THE ORACLE
W E D N E S DAY, M AY 1 5 , 2 0 1 9 I VO L . 5 6 N O . 4 9
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U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H F L O R I DA
The branding of USF
Following a back-and-forth approach, the university ultimately made the decision to scrap the new academic logo and use the existing athletic logo in all marketing aspects. By Alyssa Stewart E D I T O R
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When Tom Viet, the creator of the iconic Bull U, developed the athletic logo back in 200304, he said he wanted to create something that was both current and able to stand the test of time. Almost 15 years later, that ambition may be a reality. On May 6, it was decided to adopt the existing athletic association logo to represent the entire university. Vice President of Communications and Marketing Joe Hice announced in an email addressed to the USF community that the new proud bull academic The old academic logo (above) will be removed from campus throughout the summer. SPECIAL TO THE logo will be dropped. This decision was made after ORACLE/UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING eight months of controversy about the logo’s lime-green color to wealth management Merrill faculty, staff and alumni. director at the time, Viet said template and the similarities Lynch’s bull from USF students, As the associate athletic many people don’t understand
the complexities of developing a logo for an existing university. “If you can get 50 percent of the people just not to hate it, you are really doing well,” Viet said. “It certainly takes a lot of guts to say, ‘hey this doesn’t work.’” The iconic U went through some initial changes when it was first launched as well. Originally, there were 50 to 60 designs before the iconic U was created. The university will now undergo $1 million worth of changes to rid of the short-lived logo and fully implement the iconic Bull U. According to the email sent out by Joe Hice, the implementation process will begin immediately and continue throughout the summer.
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BOT Finance Committee approves funding for research institute By Alyssa Stewart E D I T O R
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The Board of Trustees (BOT) Finance Committee approved the financial plan for the USF Research Park Laboratory and Office Project.
This project entails building a 120,000 square-foot, three-story facility will require $42 million to fund. The building will be located at the southeastern corner of USF Research Park and on the Northeastern corner
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of Spectrum Blvd and Fowler Avenue. The University of South Florida Research Foundation (USFRF) trains and supports students in research and technology for economic
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development in the Tampa region. The building will offer a space to strengthen USF’s life sciences and technology research as well as supporting new programs. If the project is approved on
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Oct 30, the design process will begin immediately so that the project can be completed by Jan 2021. The USF Financing Corporation (USFFC) will
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W E D N E S DAY, M AY 1 5 , 2 0 1 9
The Oracle THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1966
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Alyssa Stewart @AlyssaKStewart
Sports Editor Brian Hattab Leda Alvim
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BOT
U N I V E RS I T Y O F S OU T H F L O R I DA
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LOGO
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Next, the Board of Trustees will have to decide whether or not to approve the budget request at the meeting on June 6. ORACLE PHOTO/LEDA ALVIM contribute a maximum of $27 million in revenue bond and $15 million in cash equity, according to the finance report. The cost breakdown includes $27 million for the design — retail and dining amenities included — and construction, $10 million for tenant improvements, $2.4 million for capitalized interest, $2.4 million for the debt service reserve and $112,000 for issuance. The project was proposed for two reasons: To expand Research Park and to increase USF’s marketplace. The research facilities
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currently on campus are experiencing mechanical failures. Some of the equipment was installed in 1992 and has exceeded its 25-year lifespan. Also, there have been issues with leaking pipes and valve system failures, according to the finance report. There are 30,000 workers across USF’s life sciences and medical institutions with 1,600 employees specifically in Research Park. According to a report conducted by the Board of Governors, USF uses only 36
percent of its minimum required space for a research lab. The University of Florida uses 57 percent and Florida State University uses 75 percent. The USFRF mission states that it plans to use its 112-acre site to create a research hub like the Laboratory and Office project. The USFRF has to gain the approval of the BOT on June 6. The research foundation has to prepare materials to present to the BOG by July 31.
