(10-08-2017 04:19 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote: If USF and UCF continue to sustain success does it make them any more attractive for P5 membership? If the Big 12 somehow continues beyond the expiration of their GOR do they get in as a pair? They bring a pair of nice Florida markets and rich recruiting and could either be put with the 4 Texas schools for a division, creating the opportunity for a a Texas-Oklahoma rematch for a title. Or they could be matched with WVU and the 3 prairie schools.
I wish I could say yes because in the long run I think it would be prudent for the SEC to add South Florida and the ACC to add Central Florida. I do think eventually they both will be P5 schools and I believe the academic standing of both will only continue to improve.
But sadly the sports business is one of what can you do for me now, and not an industry that invests in growth products. IMO, the SEC would be really remiss to forgo an opportunity to add a physical presence on the Gulf side of Central Florida. It would balance out the dynamics of Miami and Florida State. I'd suggest Central Florida but I think the Gulf side presence is even more important to the SEC. One day those schools will be as valuable to the ACC and SEC as California schools are to the PAC and if the ACC and SEC wait too long someone else will go for them.
IMO they are the most suitable growth targets should Texas and Oklahoma decide to stay and add to the Big 12.
But they are encumbered another way, by ESPN. Right now the four letter network owns them on the cheap and capitalizes on their ever improving status. It will take the threat of FOX trying to wangle them into another conference before ESPN is willing to access their true value.
Now understand neither of them are ready to make the jump to the SEC or ACC today. But 5 years from now the influx of ACC or SEC money would just multiply their ability to grow. USF needs to work on attendance and UCF needs to work on their research investment. But the Catch 22 right now is that the SEC won't glance their way if Big 12 targets are available, and if the Big 12 decides to expand utilizing them then we may miss another brand in an important market. The ACC won't be interested unless ESPN decides to keep them. So if a rebuilding FOX Big 12 ever looks in their direction it will be fascinating to see how fast ESPN wants to secure them in order to maintain their monopoly on Florida.
And then there is the generational reason to consider their additions. Florida is a growing state comprised mostly of 1st & 2nd generation Floridians. When the Baby Boomers have died out (mostly by 2030) the living alumni bases of USF and UCF will be almost as dynamic as those of Florida and Florida State and much moreso than that of Miami. If the ACC and SEC are thinking of the future at all they need to strongly examine the shift from a Boomer driven market to one of a Millennial and Generation Y driven market. We are only talking about 13 years before these two schools hit their prime.