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This 17stick Bianchi is back at it
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here's the text
Bianchi: UCF still has more Power 5 potential than Ole Miss, Mississippi State
Orlando Sentinel
Even after all these months, the emails and tweets still regularly roll in from my loyal readers in Mississippi (State motto: Our homes have better tires than our cars!).
This is surprising and uplifting on many levels. First and foremost, I didn't know so many Mississippians had Internet access. Secondly, the football fans in Mississippi seem to be more interested in UCF's season than UCF fans are.
The reason Ole Miss and Mississippi State supporters continue to heckle me can be attributed to a couple of past columns in which I stated that Power 5 leagues such as the SEC should dump their "dead wood" like Ole Miss and Mississippi State and add UCF and USF instead.
Of course, UCF's dismal 0-4 start to this season along with the rise of Ole Miss to No. 3 in the nation heading into Saturday's Swamp showdown with Florida has caused the latest wave of Mississippi mud-slinging at me and UCF. Example: "Hey, Bianchi, you need to run a correction. Maybe the SEC should add FIU or Furman instead of UCF."
OK, I totally get it; I get that UCF is having a terrible season with losses to vastly inferior programs such as FIU and Furman. Sort of like the season Ole Miss had just four years ago when the Rebs were 2-10 and got blown out by Louisiana Tech. Or Florida two years ago when the Gators were 4-8 and lost to Georgia Southern. Bad seasons happen — even in the big, bad SEC.
UCF losing to Furman and Ole Miss beating Alabama has no bearing on my original column, which Mississippians have never really fully comprehended. I've never said UCF has a better program than Ole Miss and Mississippi State right now; my contention has always been that UCF simply has more future potential than lower-tier Power 5 schools such as Ole Miss and Mississippi State (SEC), Wake Forest (ACC), Purdue (Big Ten) and Iowa State (Big 12).
I'll admit some of what I've written about the Rebels and Bulldogs is tainted by my memories of the two Mississippi schools as a college football fan growing up in Florida. Honestly, we always looked at Ole Miss and Mississippi State as Vanderbilt — but without the academic prestige. Back in the day, we used to mockingly refer to Ole Miss as "Ole Miserable" and Mississippi State as "Mississloppy State."
I give credit to both the Rebels and Bulldogs for becoming relevant in the last couple of seasons, but don't kid yourself: The only reason for this relevance is the massive influx of TV money and exposure the SEC historically provides. The only difference between Ole Miss and Southern Miss is Ole Miss is in the SEC.
If I've written it once I've written it a million times, the only reason Ole Miss and Mississippi State are part of SEC today is that they happened to be at the right place at the right time 100 years ago when the conference was formed while UCF and USF weren't.
If the Power 5 leagues were starting from scratch today and holding a draft; UCF and USF would be in and Ole Miss and Mississippi State would be out. Will UCF's current on-field struggles hurt it if, say, the Big 12 decides to expand in the next few months? Not necessarily. If it was all about winning and losing, Boise State would be in a Power 5 league by now and the Big Ten wouldn't have added Rutgers and Maryland two years ago.
The only reason the Big Ten invited Rutgers and Maryland is because conference expansion these days is all about thriving TV markets, cable television subscribers and growth potential.
Here's all you need to know: More than 60 million people per year visit Orlando whereas the only people who visit Mississippi are Buford and Betty Joe Cooter's cousins from Muscle Shoals. There are nearly as many people in the Orlando metropolitan area alone as there are in the entire state of Mississippi.
Combined, the Tampa and Orlando TV markets are the fourth-largest in the country whereas the TV markets of Oxford and Starkville aren't even in the top 100. In fact, Mississippi's largest city – Jackson – is the nation's 94th-largest market and dropping drastically. Why? Because people are leaving Mississippi and people are coming to Florida.
So take a deep breath and count one-Mississippi, two-Mississippi State and realize that UCF's future potential as a Power 5 member is still vastly more attractive than many schools that are only in the Power 5 because of what happened 100 years ago.
Bianchi: UCF still has more Power 5 potential than Ole Miss, Mississippi State
Orlando Sentinel
Even after all these months, the emails and tweets still regularly roll in from my loyal readers in Mississippi (State motto: Our homes have better tires than our cars!).
