USF Ushers In New Student Traditions

USF announced the creation of two new traditions that will start this year- named The Huddle and Marshall Madness Mayhem. The Huddle took place this past Saturday and involved the football team hanging out with students and getting fired up about the season. The event was created as a new Week Of Welcome event giving students the opportunity to mingle with football players and get excited about the season. Rally towels were passed out and a good time was had by all. At the end of the event, everyone marched to the soccer stadium to watch the Bulls take on the University of Tampa in the Rowdies Cup. Watch a recap of the event here:

The second tradition- Marshall Mayhem- is basically a pep rally before each home football game held outside the Marshall Center. The events will be on the day before each game starting at noon (so on Friday for a Saturday game or Thursday for a Friday game) and will involve the full football team, band, cheerleaders, Sun Dolls, and Rocky.

"Our students are invested in this program and they are critically important in making the atmosphere at Raymond James stadium great," USF Director of Athletics Mark Harlan said. "We will continue to look at new ideas with student leadership and do everything we can to show the students our appreciation while making it fun and easy for them be a key part of their athletic programs."

Also being ushered in by Athletics to benefit students on game days is $5 parking at Ray Jay. That's right, no more paying a ridiculous $15 just to park. To take advantage of this all you need to do is join the Student Bulls Club (for a small $10 a year fee) and the option to buy parking will come up when you go to request your ticket. SBC is a great organization and I encourage everyone to not only join it for the discount on parking, but to also become active members as well. If you happen to not have a car or just don't want to drive, you can always utilize the Bulls Blitz program. For the small price of FREE, you can take a Bull Runner bus from campus to and from the stadium. Busses leave from the north side of the Marshall Center and in front of Juniper-Poplar Hall starting three hours before each game. These do fill up, so plan on arriving early to secure your spot.

"This is a great opportunity for our students to take an active role in building new traditions, supporting our student-athletes and showing what true team spirit is all about," said USF Student Body President Jean Cocco. "Mark Harlan has reached out to students and has been quick to listen and then act on our wishes as a student-body. By joining the Student Bulls Club, we have the opportunity to reciprocate support and show the kind of impact we can have to support our athletics program."

Everything being done by Athletics for this new year is very exciting and a huge leap in the right direction. Only thing I would say is missing is something for away games. A simple watch party with either a blow up screen or utilizing the same wall space that movies on the lawn uses would be great and extremely easy to get done. The first away game is still about a month away, so Harlan might still have something in his back pocket. But these are some very exciting developments.

On another note, the volleyball team is currently running a contest on Twitter called #WheresWylie. Prizes include a $250 gift card to the bookstore and free parking on campus. Watch this video to find out more and to get in the hunt: