I was there last year and we had a big crowd on the USF side... I would say more than the South Carolina side. SO if we did better than an SEC team, I guess by you all's logic we belong in the SEC?

This is a ridiculous thread... but if you USF haters are bored keep it going... (Sprit with his whopping '1' rep point... lol) I knew going back to Birmingham would kill our attendance. I was there last year and I can't go this year...

You all forget last season we got the AAC's only bowl win against a P5 team...

UCF had a charismatic head coach whom led his team to an undefeated season and an appearance in a New Years Day Bowl. Their fan base is excited and rightfully so. They are attending games Whoo Hoo!!!

USF has a head coach with the personality of paint drying, who's team woefully underachieved. USF should have dropped 70 points per game on that abysmal schedule but, thanks to their new HC and his slow moe run it up the gut offense, they didn't. They even managed to lose two games they should have won. Their fan base is distraught and rightfully so. They have been placed in a lower bowl that they had attended just the year prior and against a 6-6 team. The fans no longer feel as though their administration listens to them and support is failing once again after two years of an upward swing. I am one of those who won't be attending and I won't be buying season tickets either. I'm just not interested in watching an offense built around 3 yards and a cloud of dust.

(12-18-2017 04:07 PM)Bull Wrote:  I was there last year and we had a big crowd on the USF side... I would say more than the South Carolina side. SO if we did better than an SEC team, I guess by you all's logic we belong in the SEC?

This is a ridiculous thread... but if you USF haters are bored keep it going... (Sprit with his whopping '1' rep point... lol) I knew going back to Birmingham would kill our attendance. I was there last year and I can't go this year...

You all forget last season we got the AAC's only bowl win against a P5 team...

So do you look at your rep points the same way USF looks at their mascot challenge "trophy" ?

imo usf has to get an OCS their fanbase isn't engaged at all...their attendance was too bad in general for a returning top 25 team in a major city with no good pro team

they have to engage the students...put a 40k stadium next to their 50k students make it easy for them to be invested

If it was UCF playing in this game we would sell at LEAST half our allotment, not return 90% of them and lose 400K.

USF "protesting" lol. We wanted a playoff. We didn't protest our bowl.

Remind me why you protest home games again

(12-18-2017 04:19 PM)pesik Wrote:  imo usf has to get an OCS their fanbase isn't engaged at all...their attendance was too bad in general for a returning top 25 team in a major city with no good pro team

they have to engage the students...put a 40k stadium next to their 50k students make it easy for them to be invested

I don't know if you are aware of this or not but when you enter USF's campus they have a gun checkpoint.

If you don't have a gun they give you one.

(12-18-2017 04:19 PM)pesik Wrote:  imo usf has to get an OCS their fanbase isn't engaged at all...their attendance was too bad in general for a returning top 25 team in a major city with no good pro team

they have to engage the students...put a 40k stadium next to their 50k students make it easy for them to be invested

Stadium isn't going to happen without support and the support won't happen until the product changes. Get a HC/Team with personality and upgrade the schedule. Then we may get an increase in attendance. I'm sorry but, playing AAC opponents isn't cutting it for Tampa fans.

Kind of feeling this whole thread is kicking USF when they're down. Putting myself in their shoes, I certainly wouldn't want to go to that bowl ESPECIALLY if I just went last year. This was supposed to be their year and they indeed had a solid team, but again disappointed; coming away with zero trophies/titles and end up in the same freakin' Birmingham Bowl against a barely bowl eligible Texas Tech. Man, I'd be burned out.

Especially UCF fans, lighten up. We have our fair share of attendance issues. Not to the same degree, but its still far more disappointing (on average) than it should be given our circumstances.

This is the kind of thing we keep in our back pocket next time a USF poster slams the poor attendance at a crappy OOC game, not rub salt in the wound today. Okay, that's all the sympathy I can muster for the bulls today...

(12-18-2017 03:41 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(12-18-2017 03:38 PM)ECUGrad07 Wrote:  

(12-18-2017 03:34 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(12-18-2017 03:21 PM)TigerSeth Wrote:  https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-fo...l-tickets/

I'm glad. Maybe this will teach Aresco that USF has had its fill of the Birmingham Bowl.

No team should ever have to go to that bowl more than once a decade, yet we get stuck with it in back to back years.

Good example of an informal boycott.

I think I am probably one of the only people to ever say this... but I think Birmingham is a cool city. Nowhere near as bad as its reputation. The Avondale area is really cool, and there are a few good breweries in town.

To me, it's a grey, chilly dump. And we were just there last year! Made no sense at all to put us in that game.

There's a reason 2 of its nicknames are "The Old Gray Lady" and "The Gray Lady on Graymont".

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Poor whittle USF crybaby snowflake!!!You know who you are...