This is surprising and uplifting on many levels. First and foremost, I didn't know so many Mississippians had Internet access. Secondly, the football fans in Mississippi seem to be more interested in UCF's season than UCF fans are.
The reason Ole Miss and Mississippi State supporters continue to heckle me can be attributed to a couple of past columns in which I stated that Power 5 leagues such as the SEC should dump their "dead wood" like Ole Miss and Mississippi State and add UCF and USF instead.
Of course, UCF's dismal 0-4 start to this season along with the rise of Ole Miss to No. 3 in the nation heading into Saturday's Swamp showdown with Florida has caused the latest wave of Mississippi mud-slinging at me and UCF. Example: "Hey, Bianchi, you need to run a correction. Maybe the SEC should add FIU or Furman instead of UCF."
OK, I totally get it; I get that UCF is having a terrible season with losses to vastly inferior programs such as FIU and Furman. Sort of like the season Ole Miss had just four years ago when the Rebs were 2-10 and got blown out by Louisiana Tech. Or Florida two years ago when the Gators were 4-8 and lost to Georgia Southern. Bad seasons happen — even in the big, bad SEC.
UCF losing to Furman and Ole Miss beating Alabama has no bearing on my original column, which Mississippians have never really fully comprehended. I've never said UCF has a better program than Ole Miss and Mississippi State right now; my contention has always been that UCF simply has more future potential than lower-tier Power 5 schools such as Ole Miss and Mississippi State (SEC), Wake Forest (ACC), Purdue (Big Ten) and Iowa State (Big 12).
I'll admit some of what I've written about the Rebels and Bulldogs is tainted by my memories of the two Mississippi schools as a college football fan growing up in Florida. Honestly, we always looked at Ole Miss and Mississippi State as Vanderbilt — but without the academic prestige. Back in the day, we used to mockingly refer to Ole Miss as "Ole Miserable" and Mississippi State as "Mississloppy State."
I give credit to both the Rebels and Bulldogs for becoming relevant in the last couple of seasons, but don't kid yourself: The only reason for this relevance is the massive influx of TV money and exposure the SEC historically provides. The only difference between Ole Miss and Southern Miss is Ole Miss is in the SEC.
If I've written it once I've written it a million times, the only reason Ole Miss and Mississippi State are part of SEC today is that they happened to be at the right place at the right time 100 years ago when the conference was formed while UCF and USF weren't.
If the Power 5 leagues were starting from scratch today and holding a draft; UCF and USF would be in and Ole Miss and Mississippi State would be out. Will UCF's current on-field struggles hurt it if, say, the Big 12 decides to expand in the next few months? Not necessarily. If it was all about winning and losing, Boise State would be in a Power 5 league by now and the Big Ten wouldn't have added Rutgers and Maryland two years ago.
The only reason the Big Ten invited Rutgers and Maryland is because conference expansion these days is all about thriving TV markets, cable television subscribers and growth potential.
Here's all you need to know: More than 60 million people per year visit Orlando whereas the only people who visit Mississippi are Buford and Betty Joe Cooter's cousins from Muscle Shoals. There are nearly as many people in the Orlando metropolitan area alone as there are in the entire state of Mississippi.
Combined, the Tampa and Orlando TV markets are the fourth-largest in the country whereas the TV markets of Oxford and Starkville aren't even in the top 100. In fact, Mississippi's largest city – Jackson – is the nation's 94th-largest market and dropping drastically. Why? Because people are leaving Mississippi and people are coming to Florida.
So take a deep breath and count one-Mississippi, two-Mississippi State and realize that UCF's future potential as a Power 5 member is still vastly more attractive than many schools that are only in the Power 5 because of what happened 100 years ago.
Wow.
This guy is an idiot. Nice article. It's basically one big "if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle."
This guy is an idiot. Nice article. It's basically one big "if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle."
Opens with 2 full "I'm a giant ******* shitting on poor people" paragraphs.
Some people are just born that way I guess.
Some people are just born that way I guess.
We're Eric Cartman to his Scott Tenorman.
And to counter his other point, my car has spinners. House has stock wheels.**
And to counter his other point, my car has spinners. House has stock wheels.**
The part he misses is that UCF and USF wouldn't add anything to the SEC for TV purposes. We've already got the Florida market covered. Adding another Florida school doesn't increase the value we're able to negotiate for the TV deal. They aren't negotiated on a state by state basis. It's negotiated on a basis where you get $X per subscriber in states within your footprint and $Y for states outside your footprint.