The logo design on the staircase in the Marshall Student Center, the website, mobile app and pole banners will jumpstart the multiphase plan. Later in the plan, the logo on email signatures and powerpoint templates will be changed. Hice plans of consulting with the marketing team on this process every two weeks. Hice said the bull logo will still have value and now will be thought of as a “spirit mark,” which can be used to express school spirit. Although there are no plans on bringing the logo back, Hice said the departments are still encouraged to use the existing merchandise featuring it over the summer until it is phased out. Each USF college will also need a new design template to match the logo. Viet said he received a 70 to 80 percent positive response after the release of the athletic logo, which was an initial surprise to him. Although reactions may be unpredictable, Viet said he could understand why students were upset about the new logo. “Sometimes it just doesn’t resonate with people,” Viet said. “When I looked at it, there were a few things I saw that stood out to me.” One being the color. Viet said the previous athletic logo was a “kelly green” but after conducting surveys, it was decided to change the palette to align more with the needs of the USF community. Hice said in the email that
Tom Viet. PHOTO COURTESY OF TOM VIET
USF will be returning to the green-and-gold template. Viet said he believes the marketing team gave the logo a “fair amount of time” in its decision to scrap it. “When you launch a logo for an existing institution, people tend to have an instant reaction and then grow to like it or it goes another way,” Viet said. “I don’t think there is a magic number that would determine a length of time.” Viet said using the athletic logo was “a smart move” because it will be seen on television, newspapers and various advertising elements which will expose USF nationally and allow the brand to resonate for years into the future. “It brings me great pride that the athletic mark was able to last 15 years,” Viet said. “When I’m rolling around in a wheelchair to a football game, I hope it will still be around.”
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What you said ...
Multimedia Editor Leda Alvim asked students if they were happy about the removal of the academic logo. “I think that going back to the old logo was a great decision because USF became great with that logo.“
“I have mixed feelings since I like both logos.“ Astha Kakkad, a student — mastering in public health.
Sheena Murdock, a — junior majoring in health sciences. “It’s about time.”
“I am very happy with the announcement that USF is scrapping its new academic logo because the Bull U looks way more professional and academic than the trashed one.“
— Hannah Pierle, a senior majoring in business advertising.
— Daria Kovaleva, a student mastering in marketing “I personally like the athletic logo a lot better because when I came to USF, that was the university’s identity.”
“I didn’t like the new logo, but I did like the color palette used.“ Gabriel Rivera, a junior — majoring in microbiology.
— Bisma Balouch, a senior majoring in business analytics.
“I was not a huge fan of it and I’m glad that USF heard our opinions.“ — Gina Huckavy, a sophomore majoring in psychology.
“I think they spent a lot of money making and marketing the new logo, which seems like a waste of money by going through this change and then trashing it completely.“ Melissa Chau, a — sophomore majoring in biomedical engineering.
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SOFTBALL
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“If you think about it, you go back to our schedule: open up with Michigan, Florida, Arizona — that was an NCAA Regional the first weekend,” Eriksen said. “The next weekend … it was out at Arizona — you had Alabama, Arizona, [Cal State] Fullerton. So there’s another regional.” Rather than worrying, USF players are excited about the challenge. “It’s always really nice to play these difficult teams and not only see their competition level but also see how they carry themselves, the way that they’re coached, everything else about the way that they play,” sophomore Georgina Corrick said. “So I’m really, really excited to go to this regional and I know the rest of my teammates are as well.” One thing USF may have on its side heading into the weekend is rest. Last weekend’s AAC Tournament in Houston was
canceled before the quarterfinal round could be completed due to severe weather and subsequently unplayable field conditions in Houston. The No.1-seed Bulls runruled No.8-seed Memphis 8-0 in six innings behind a one-hit performance from Corrick in the only game they were able to play before Mother Nature had its way. “Obviously, we did want to play [last] weekend when we got stuck in the hotel for two days straight,” Corrick said, “but I think the rest was really good because, obviously getting this far into the season, we’ve played 50-plus games and it can definitely take a took on you — mentally, physically — especially hopping on and off planes.” The Bulls also have past experience on their side. With the exception of the host Seminoles, USF has faced every team in the regional at least once in the past two seasons. USF fell 8-1 to South Carolina on March 1 this season at the USF Softball Stadium.
