(09-21-2020 08:58 AM)Michael in Raleigh Wrote:  

(09-21-2020 08:30 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  It’s interesting to me people will argue that schools like Cincinnati and a Memphis are nobodies in football, yet at the same time they do not get the same “under dog” cred that an Appy State or Boise gets. Either they are a nobody who should get rooted for when they do well, or their are actually somebody which prevents them from getting the same affection those other schools receive.

They have too much money, tradition, name brand, and nice facilities to get the underdog affection of an App State or Boise. App State, in terms of financial resources and being from an isolated, really small town, has the reputation for punching way above their weight. Boise State has that underdog status for being in a lightly populated state with few high school prospects and for its status as a former junior college. App's head coaches, without bonuses, have been making only about $600,000.

Cincy and Memphis, without looking up their exact figures, have to pay well north of $1.5M. Their resources keep them from having that same notion that "they shouldn't be as good as they are, yet here they are." On the contrary, Cincy and Memphis SHOULD be dominant G5 teams who may not be able to take down top 5-10 teams like Ohio State (no different from the vast majority of P5's), but can compete with just about anyone outside of that.

I would push back on any notion that they're "nobodies." At the same time they fall just short of P5 status. Cincy in particular, along with, I'd say, BYU, Houston, UCF, and a football-only Navy, is somewhere between #1 and #5 to be next in line for the P5, but for the foreseeable future, they're still on the outside looking in. And Memphis certainly has P5-like resources. Both, though, remain on the outside, and that keeps them from being relative "somebodies."

And by the way, don't misinterpret my assessment as a suggestion that this treatment is fair. It is just the way it is.