UCF and USF wouldn't expand the SEC's footprint, and removing Ole Miss and MSU in the process would actually REDUCE the SEC's footprint, so the swap he's talking about would be a net loss for the SEC TV deal.
Now, if you did throw Ole Miss, MSU, UCF, and USF in a grab bag and asked the Big 12 to take their pick (no footprint in either state right now), the Big 12 would take one of UCF or USF.
I could agree with an argument if he wanted to say the SEC would be wise to dump ONE of the Mississippi schools and replace it with a school from North Carolina. That would be a net win. Dropping both for schools that are already within our footprint would be stupid.
UCF and USF wouldn't expand the SEC's footprint, and removing Ole Miss and MSU in the process would actually REDUCE the SEC's footprint, so the swap he's talking about would be a net loss for the SEC TV deal.
Now, if you did throw Ole Miss, MSU, UCF, and USF in a grab bag and asked the Big 12 to take their pick (no footprint in either state right now), the Big 12 would take one of UCF or USF.
I could agree with an argument if he wanted to say the SEC would be wise to dump ONE of the Mississippi schools and replace it with a school from North Carolina. That would be a net win. Dropping both for schools that are already within our footprint would be stupid.
Plus, does anyone who goes to Disney World give a flying 17 about UCF football? If anything, that weakens the argument for a major conference team there. You have 60 million tourists a year and I bet 59 million of them can't name the major university located in Orlando.
I know UF would never let it happen, but the south florida market is a very lucrative one. Very hypothetical situation, but if the SEC were to expand to 16 teams and taking a team in south florida had to be one of the teams, which one do you take? Do you still take Miami?
His position is sort of like, a University in a BIG city like Orlando has to be an awesome dynasty cuz it's in a BIG city. We have sterling silver cocktail shakers, Harry Winston jewelry stores, finger bowls in all our restaurants, machines that serve the tennis balls at you, we use "summer" as a verb, etc.
Houston Cougars are crap, Syracuse is crap, Memphis is historically crap, UCF Orlando is crap, Vanderbilt Nashville is crap, UNLV Vegas is crap, Miami "the U" is now crap, SMU Dallas is crap---get over it. Bigger city just means more people around get to see your team is crap---next idiot.
Houston Cougars are crap, Syracuse is crap, Memphis is historically crap, UCF Orlando is crap, Vanderbilt Nashville is crap, UNLV Vegas is crap, Miami "the U" is now crap, SMU Dallas is crap---get over it. Bigger city just means more people around get to see your team is crap---next idiot.
For TV purposes, we already have the South and Central Florida markets. Those subscribers are paying the in-market price for the SEC Network. There is no need to add any Florida team at all. Even adding FSU would add nothing to the SEC's TV deal, unless you could argue it added to the overall value you could negotiate in every market across the country.
"Ole Miserable" and "Mississippi State"?
ZZZZING!
WOW! Burn! I'm so embarrassed to be a State fan after that insult. That was brutal, and uncalled for.
ZZZZING!
WOW! Burn! I'm so embarrassed to be a State fan after that insult. That was brutal, and uncalled for.
I don't think he fully comprehends that since State and Ole Miss are founding members of the SEC and cant't be removed unless extraordinary reasons.. If he were to post that fact as his first sentence in any article he writes, not much of a following. Does UCF really really want in the SEC? GA, FL, TN, SC etc every weekend. Don't think they have the guts for SEC. Aren't they usually one of our off schedule teams?
Two commuter schools. The students who go there don't give a **** about their schools. Nobody else does either.
****** schools. ****** football. ****** conferences.
Nobody gives a **** about ucf and usf.
****** schools. ****** football. ****** conferences.
Nobody gives a **** about ucf and usf.
100% correct. UCF is in extreme Eastern Orlando. Disney world is about 30 minutes South of Orlando and in total about an hour's driving time between the two areas. UCF is pretty close to DT, about 20min East, but there are NEVER Disney tourist in DT Orlando. Tons of UCF kids on the weekends and that live around the DT area though. UCF does have a large fan base here, but the school itself operates nothing like an SEC school. It's closer to a school in Cali I would bet. I love Orlando as a town, but UCF isn't an SEC type school and wouldn't do anything to help the SEC.
