(06-30-2014 11:53 AM)Ragpicker Wrote:  

(06-30-2014 09:30 AM)BearcatJerry Wrote:  But things are what they are and launching yet another complaint thread doesn't do anything to change anything.

Sure, I could be quiet and drink the "everything is OK Kool-Aid."

But then again if everyone (including Ono who is living off the hard work of Joe Steger, Bob Huggins, Bob Goin, and Brian Kelly) is OK with the status quo, then UC will take a posture of HOPING to get into a P5 someday - MAYBE.

I surely don't post all this forecasted downfall of UC football to piss off people on this board whom I never met.

Let's all agree that the current leadership at UC did not experience what UC athletics was like prior to inclusion in the Big East. Or even worse, prior to Bob Huggins.

UC football was once big under Sid Gillman, and then again with Greg Cook, and the basketball team won back-to-back national championships. Tickets were hard to get for many games. Twenty years later less than 5,000 fans showed up for football, less than 2,000 for basketball. UC became insignificant nationally, and more importantly locally.

History has a way of repeating itself.

I simply refuse to accept our current situation. I truly believe that just five years of this minor league affiliation will significantly hurt UC. The City of Cincinnati is not a minor league town, and has mostly ignored all minor league sports. That's what happened in the 70's and 80's. UC fell out of a conference, played as an independent for years without anything to play for. The students, alums, fans, and the community yawned.

Many argue that their are simply no invites available. Really?

Albeit not all P5 moves, these football schools seemed to have found a way in the last four years to improve their situation in another conference:
Colorado
Boise St.
Nebraska
Utah
Fresno St
Nevada
Hawaii
UMass
Syracuse
Pitt
TCU
WVU
Mizzou
UCF
Houston
SMU
Maryland
Rutgers
East Carolina
Tulane
Louisville
FAU
Middle Tenn
East Carolina
Idaho
New Mex St.
WKy
Tulsa
Navy (pending)

Let's all hope Ono and Bohn quickly add UC's name to the list. When they do....I will be quiet.

That's a good quiet. Silencing the voices of those unhappy with our current situation is the worse kind of quiet.....its apathy.

UC FB was not good or big with Greg Cook. Greg was good and brought attention to a bad program.

The conference lost its spot amongst the "power conferences" when the playoff system was announced, which was 3 months before Ono took over. The Catholic schools announced their intention to split about 50 days after he took the job. Most of the other things you mention are directly a result of those two issues. Williams, who was heading the team to try and keep the Big East together, is far more responsible for our current situation.

(06-30-2014 10:48 AM)bearcatlawjd Wrote:  

(06-30-2014 10:27 AM)dossbig Wrote:  None of the bowls we get are anywhere near The Liberty or Belk or Russell we were previously able to get. The AAC bowls are the equivalent to getting an NIT or in some cases a CBIT invite.

UC was never invited to the Russell. Bearcats never sniffed the Sun, Gator, or Russell because WVU, Louisville, Notre Dame, and to a smaller extent the other Big East members were always picked before UC.

UC played North Carolina, Duke, Vandy, Southern Miss, and Western Michigan when they didn't earn the BCS bid. I actually think UC has a better chance of playing in better bowl games because they are a flagship program now. This season the Miami Beach,, Military, St. Pete, and Birmingham could provide UC an interesting second tier bowl opponent.

UC has a large fan base when you compare them to the other schools in the American and in G5 conferences; however, UC's fan base is on the small side when compared to power five programs. If UC was in a power five conference the bowl situation doesn't change that much because UC is probably near the middle to the bottom of the list again when it comes to bowl selections that are not based on merit. Hence an 7 or 8 win UC team is probably stuck playing another 6-6 power five team or a good non power conference team.

I did not say we had been to Russell but we were eligible.

(06-30-2014 11:16 AM)BearcatJerry Wrote:  

(06-30-2014 10:27 AM)dossbig Wrote:  None of the bowls we get are anywhere near The Liberty or Belk or Russell we were previously able to get. The AAC bowls are the equivalent to getting an NIT or in some cases a CBIT invite.

Yes. And constantly whining about it does....what???...exactly?

It is what it is. Get over it already. Or go root for that other team up north. But your choices are (a) Stay on the Bearcat bandwagon and make the best of a crappy situation, or (b) jump off the wagon because it's not going the way you want; don't go to the games because you don't like the opponents, don't go to the bowl games because you don't like the destination, etc... People who pick option A are called BEARCAT FANS. People who pick option B are not.

So make up your mind already.

If by fan you mean UCATS and buyer of new premium seats I am, ARE YOU?

(06-30-2014 01:23 PM)subflea Wrote:  The conference lost its spot amongst the "power conferences" when the playoff system was announced, which was 3 months before Ono took over. The Catholic schools announced their intention to split about 50 days after he took the job. Most of the other things you mention are directly a result of those two issues. Williams, who was heading the team to try and keep the Big East together, is far more responsible for our current situation.

Didn't say he caused these issues. But so far under his watch he has not fixed them either.

I will be among the many to applaud if he is able to fix them.