I have zero idea. Was it merely FAU being hot at the right time? They seemed like brothers joined at the hip to me when they moved up to FBS.

Help me out. It’s intriguing to me. Like, ‘The Tale of Two F_Us’.

Same as the UXF's. One school has had committed administrations and another doesn't.

Well, that's the most likely explanation at least. People underestimate how important having supportive administration on the academic side is.

FAU is helped by the fact that it's in Boca Raton and not directly in Miami like FIU.

Maybe it was on field performance, FAU has recently won C-USA while FIU is usually bad outside of a couple of years Butch Davis was there.

Seems all about administration and money dedication.i seem to remember a scandal of FIU buying really poor used equipment recently and I think that says it all. FIU is poor and spends what resources it has looking to cut corners

It’s largely because FIU is mostly a commuter school (it was founded to function as a finishing school for Miami Dade CC) that in a place where most of the local population doesn’t care about college athletics. FAU has done a good job of attracting students from outside the local area. Of course these are administration level decisions, so yes, in the end it’s an administrator issue. I’ve been to an FIU homecoming game where there were far more people outside the stadium at the block party than at the game. I’ve also been to an FIU game with about 1,000 people at the game. It’s too bad because I like FIU: my mom was in the second class there.

Also a follow up to my post, I also want to answer my own question: why doesn’t FIU try to attract more non local students like FAU? Well, honestly they don’t need to. They have plenty of students just from the Miami metro area. So from a school perspective they’re just fine, athletics is like an accessory. From our perspective as sports fans, it’s hard to understand, but again, that’s not their focus.

(07-23-2023 08:47 AM)EigenEagle Wrote:  Same as the UXF's. One school has had committed administrations and another doesn't.

Well, that's the most likely explanation at least. People underestimate how important having supportive administration on the academic side is.

I think this says it all.

Why was Houston in the dumpster when the SWC ended, but is in the Big 12 now?

How did TCU ascend to the Big 12 but SMU is still in the AAC?

Why has Rice floundered for 30 years?

Administration committed to FBS at the highest level is the common thread.

Thanks! Everyone so far has had great takes! Makes more sense to me now.

Now, I’m too lazy to look it up. But are they both privates schools or public, or one each?

Wouldn’t it be a wise decision on Miamis behalf to see if they could just purchase FIU to help increase their campus footprint, and build a new football stadium within the middle of the two campuses. I know it sounds weird purchasing a school, but it’s in the news more so than not these days just not one of this size.

Probably coaching hires and resources invested in athletics.

Howard Schnellenberger created a solid foundation for FAU. He gave them instant credibility with local donors and was very influential in the South Florida community.

Now, Brian White has taken them to the next level. The White Family is pretty much AD Royalty. Danny and Brian White have both been successful; following in their father’s footsteps.

Two biggest reasons:

1) FAU's student body and location are more conducive to quickly building a fanbase
2) FAU hired two very good athletic directors in a row. FIU had perhaps the single worst AD in all of D1 for *years*.

Over time, those decisions had consequences. I think FIU had a good dude in charge now, but he has a big, big hole to dig out of

FIU fired Cristobal. He was the only coach that really had any success there and for the most part built the program. They have yet to recover from that decision.

Would merging FIU into FAU be a potential solution to solving FIU’s problems? What about Miami buying them?

(07-23-2023 10:48 AM)BigOwensboroCard Wrote:  Wouldn’t it be a wise decision on Miamis behalf to see if they could just purchase FIU to help increase their campus footprint, and build a new football stadium within the middle of the two campuses. I know it sounds weird purchasing a school, but it’s in the news more so than not these days just not one of this size.

No, not in this case.

First, neither school is in financial trouble.

Second, they are two different types of schools serving two different constituencies. Miami is a respected private research university with a national and international student body. FIU is a public school that targets the general public in the Miami area. As was mentioned above, it was originally designed as the upper division for Miami-Dade Community College. They haven't had a need to market themselves aggressively outside of Miami-Dade County.

The Miami athletic department, ironically, has been able to market themselves with longevity and tradition as Miami's team. There's a big difference between the University of Miami (university, alums) and the Miami Hurricanes (athletic department, t-shirt fans). The Canes have a lot of fans that could never dream of attending the University of Miami. But, the relative small size of their alumni base and distance from their campus, along with a decline in performance, has caused them to draw small crowds to Hard Rock Stadium.

FIU, as a public school serving the general public, has plenty of market to target. But, 1) their demographics aren't interested in college sports, 2) are pro sports fans, or 3) are already Miami fans.

(07-23-2023 10:34 AM)ESE84 Wrote:  

(07-23-2023 08:47 AM)EigenEagle Wrote:  Same as the UXF's. One school has had committed administrations and another doesn't.

Well, that's the most likely explanation at least. People underestimate how important having supportive administration on the academic side is.

I think this says it all.

Why was Houston in the dumpster when the SWC ended, but is in the Big 12 now?

How did TCU ascend to the Big 12 but SMU is still in the AAC?

Why has Rice floundered for 30 years?

Administration committed to FBS at the highest level is the common thread.

Dumpster because they had replaced Jack Pardee and weren't running the Run & Shoot at that point. Houston was in the SWC for < 20 years and was even more of a commuter school then. Rice had pulled away from focusing on the 2 revenue sports even while they were a SWC team.

(07-23-2023 01:03 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Would merging FIU into FAU be a potential solution to solving FIU’s problems? What about Miami buying them?

No. You would be too big with campuses extending up I-95 from Miami to Fort Pierce.

FIU is not doomed.

(07-23-2023 04:27 PM)DFW HOYA Wrote:  FIU is not doomed.

Nope. FIU the school is not doomed at all. FIU the athletic department is behind the 8-ball, especially when compared with FAU. But it looks and feels like a D-I school, so they'll stay in D-I.