He's automatically assuming all the new Orlando/Tampa residents are going to pull for UC/SF once they make it big. I think he's discounting the amount of people that move to Florida and still root for the teams they've rooted for their whole lives. You know, Ohio State, Penn State, etc.
I'm not even going to read anything that idiot writes. But my question is, if UCF is so damn attractive, where is the Big 12? Where is the ACC? Both of those conferences have added teams lately. Yes, Florida is a huge state. I get that. But UCF will never be any more than a 4th tier team in that state, and they'll be fighting USF, FAU and FIU for that honor.
If sec money is the only reason for the Mississippi schools' rise, why arent Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Kentucky better than us of late? They all have more revenue according to this link...
http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances
http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances
That's not true man. A ton of my friends are UCF grads, and they are def fired up about their football team. They won or played in the Fiesta Bowl a few years ago. There's actually a bar DT that's offering free beer during UCF games until they win.
I won't argue some people commute to the school, but UCF has almost 50,000 students. No school can house that many students. I won't argue with the ****** football and ****** conference, but they've had some solid teams the past few years.
I won't argue some people commute to the school, but UCF has almost 50,000 students. No school can house that many students. I won't argue with the ****** football and ****** conference, but they've had some solid teams the past few years.
Their average home attendance last year was 37,812. In a metro area with a population of nearly 2.5 million. Sure, a few fans care about them. Hell, a few USM fans are pretty rabid about their team too. But for the most part, even their own city ignores them.
Beyond that, I just find it a bit ironic that while he's complaining about MSU and OM's luck of being in the right place at the right time over a century ago, he writes for a city that quite frankly is only a spot on the map because Walt Disney decided to build a park there in the 70's
I read about that "college" bar. Its 19 miles away in heavy Orlando traffic.
To me that's not a college bar. And UCF is basically a commuter school.
Some of that probably attributes to them not playing that many good teams at home. Their fans show up when they play big teams like S.Car and Texas and they actually played with those teams. Look, I'm not a UCF fan. I think it's cute when they think they have a big time program. I mess with a lot of my friends about it, but they are building a good alumni base support for athletics with my generation. They gotta start somewhere. I think the forward trajectory bodes well for them, but I still don't think the overall athletics program and the way the school operates looks like an SEC program.
The bar is in downtown Orlando and it's called The Basement. It's a very popular bar. I frequent it. Like I said, DT Orlando is about a 20min drive from UCF. You take the toll road (408) and you avoid heavy traffic. It's not on campus, they actually do have a bar on campus, but it's def a good bar where young (22-30yr olds) UCF alumni hole up. They have a lot of support from their young alumni. Obviously young alumni aren't going to contribute financially much at all, but like I said they are going in the right direction. It'll take a while. It's not really a "college" bar because most people I meet there are not in college but graduates. Mostly from UCF.
He seems to think that UCF and USF are household names. Until we played UCF (for was it USF?) a few years ago in the Liberty Bowl under Croom, and beat them, I gotta say I'd never heard of the place. Maybe others had but not me. And their fans were awfully rowdy and rude ... they thought they'd blow us out for some reason. I've found out since then that UCF, and I think USF, are pretty big schools but they certainly don't have the name recognition that we and the Bears have.
He's right about one thing though ... if we and Ole Miss weren't charter members, and the SEC was being formed today with the powerhouse teams of the southeastern US, we probably wouldn't be in it. But neither would UCF and USF.
He's right about one thing though ... if we and Ole Miss weren't charter members, and the SEC was being formed today with the powerhouse teams of the southeastern US, we probably wouldn't be in it. But neither would UCF and USF.
He is also missing the point that the SEC has a NATIONAL television audience... not a regional one. If he were to go back to look at the top viewed regular season games last year, he might understand there is a whole big ol' world outside of central Florida.
As for us being in the right place at the right time... sorry *****! Keep living in the past. I don't remember UCF or USF being football juggernauts in the CFB history books.
As for us being in the right place at the right time... sorry *****! Keep living in the past. I don't remember UCF or USF being football juggernauts in the CFB history books.
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