They could spend all the money in the world, but they're still both located in a big metro area with a pro football team. This, in and of itself, is not a guaranteed killer of a football program; USC and Miami are the big exceptions that come to mind. But they're exceptions to the rule, and if you fit in that category, your margin for error is basically zero. If you're a college football program in a major metro with an NFL franchise, you have to win and win big, or you're a non-factor when it comes to interest. And, let's be honest here - Miami has experienced great success this year in the CFP, but neither they nor USC have been a major factor on the national stage in 20+ years otherwise. The last time USC was a national power, LA didn't have an NFL franchise; now they have two - I think the corresponding impact on USC's ability to drive interest speaks for itself.

if USF made a run in the playoffs a couple of times, it still would not be a major draw for the nations eyeballs during the regular season. "Big market" is a nothing burger anymore, and as far as media money is concerned, I don't see how they bring value. All that being said, UCF is out there on an island, and a travel partner could save millions for the schools traveling there for the non revs. In addition, I think we can all agree that the South East (Florida) and Texas have emerged as the best and deepest recruiting states. The question for the B12 is do they want to be in Florida, or don't they? There is very little, if any chance that Miami or FSU end up in the B12. Then you have the prospect of FSU and Miami going to the P2. USF is there for the taking, and the ACC have passed on them. No differently than UCF, Cincy, or WVU - or UConn for that matter. I'm way OK with UCF and Cincy in our conference even though they are not "brands" or bring in huge amounts of media money. They are a relatively close school to WVU, and since VT wasn't/isn't available, it seems to fit. (Pitt would be a better example for WVU) ** Edited by Big12 guy at 1/14/2026, 11:07:19 AM

list of current G5's to panic backfill with here in a bout 3-4 years. Based upon the actions taken by the thumb suckers running the ACC in recent memory, I have no doubt they'd add them right now if they thought they could get away with it, but they can't. The conference is already absurdly too big and 85+% of the programs already here are complete dead weight when considering the ability to drive interest and football viewership.

end up somewhere around 10th on the ACC's Expansion Wish List for "academic reasons." *snicker* ACC's Expansion Wish List 1. University of Oxford 2. University of Cambridge 3. Imperial College London 4. ETH Zurich 5. University of Toronto 6. University College London 7. University of Tokyo 8. Technical University of Munich 9. University of Edinburgh 10a. McGill University 10b. USF

(aka what Yanks calls soccer) and American football.

If the ACC wants to challenge the Ivy League's King of the Academic Hill crown, then pulling off that major coupe would do it. Plus, it may convince schools like Cal, UVA and VT from leaving the ACC if they don't end up with a P2 home.

Pitt has a proud football history and might get left in the dust. I’m not a Pitt fan but this will sadden me to see them left behind. Miami is the same thing but will be OK because they become relevant every 20 years. They don’t need fans, they just have money.

a few of the articles or podcasts is that moving forward, the "brands" of the past is not enough to carry schools into the future without the underlying money needed for the athletic budget, but more importantly, the NIL money or the ability to pay the top players. Things seem to be evolving, but the top "brands" continue to bring in the eyeballs, and it doesn't seem to matter how they perform on the field. Remarkably for example, Nebraska continues to bring in ratings, fans, selling merchandise, money, and they have done a thing since they were added to the BIG. If FSU and or Miami end up in the P2, USF becomes indispensable for the Florida market. While there are many spouting off that there are better schools (brands) to add assuming the ACC implodes, I don't think there are any guarantees that the ACC won't figure things out, even if they lose some top schools. TT, Utah, and Kansas have all recently announced extreme capital infusion into their programs in the B12. I watch with interest on which schools in the B12 and ACC do the same. So far, VT is the only non blue blood that have made long term institutional changes in their funding model. Texas schools may all be able to do it with "oil" money, and Utah went the PE rout. Schools like K-State, Iowa State, WVU, Cincy, and others are scrambling to find the kind of money it will take to compete. USF seems to be finding the money somewhere, and based on their history, it's pretty surprising to me anyway.

Great, mediocre or bad, they always show up.

USF doesn’t surprise me at all. That seems like an easy choice. Overall we will have to wait until Feb/Mar to get new actual financial numbers from the schools on their 2024 spending. Everything that gets shown in the news is lagging by a year if it is formal public filing documents. Or it is informal estimates that can’t be fully trusted.