(12-18-2017 04:23 PM)Mestophalies Wrote:  

(12-18-2017 04:19 PM)pesik Wrote:  imo usf has to get an OCS their fanbase isn't engaged at all...their attendance was too bad in general for a returning top 25 team in a major city with no good pro team

they have to engage the students...put a 40k stadium next to their 50k students make it easy for them to be invested

Stadium isn't going to happen without support and the support won't happen until the product changes. Get a HC/Team with personality and upgrade the schedule. Then we may get an increase in attendance. I'm sorry but, playing AAC opponents isn't cutting it for Tampa fans.

these are all excuses and bad ones:

those are standards that are too high...usf will likely finish top25 2 years in a row. with a superstar qb...but that wasn't good enough?.. your attendance was bad even before you lost to houston

there should have been a decent crowd all season

ps im not trying to trash usf like the ucf fans are trying to but noting an obvious problem

"I'm sorry but, playing AAC opponents isn't cutting it for Tampa fans".. you realize ALMOST EVERYONE in the aac plays in a major city...with pro teams that are actually good...with less student population.. almost everyone in the aac would be doing better with attendance in your situation (except tulsa)....year 1 of top 25, i get, it takes time for the fans to catch on..but still being bad year 2 of consecutive top 25 success?

imo success isn't breeding support, so someone in your adminstration has to step up and realize something has to change..the product (mixed with location, student body, multiple years of success) should be producing a larger turnout, regardless of league or boring coach. something isn't running correctly; promotional, marketing, pricing, student involvement, who knows ..but they need to own up to it and try to fix it

(12-18-2017 04:23 PM)Mestophalies Wrote:  

(12-18-2017 04:19 PM)pesik Wrote:  imo usf has to get an OCS their fanbase isn't engaged at all...their attendance was too bad in general for a returning top 25 team in a major city with no good pro team

they have to engage the students...put a 40k stadium next to their 50k students make it easy for them to be invested

Stadium isn't going to happen without support and the support won't happen until the product changes. Get a HC/Team with personality and upgrade the schedule. Then we may get an increase in attendance. I'm sorry but, playing AAC opponents isn't cutting it for Tampa fans.

Well, if thats the case you're going to be stuck like this forever. You can't get an upgrade from AAC opponents with that attendance (assuming you mean a P5 schedule?)... and you can't get the attendance without the P5 opponents.

Sooooo..... you're stuck?

Not going to take cheap shots at USF. Sucks for you guys with your record over the last two seasons, that the support is this apathetic. Like others mentioned, you guys really need an OCS. I personally like when USF is tough. The rivalry is good for everyone. Good luck in Birmingham.

(12-18-2017 04:40 PM)pesik Wrote:  

(12-18-2017 04:23 PM)Mestophalies Wrote:  

(12-18-2017 04:19 PM)pesik Wrote:  imo usf has to get an OCS their fanbase isn't engaged at all...their attendance was too bad in general for a returning top 25 team in a major city with no good pro team

they have to engage the students...put a 40k stadium next to their 50k students make it easy for them to be invested

Stadium isn't going to happen without support and the support won't happen until the product changes. Get a HC/Team with personality and upgrade the schedule. Then we may get an increase in attendance. I'm sorry but, playing AAC opponents isn't cutting it for Tampa fans.

these are all excuses and bad ones:

those are standards that are too high...usf will likely finish top25 2 years in a row. with a superstar qb...but that wasn't good enough?.. your attendance was bad even before you lost to houston

there should have been a decent crowd all season

ps im not trying to trash usf like the ucf fans are trying to but noting an obvious problem

"I'm sorry but, playing AAC opponents isn't cutting it for Tampa fans".. you realize ALMOST EVERYONE in the aac plays in a major city...with pro teams that are actually good...with less student population.. almost everyone in the aac would be doing better with attendance in your situation (except tulsa)....year 1 of top 25, i get, it takes time for the fans to catch on..but still being bad year 2 of consecutive top 25 success?

imo success isn't breeding support, so someone in your administration has to step up and realize something has to change..the product (mixed with location, student body, multiple years of success) should be producing a larger turnout, regardless of league or boring coach. something isn't running correctly; promotional, marketing, pricing, student involvement, who knows ..but they need to own up to it and try to fix it

This...

The question is... what would be the fix? USF fans would know best. USF started out ranked preseason, after being ranked last year... and Charlie Strong came in with a lot of hype. There should be no reason for attendance to be an issue. The "3 yards and a cloud of dust" argument doesn't work b/c no one knew that about the offense going into the year when Charlie Strong's hiring was hyped up?

It has to be about more than Charlie Strong. It was an issue before him. So USF fans... what needs to be done to drive up that fan support?

I ask as a UCF fan that wants/needs USF to be better in this regard b/c I still feel we present the most value as a combo. But this kinda stuff is disheartening...

