Scott Frost to UCF (opponent in 2016)
December 1st, 2015 at 9:04 AM ^
1. Not too pumped about our "cupcake" game being against a spread/inside zone team with a bunch of Florida kids.
2. UCF has an enrollment of 60,000+! That's a lot of human beings for a directional school.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:06 AM ^
Florida is big state. FIU has over 50k.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:11 AM ^
They went 0-12 this year. It's not going to matter what kind of offense they run.
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December 1st, 2015 at 9:14 AM ^
Yeah, no matter the offense, it takes time to install it properly
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December 1st, 2015 at 9:32 AM ^
Fans of UM 2008 should know that well. Who knows if they even have a qb if that style.
He is less if a known than Gary Andersen who we faced this yr and you saw that sh&tshow. They installed a spread with a a new qb and it led to a rousing 2-10. It takes good coaches a few yrs if they are not sitting on stockpiles of 4 stars from previous regime.
I know we have a PTSD fanbase but we aren't coached by hoke anymore...try to remember that as you fear 0-12 teams.
December 1st, 2015 at 11:52 AM ^
but wouldn't exactly call myself a "fan." Perhaps a "disgruntled alumnus."
December 1st, 2015 at 1:16 PM ^
What is this 2008 that you speak of?
December 1st, 2015 at 2:16 PM ^
That was the year that the program went on hiatus and all football operations were outsourced to West Virginia University. Any wins or losses that may or may not have occured during this period should be credited to WVU.
December 1st, 2015 at 4:56 PM ^
Actually, I think Michigan did play two actual games that season--one against Wisconsin and another at Minnesota. The other ten, yeah--that was WVU. Must be the similar uniform colors that throw people off.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:12 AM ^
they went 0-12 this year.....
December 1st, 2015 at 9:52 AM ^
Great avatar! +1
December 1st, 2015 at 9:16 AM ^
Honest question - is "Central" a direction? Even with some fondness for our friends in Mt. Pleasant, I'm of an opinion that "Central" is a location.
What's my point? That "Central" is what you name a school after all the other major directions are taken. So it resides as a fourth tier (out of five I can think of, leaving off schools named for historical figures) in the general public university hierarchy:
- University of _____________
- _________ State University
- Directional University
- University of Location
- Location State University*
*Exceptions, of course exist. Witness Wayne State, which is a better academic institution than this rough hierarchy would suggest.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:21 AM ^
As I wrote "directional", the same question occurred to me.
Your point about the other directional schools (Eastern, Western, etc) as directions being taken is a good one, but it assumes that your starting spot is the "Central" spot. However, Central could also be a destination if your point of origin is someplace other than Central. The same could be said about all the other schools.
Wheretofor, I think the answer to this age old question is relative and depends upon your point of origin.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:23 AM ^
always kind of annoyed me. Seems snooty to me. But I did get a kick out of it when we had a super snooty neighbor who thought her kids were so great and always mocked the "directional" schools and then her youngest went to Western.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:48 AM ^
It's snooty, it's inaccurate (hi Northwestern!), it's insensitive (hi smart kids who can't afford snootier schools or just don't want to be far from home), it's ignorant (hi many smart people who went to directional state schools and went on to do great things), and so on. Reading the OP I had an epiphany that this sort of snobbery could be taken to another level (depth?) by adding a couple of tiers to the hierarchy.
Put another way, I was going for the cheap laugh. As I'm wont to do ... .
(I do think far too many kids go to four-year colleges, when they'd be better served learning a trade or going to a good community college. And I know many in their mid-20s who regret going to a middling four-year school with no job prospects after graduation. But that's a whole other topic.)
December 1st, 2015 at 11:50 AM ^
Where does the rarely seen "Double-Directional" State University fall on the hierarchy? Southwest Missouri State? Southwest Minnesota State? Among others???
December 1st, 2015 at 10:55 AM ^
I think "directional" has become shorthand for various "regional" universities in different states that aren't considered to be the elite schools. Many of them have "directions" attached to them, and while they are typically good schools with some unique offerings that do draw people from all over, their primary constituency consists of students from the general area, many or most of whom cannot qualify and/or afford the "higher level" schools in or out of state.
In this case "Central" is the region, obviously. If they used the naming philosophy present in Wisconsin or Minnesota, it would be called "UF-Orlando." If they used California's shorthand, "FSU-Orlando." Instead, like Michigan, they address the general area.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:29 AM ^
legislature--is second tier in terms of monies allocated, etc. It's the state's biggest school, though. And there is plenty of love for football in the area; the sense in Florida is that they will become a power. Maybe Frost is the guy.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:48 AM ^
Orlando is at a disadvantage as a metro area because it is huge and growing and yet has little hope of ever landing another pro team. So UCF, with it's huge student population which will eventually grow into donors and fans, is primed to be the sporting focus of the city.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:20 AM ^
Speaking of this, the University of South Florida is a curious one, given that it's actually located in Tampa.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:23 AM ^
Tampa is considered South Florida. What's curious about that?
December 1st, 2015 at 9:28 AM ^
I'm not sure that is the consensus. It's apparently confusing enough that a writer for a Jacksonville paper posed the question himself.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:52 AM ^
"South Florida" is typically used to refer to the greater Miami-Ft. Lauderdale region, cf. "Southeast Michigan" when one wants to include Ann Arbor and Metro Detroit.
