(09-13-2021 10:02 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  I believe that it's fair to state that UCF's investments over the past 20 years put themselves in a position to reap the benefit of a Big 12 invite today and pass by USF. They did pretty much everything correctly on-the-field and off-the-field to maximize their value.

However, I'd call shenanigans on the last section of Part 2 at least in terms of trying to directly tie USF blocking UCF to the overall downfall of the Big East. Adding or not adding UCF wasn't the difference between the old Big East getting a new ESPN TV deal and/or stopping Syracuse and Pitt from going to the ACC. Nothing short of the Big East adding Notre Dame and Penn State was keeping that football league together once the ACC decided to expand. Those were all due to forces waaaaaay beyond USF blocking UCF from the Big East and much more powerful.

Considering ESPN is who directed the ACC to raid Pitt and Syracuse, your argument doesn't go very far. Had the Big East signed the ESPN TV contract with TCU and UCF added, ESPN would have had no incentive to add teams to the more expensive ACC contract. The opinion stated in the article has been one held by connected journalists and various Big East officials.