(12-18-2017 04:49 PM)KnightNasty Wrote:  

(12-18-2017 04:23 PM)Mestophalies Wrote:  

(12-18-2017 04:19 PM)pesik Wrote:  imo usf has to get an OCS their fanbase isn't engaged at all...their attendance was too bad in general for a returning top 25 team in a major city with no good pro team

they have to engage the students...put a 40k stadium next to their 50k students make it easy for them to be invested

Stadium isn't going to happen without support and the support won't happen until the product changes. Get a HC/Team with personality and upgrade the schedule. Then we may get an increase in attendance. I'm sorry but, playing AAC opponents isn't cutting it for Tampa fans.

Well, if thats the case you're going to be stuck like this forever. You can't get an upgrade from AAC opponents with that attendance (assuming you mean a P5 schedule?)... and you can't get the attendance without the P5 opponents.

Sooooo..... you're stuck?

I didn't say it would be easy. It is what it is. Two years ago we had an upturn in attendance after a 4 year drop off. Then last year we began to increase our seasons tickets sails. After this year, we are expecting a drop off. The HC is not personable. He is business minded on X's and O's but, that creates a disconnect with fans. When you're trying to build a fan base, you take every opportunity to engage the current fans and possibly win new ones. That is a problem we had with Holtz and Strong. At least Holtz was engaging when he was there.

Look, I know it's a problem. We need more recognizable opponents. Our fan base was spoiled by being in the Big East. we had more talked about opponents then we do now. Our opponents had following in our community as well. The simple fact is that if we were in the Big 12, ACC, SEC or even the Big, we'd have more opportunities for higher attendance as they have more alum's living in the Tampa Bay area. That's what I meant by being in the AAC hurting us. The AAC doesn't have as many Alum's in the Tampa area as opposed to the other conferences mentioned.

(12-18-2017 05:03 PM)Mestophalies Wrote:  

(12-18-2017 04:49 PM)KnightNasty Wrote:  

(12-18-2017 04:23 PM)Mestophalies Wrote:  

(12-18-2017 04:19 PM)pesik Wrote:  imo usf has to get an OCS their fanbase isn't engaged at all...their attendance was too bad in general for a returning top 25 team in a major city with no good pro team

they have to engage the students...put a 40k stadium next to their 50k students make it easy for them to be invested

Stadium isn't going to happen without support and the support won't happen until the product changes. Get a HC/Team with personality and upgrade the schedule. Then we may get an increase in attendance. I'm sorry but, playing AAC opponents isn't cutting it for Tampa fans.

Well, if thats the case you're going to be stuck like this forever. You can't get an upgrade from AAC opponents with that attendance (assuming you mean a P5 schedule?)... and you can't get the attendance without the P5 opponents.

Sooooo..... you're stuck?

I didn't say it would be easy. It is what it is. Two years ago we had an upturn in attendance after a 4 year drop off. Then last year we began to increase our seasons tickets sails. After this year, we are expecting a drop off. The HC is not personable. He is business minded on X's and O's but, that creates a disconnect with fans. When you're trying to build a fan base, you take every opportunity to engage the current fans and possibly win new ones. That is a problem we had with Holtz and Strong. At least Holtz was engaging when he was there.

Look, I know it's a problem. We need more recognizable opponents. Our fan base was spoiled by being in the Big East. we had more talked about opponents then we do now. Our opponents had following in our community as well. The simple fact is that if we were in the Big 12, ACC, SEC or even the Big, we'd have more opportunities for higher attendance as they have more alum's living in the Tampa Bay area. That's what I meant by being in the AAC hurting us. The AAC doesn't have as many Alum's in the Tampa area as opposed to the other conferences mentioned.

But that’s implying the answer is to have the opponent’s fan base increase your attendance numbers???

How do you get more student involvement? The current USF students weren’t around for the Big East days... AAC is all they’ve ever known. I think it’s maybe got to start with making the tailgating a must attend event/atmosphere? Live concerts or something?

How does USF handle student tickets?

It's basketball season. This USF-UCF d!ck measuring contest should be saved for the Fall. Mods, please lock it up.

(12-18-2017 04:07 PM)Bull Wrote:  I was there last year and we had a big crowd on the USF side... I would say more than the South Carolina side. SO if we did better than an SEC team, I guess by you all's logic we belong in the SEC?

This is a ridiculous thread... but if you USF haters are bored keep it going... (Sprit with his whopping '1' rep point... lol) I knew going back to Birmingham would kill our attendance. I was there last year and I can't go this year...

You all forget last season we got the AAC's only bowl win against a P5 team...

Exactly. Many bought tickets on stub hub for half the cost or less than from USF.
And yes there were more USF fsns than SC last year and way more than 1600

But whatever more important things in my life so bye bye

Chicken and Egg...

USF fans don't want to go back to Birmingham because they hate the city and the bowl. BUT, and it's a big BUT, the Birmingham Bowl is our best bowl in terms of payout (over a million) and opponent (SEC tie-in). So, selling 1,059 tickets isn't going to help us get a better bowl.

It's gonna suck when the Birmingham Bowl drops us and we pick up the bowl in Montgomery instead vs. the Sunbelt. Birmingham is amazingly cosmopolitan compared to Montdumpery.