December 1st, 2015 at 10:00 AM ^
I grew up in Miami. Tampa is still South Florida.
December 1st, 2015 at 10:07 AM ^
I live an hour south of Tampa and we do not refer to ourselves living in "South Florida". I have frankly never heard that term used in these parts. We refer to ourselves as living on the Gulf Coast, or on the Gulf side in the middle of the State.
December 1st, 2015 at 10:59 AM ^
...that Florida Gulf Coast University is 2+ hours south of the University of South Florida.
December 1st, 2015 at 11:16 AM ^
I'm in Orlando. I do not consider Tampa to be "south Florida." I've always thought the name of USF was curious.
December 1st, 2015 at 11:57 AM ^
I now live between Ft. Myers and Naples. We are definitely SOUTH Florida and to distinguish ourselves from the East Coast (Ft. Lauderdale, Miami) we call our selves SouthWest FL.
Being down here it is hard to believe the University of South Florida is 2.5 hrs north in Tampa.
December 1st, 2015 at 4:19 PM ^
I thought south Detroit was Windsor?!
December 1st, 2015 at 4:59 PM ^
Is it Windsor, or is it Downriver?
What do you mean Steve!!??
December 1st, 2015 at 10:16 AM ^
Just looking at the state makes it pretty clear that typical designations of "west, east, south, and north" don't work for the state of Florida. Does "east florida" encompas the entire atlantic coast? Tampa is certainly south of a good chunk of the state, but it's well to the north of large population areas down by Miami. Where is the cut-off for "west Florida?" Etc.
Central Florida is about the only geographical designation that makes sense. If you're eyeballing it, Orlando is pretty damn close to smack dab in the middle.
December 1st, 2015 at 11:59 AM ^
Down in true South Florida the difference between east and west are the Everglades.
December 1st, 2015 at 10:37 AM ^
then I was born and raised in South Detroit
December 1st, 2015 at 12:58 PM ^
It's more like South Georgia. Red Neck Central meets Jersey Shore. But it is definitely not South Florida.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:24 AM ^
Is "up" north?
Is "up" even "up" or is is just opposite gravitational pull?
Is there really any direction at all?
Is there a "time?"
Tricks and tools to help human efficiencies aren't really REAL in the cosmic sense of the word.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:50 AM ^
I'd note that most University of [CITY] schools are private while the vast majority of urban public universities adhere either to the [CITY] State or University of [STATE] at [CITY] formula with no comment on quality. Also, directional names have their origins in the age of normal schools and teacher colleges, where every state had approximately 1500 normal schools that needed an easy disambiguation.
Sidenote: Directional Michigan schools have mildly misleading names, neither K-zoo or Ypsi are at any kind of extreme with only Northern and Central making sense. The University of South Florida is the worst offender, though, being located far north of the metro area commonly called South Florida, on the opposite side of the state.
December 1st, 2015 at 10:18 AM ^
Michigan Tech takes your "Northern Michigan makes sense" and raises you 100 miles.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:55 AM ^
i.e. the city, are mostly smaller Catholic schools. There's a handful of large public schools, Pitt, Louisville, Cincinnati, Houston. They're better than any directional schools.
December 1st, 2015 at 11:11 AM ^
The truly funny part though is that University of South Florida is north of University of Central Florida. Guessing that Florida Man assigned the names.
December 1st, 2015 at 11:41 AM ^
I like this. But I don't think you can assume "Central" is what you use when all the directions are taken. For example, CMU is damn near the middle of the lower peninsula. Even if it was the first "directional" school in Michigan, "Central" would seem appropriate, and certainly more appropriate than any directional heading. I'd lump the Centrals of the world in category 3.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:17 AM ^
Their enrollment is mostly non traditional and part time students. Low grad rate. Most take a long time to graduate, like 6+ years.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:20 AM ^
It will be good practice for the D. I'm looking forward to it. I imagine the DL next year will completely overwhelm them anyway that we won't learn much. They're a not so great team right now. Think Oregon St this year.
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December 1st, 2015 at 9:24 AM ^
If we can't beat an AAC team coming off an 0-12 season, then we can't beat anyone.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:24 AM ^
We need to get better against spread-to-run teams. May as well play some as non-conference cupcakes.
December 1st, 2015 at 10:39 AM ^
This is a good point. I'd even say schedule non-cupcake spread-to-run teams just to prepare for them in conference.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:30 AM ^
If you can fog a mirror UCF will admit you.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:31 AM ^
Florida is the third largest state in the country and yet it has 12 public universities. For comparison, California has 32, Texas has 35 and New York has 34. Michigan, with half of Florida's population, has 13 (15 if you count each UM branch campus).
December 1st, 2015 at 9:43 AM ^
are Central Michigan and Middle Tennessee State directional schools or locational schools?
DISCUSS
December 1st, 2015 at 9:57 AM ^
Actually I would prefer all of our cupcake games be against teams like this. They obviously need to test some things to make sure they work before using them in the biggest game of the year.
December 1st, 2015 at 9:11 AM ^
And then to Nebraska if everything goes well (for him at least. It won't have gone well for Nebraska if they make another head coaching switch that soon, I guess.)