AAC schools need on campus stadiums in the 30k - 40k range and playing in an NFL stadium usually looks and feels pathetic regardless if there are 22 or 32k actually in the stands.
I guess the point you missed is that USF is only a 20 year old football program playing in a pro stadium off campus. If fans of a 60 year old program, that took 40 years to play games on campus need to pick on schools like USF who doesn’t draw that much less, we make UT fans look supportive.
USF is working on getting an on-campus stadium and has contacted UH in regards to advice for doing so. They have stated many times this year that playing in the NFL stadium hurts, as well as the bad weather they’ve had this year - they’ve had a lot of rain to include this past Saturday.
I will say, having lived around Tampa, the NFL stadium is not easy to get to from anywhere outside of the Tampa city limits. The campus is a much easier spot to get to and would be a nice spot to visit due to its close proximity to Busch Gardens.
I was visiting St. Petersburg years ago and on Sunday drove out to USF campus. This was 15 or so years ago. It was a very new and modern campus than and I was surprised by the amount of room they had for growth. The sports complex (except for an ugly, ugly basketball arena) had room for growth and, even back then, it was obvious they had space to build a stadium. I don’t know what the campus looks like now, but it was spacious back then.
They still have a ton of room on campus, but their program is still relatively young and they are having some growing pains.
I think they’ve realized what a lot of schools in the AAC (Memphis, Temple) have realized in that they need to bring football to the campus if they want to survive at the FBS level in the future. UH was well ahead of the curve in that respect and we, along with UCF, have seen increased growth in our programs ever since we’ve made the change. College is all about the atmosphere and it’s better to have 30K fans in a 35K-40K seat stadium rather than 30K fans in a 65K-70K seat stadium.
I would not say UH was ahead of the curve. Quite the contrary. I would say TCU was ahead and UH saw them as an example and model to follow. It is not just about a stadium.
Correct, just meant in regards to the schools currently in the AAC.
And you are correct, it isn’t just the stadium. Admin has to be fully invested and the school has to win and be able to connect with the local community and boosters. USF really needs to work on that last point, especially as they’ve lost a lot of goodwill lately due to some behavioral issues when Willie Taggart was there.