to Miami State University?
University of Florida, Miami?
State University of Florida at Miami?
Miami State University of Florida?
Miami Florida State University?

(I didn't come up with any of these names, for the record.)

I think it's a fairly frequent topic at most of the FBS publics in Florida. Or at least amongst their fans.

I think too much stigma is placed on directional monikers.

Still, being 'the University of State' with no qualification is the most sought after most likely. It's not the end all by any stretch. Ultimately, the responsibility is the university's. Good schools will get name recognition, regardless of what that is. A good example there is Auburn. You do all know its named after a town right? The town it's named after certainly isn't as impressive as say Houston, or even Cincinnati or Louisville.

In Louisiana's case there is indignation over the name because of how things were handled. Also, the lack of major competition in the state for prestige has stunted the growth of Louisiana's higher education system. No matter how you look at it, having just a single 'major' state school has adversely affected LSU as it has everybody else. Having two major state schools, at least, is good for everybody.

BTW, in terms of Louisiana, I've always personally thought that The University of Acadiana would fit.

(11-07-2013 11:01 AM)MagicKnightmare Wrote:  I think University of Florida-Orlando was considered even though we don't have a state school system that would do that like other states. But UFO probably isn't what we were going for. I really do like the idea of University of Orlando or Orlando University. Either way. Don't think it happens though.

UFO would be hilariously great.

The school could change its nickname back to Citronauts - the UFO Citronauts!


Also, think of the fun all the college kids could have with the name, use screened on the front of all their shirts: "U-FO!". Just like texting, short hand awesomeness.

Love it.


.

Makes me think of the Anteaters in California yelling "give 'em tongue."

Interesting how things work out. Small population states like Iowa and Kansas end up with 2 BCS teams, while bigger population border states like Minnesota, wisconsin, and Missouri end up with only one.

Ironicly because wisconsin and Missouri are big enough to have many regional universities, but no clear #2 school in the state.

Minnesota is the state that really confuses me. Only 1 div. 1 school in the whole state and it has 6M people.

(11-07-2013 12:03 PM)goofus Wrote:  Interesting how things work out. Small population states like Iowa and Kansas end up with 2 BCS teams, while bigger population border states like Minnesota, wisconsin, and Missouri end up with only one.

Ironicly because wisconsin and Missouri are big enough to have many regional universities, but no clear #2 school in the state.

Minnesota is the state that really confuses me. Only 1 div. 1 school in the whole state and it has 6M people.

Ohio has over 11M people and produces one of the largest number of FBS football players coming out of high school each year. Yet, Ohio State is the only school allowed in a P5. Meanwhile much surrouding states which are much smaller and produce a limited number of FBS athletes have more (Indiana 3, Kentucky 2).

(11-07-2013 12:03 PM)goofus Wrote:  Interesting how things work out. Small population states like Iowa and Kansas end up with 2 BCS teams, while bigger population border states like Minnesota, wisconsin, and Missouri end up with only one.

Ironicly because wisconsin and Missouri are big enough to have many regional universities, but no clear #2 school in the state.

Minnesota is the state that really confuses me. Only 1 div. 1 school in the whole state and it has 6M people.

Minnesota St.-Mankato really should have made a move while Coach was on TV. Free marketing.

(11-06-2013 09:04 PM)MJG Wrote:  Troy and Memphis dropped the State .
Some directional names picked up the city instead .

For the schools without the option of U of state name or state name State what is the best option ?

Also Tech is not an option

Tarleton State University is a D2 school located in Stephenville Texas. It started as John Tarleton College (named for the benefactor who started the school). It then morphed to an Agrarian focus, John Tarleton Ag College when it joined with Texas A&M.

Down the road it changed to Tarleton State College then State University.

A&M has acquired a number of campuses in the state over the years and renamed them TAMU-Cityname. TAMU-Commerce, TAMU-Kingsville, TAMU-Corpus Christi.

They attempted to change Tarleton to TAMU-Stephneville. The students and alumni protested and filed a name protection bill with the state of Texas to keep Tarleton in the name.

I don't know we gain/loss any prestige by not having the Texas A&M brand attached to our name, but I like that we kept our identity.

(11-07-2013 12:35 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(11-07-2013 12:03 PM)goofus Wrote:  Interesting how things work out. Small population states like Iowa and Kansas end up with 2 BCS teams, while bigger population border states like Minnesota, wisconsin, and Missouri end up with only one.

Ironicly because wisconsin and Missouri are big enough to have many regional universities, but no clear #2 school in the state.

Minnesota is the state that really confuses me. Only 1 div. 1 school in the whole state and it has 6M people.

Ohio has over 11M people and produces one of the largest number of FBS football players coming out of high school each year. Yet, Ohio State is the only school allowed in a P5. Meanwhile much surrouding states which are much smaller and produce a limited number of FBS athletes have more (Indiana 3, Kentucky 2).

Its very splintered like Louisiana. And Toledo, Cincinnati and Akron were added to the state university system in the 60s. Miami and Ohio might have been in CUSA and perhaps AAC if that hadn't happened. Maybe even considered for ACC last go round. Cincinnati might have dropped football and be sitting happily in the Big East now.

Texas has enough FBS schools to be its own 12 team conference right now with another 2-4 (depending on who you ask) harboring FBS ambitions