Big news out of Fowler Ave, as AD Doug Woolard announced that USF has completed its 2011 schedule with home games against Florida A&M and UTEP. The FAMU game has been talked about for the past couple of months, and even before the football season started it seemed like the contract was all but finished up. The Rattlers brought a great crowd with them in 2005, and it was the 2nd largest home football game ever at the time. In addition to the 2011 game, Florida A&M will also come to Raymond James in 2015 to face the Bulls. USF will pay Florida A&M 400k in 2011, and 450k in 2015. Not too bad considering they will bring a significant following to see the Marching 100. Speaking of the 100, here is what we have to look forward to.
FAMU 2009 "Michael Jackson Medley" @ Atlanta pt 1 (via hhorns2002)
The surprise of the announcement has to be the UTEP game. I don't think anyone thought that the Miners would be coming to Tampa, let alone for a payday game. From what Voodoo was telling me, even Texas had to make a return trip to El Paso when they scheduled the Miners. USF will pay UTEP 650k for the trip to Tampa, which isn't bad given that some schools are asking for 800k or so a game now. From just reading Greg and Adam's twitter feeds, this was the last team they had in mind when thinking about USF's 12th opponent. For UTEP coverage, make sure you head over to our sister site Miner Rush.
With the schedule finally completed, USF fans will be happy to know that we will have seven home games to attend to next season, including UTEP and FAMU, the Bulls will be hosting West Virginia, Cincinnati, Louisville, Ball State, and Miami. Should be a fun time at Raymond James next year.