It wasn’t football or basketball. It was a minor sport that few people care about. If it has a public following, It’s mostly in the Northeast. But what happened to South Florida’s women’s lacrosse team is a cautionary tale that shows what a steep climb USF has if it hopes to get into a Power 4 conference.
The USF women finished the regular season 12-5 with all their losses to nationally ranked opponents. They were 17th in RPI, a ranking based on winning percentage and strength of schedule, and 24th in the ESPN coaches poll. Playing for the AAC conference championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA tourney, the Bulls won their semifinal game but then lost to James Madison in the final.
And that did it. By almost any competitive measure you want to use, USF deserved to get an at-large bid. “This USF team is the most complete team from top to bottom I’ve ever coached,” Mindy McCord declared, a remarkable statement when you consider USF has only had a lacrosse program for two years.
But none of that mattered when it came time to pick the tourney teams. USF’s record didn’t matter. It’s national ranking didn’t matter. It’s competitiveness didn’t matter.
It didn’t get in. Penn State got in. So did Boston College, Rutgers and Yale. All were far less deserving and ranked well below the Bulls. But they all had something USF doesn’t have. They are brand names. They have a national identity, primarily because they are all Power 4 conference teams.
In today’s sports world, television rules. And, particularly when we are talking about nationally televised events, television wants as many eyeballs as it can get. So, deserving or not, USF was out and Penn State, Boston College and Rutgers were in.
Image and brand name matter. In 2025, Memphis, like USF a member of the AAC, tried to buy its way into the Big 12. Particularly in football, Memphis has a solid resume for a Group of 6 team, and it made the Big 12 a tremendous offer.
Let us in, Memphis said, and we will give you $200 million. Memphis has two powerhouse boosters, FedEx and Lowe’s, who were ready to pony up the cash.
Additionally, Memphis said it would take no money from the conference for five years and agreed to an expulsion clause which allowed the Big 12 to drop Memphis if it felt the school would negatively affect its next TV contract. In effect, the worst case scenario for the Big 12 was that it would get a free $200 million. But the Big 12 still said no.
The Big 12 has a history with Group of 6 teams and the AAC in particular. When Oklahoma and Texas left for the SEC, the Big 12 was decimated. Its status as a Power 4 conference (at the time a Power 5 conference, the Pac 12 had not yet dissolved) was threatened.
So, the Big 12 moved to strengthen itself by adding Cincinnati, Houston and Central Florida from the American in addition to Brigham Young, an independent.
For years, The American has been claiming parity with the other power conferences, claiming it ought to be recognized as one of them based on sporadic wins over a few power conference teams.
And the three AAC teams moving up were among the strongest in the Group of 6. Cincinnati had become the first Group of 6 team to make the College Football Playoffs. Houston was the first Group of 6 team ever to sign a five star recruit. UCF had gotten a smattering of first place votes after a 12-0 season and Peach Bowl win over seventh ranked Auburn.
Despite that, none of the teams added to the Big 12 from the American had any national credibility. They were all perceived as mid-majors and as such, hurt the Big 12’s image.
In their first two years of Big 12 competition, the three teams from the American posted a 9-33 record against established Big 12 teams, proving that there was indeed a huge gap between the power conferences and the Group of six.
USF has to overcome that perception if it wants to get in a Power 4 conference, and it’s making a real effort to do that. New athletic facilities, including a stadium, are going up left and right.
Under the House vs. NCAA settlement, which allows college teams to pay up to $20.5 million a year to players, the American has asked its members to get to at least $10 million by 1928. USF says its goal is to pay out the full amount, $20.5 million.
On the field, USF has improved its football team and that improvement should continue under new coach Brian Hartline, but that will mean little with a Group of 6 schedule although if it plays well enough, South Florida could get a bid to the CFP which would give the program some stature.
Still, what this boils down to is television money and what the SEC and Big Ten, who control college football, decide to do. As TV contracts expire, the Big 12’s is first in 2031, there could be some realignment.
Clemson, Florida State and Miami want out of the ACC in the worst way and if the Big Ten and SEC feel they would add value to their television contracts, both leagues could expand with some other ACC teams coming along.
If that were to happen, then the ACC would be in the same position as the Big 12 when Oklahoma and Texas left and be forced to add mid-majors like USF to replace the departing schools.
And South Florida is positioning itself to be right at the top of the list. But if the Big Ten and SEC don’t expand, then USF will be stuck in time, a program with power conference credentials unable to find a new home.