“I’m excited to get a rematch against them,” junior AnaMarie Bruni said. “Obviously, the outcome wasn’t what we wanted when we saw them last, but, like any game, it’s a new game, so it just depends on who shows up that day.” Tallahassee — and the state of Florida, for that matter, is also a very familiar site for USF in postseason play. Of the Bulls 15 NCAA Regional appearances, five have been played in Tallahassee — and zero have been played outside Florida since 2001. That fact has drawn the question, if not ire, of some fans, but it’s all good, according to Corrick. “Obviously, I’d love to play anywhere,” Corrick said, “but I think just making our regional and going to Florida State, which is the No. 4-seed, is really exciting and I think it’s a great experience for us — even if it is only in the state of Florida. “Lord knows Florida’s strange enough.”
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OPINION
U N I V E RS I T Y O F S OU T H F L O R I DA
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Millions of dollars later, the university’s brand is back where it started
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T H E O R AC L E
Social media sites must address the mental health of their users
By Jared Sellick C O L U M N I S T
By Jesse Stokes C O L U M N I S T
USF has refreshed its brand once again following eight months of backlash from members of the USF community in response to the academic logo. Joe Hice, the vice president of Communications and Marketing, informed students and others that the lime-green bull logo, which many argues resembled Merrill Lynch, would be removed and replaced with the existing Bull U academic logo by the end of the summer. While the look of the university is certainly important, especially when attracting new students to apply for admission, the overwhelming cost associated with implementing the academic logo, slightly modifying it and now removing it outright should not go without mention. First, when the logo was first introduced at President Judy Genshaft’s annual address in September, the backlash that came with it was immediate. But it was the price tag that truly mattered. The university formed a partnership with SPARK media, that would fund a year-long marketing campaign, costing $200,000. But the costs did not stop there. During the official launch of the logo on campus and beyond during Homecoming Week, the university spent roughly $500,000 on marketing and advertising pieces, including $26,974 to implement the 378 banners on the light poles on and surrounding campus.
After eight months of logo changes and subsequent backlash, the university has wasted millions of dollars on a now unused logo. ORACLE FILE PHOTO
For detractors of the logo, there was an initial glimpse of hope as the university announced it made modifications to the bull. Though the changes where seemingly unnoticeable and only included shortening the tail of the bull and planting its hoof flat, instead of pointed at an angle. These change cost an addition $8,000. Now, just weeks after the modification, the costs are continuing to pile high. Hice said it will cost an additional $1 million to rid of the academic logo. This includes over $8,000 to change the logo on the “A Future Without Limits” marketing campaign, thousands more to reverse the banners and merchandise and a whopping $450,000 to change the signs in the USF Health building downtown, which has not even
completed its initial construction. Nearly $2 million worth of spending later and the university has nothing to show for it but an even more confusing brand image and months worth of backlash and outcry from students and alumni alike. Now that USF has finally come to the wise decision of sticking with the Bull U logo that most associate with the university already, it would be wise to leave the brand untouched. Refreshing the look of a university is one thing, but with consolidation on the horizon, preeminence potentially in jeopardy as a result and a goal of reaching AAU status, the university must redirect its focus and move on from the months-long logo fiasco. Jesse Stokes is a senior majoring in political science.
In early May the photosharing network Instagram began to implement a trial in Canada that would ban viewers from seeing other user’s total number of ‘likes’. This move was part of a greater initiative to protect the mental health of its users. When loading the application, Instagram reminds the user that the change is because “We want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes your post gets.” All users concerned with their mental well-being should welcome this potential change and encourage other social networks to experiment with similar measures. User obsession over likes and follower counts are a welldocumented global issue. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, social media addiction can lead to higher levels of depression and paranoia. The addictive impact that likes have on the brain has been exploited by social media sites since their beginning. It seems that the concern for the mental wellbeing of their users is a rather new phenomenon. According to the co-founder of Instagram, Kevin Systrom, the implementation of ‘Instagram stories’ was a response to the
user’s unhealthy fascination with likes. The way in which many teenagers are growing up with an addiction to social media is not sustainable. If mental health is going to be a priority in our society it is important that we take the impact of these social networks seriously. Simply removing likes as a motivating factor will make a huge difference in the ways that users use these networks. With these changes, young people will be less likely to feel inadequate compared to their peers. Other social networks should follow Instagram’s lead and implement further changes that will curb the spread of social media addiction. Reevaluating the way in which users can constantly scroll endlessly through a site is another way that you can limit social media addiction. In addition, social networks should abandon the practice of sending extraneous notifications to users. If protecting mental health is a priority we as a society must seriously consider the business model of all social networks.
