Bulls Ditch Rivalry Game

Speaking of USF, the Bulls have some good reasons for ending the commitment to play the University of Central Florida in football after the next two (2007-08) games. They’re just not good enough reasons.

USF has to play UCF as part of its exit agreement with C-USA in 2004. As soon as the obligation ends, USF will replace UCF with bigger name schools (including North Carolina, Kansas and Indiana) in home-and-home series. It’s a sign that USF is increasingly a player at the major college level and can command such parity scheduling from big-name opponents. Which UCF is not.

What UCF is, however, is something that the UNCs, KUs and IUs can’t be for USF. A low-overhead opponent that will bring a ton of fans to Tampa or Orlando. In 2005 the USF-UCF game drew more than 45,000 to Raymond James Stadium. That’s the third largest home crowd in USF history. Anyone think Indiana will top that?

The big-draw, Interstate-4 rivalry game is exactly what a tradition-challenged program such as USF needs. But will no longer have after the 2008 season.

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