Jared Sellick is a junior majoring in political science.
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SAILING
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“We hold workouts Tuesday and Thursday mornings and practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. And then we’re traveling just as much as the women’s team during the fall and spring season.” While the cooperation between the two is unusual as far as college athletics goes — rarely will you see a club and varsity baseball team sharing facilities, for example — it’s not that unheard of in sailing, according to Jolly. Hawaii used to operate under the same model — its women’s team was varsity and its coed team, which is now funded by the athletic department, was run through student government. The cooperation also benefits both teams. “Specifically because due to the sensitivity of the boats in terms of weight and balance, most guys … need to have females — smaller people — so our women’s team is the obvious supply,” Jolly said. “And it’s great because they get more experience and the coed team gets crews. So it’s kind of a winwin situation.” The uniqueness doesn’t stop there, though. When USF sailing hits the waters of Tampa Bay for practice, the sailors that head out from Bayboro Harbor can come from all over the place — any of the three USF campuses in the case of Jolly’s side, USFSP in the case of coed coach Alan Capellin’s side — and even outside the USF system entirely. On one particular day in early May, a few sailors from Jacksonville University, a fellow member of the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association (SAISA), joined USF — which, for the purposes of SAISA, is one team that may compete in women’s or coed events — on the bay. An appearance like Jacksonville’s is not unusual at all either. Earlier the same week, Eckerd College also joined USF for practice. “This is one of the sports
where it’s really, really helpful to work with others,” senior Delaney Brown said, “because you sail against your teammates so often — you start to learn each other’s tricks. You throw someone new in the mix, it totally restarts your brain.” The cooperation between what would ordinarily be intrastate and intraconference rivals stems from a desire for SAISA to perform better on the national level in hopes of outperforming the more established sailing conferences in the Northeast and MidAtlantic regions. “Since we’re the youngest district in our governing body [Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA)], we’ve got to work a little bit harder to make sure that we’re ready to compete at a higher caliber,” Brown said. “It’s through having practices with our competitors that we’re able to, as an entire district, get stronger and represent all of SAISA well in ICSA.” So, despite the unique friendliness between should-be rivals, there is still an obvious level of competition when it comes to USF sailing. It’s just that unlike other USF teams, who might strive to beat UCF and other AAC foes on a daily basis, the focus of sailing is on the national level. “The best thing we can do is work with each other to help both of our programs get stronger,” Jolly said. “We think it’s key to work together with the other teams in our conference so that we all get better. It’s a great philosophy.” And it’s hard to argue against that philosophy because in Jolly’s 15 years at USF, the Bulls have only failed to qualify for nationals once. “It’s a pretty incredible run of qualifying,” Jolly said. “Some of the results — we’ve been last at Nationals. But that’s 18th in the country. Nothing wrong with that.” National Semifinals are May 21 for the women’s team and May 28 for the coed team. Results will be posted on collegesailing. org.
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Commentary
By Brian Hattab S P O R T S
Stop shaming athletes for celebrating
E D I T O R
Perhaps one of the sillier storylines this NHL season has been Don Cherry’s hatred of the Carolina Hurricanes’ postgame celebrations. The Canadian hockey commentator, best known for his extravagant suits and xenophobic opinions, first made headlines about this in February, referring to the Hurricanes, whose celebrations took place after home victories — and only after the opposing team left the ice — as “a bunch of jerks.” The particular celebration that set Cherry off involved forward Warren Foegele pretending to hit a home run and subsequently flipping his “bat.” Cherry doubled down recently after the Hurricanes, to the surprise of many, found themselves in the Eastern Conference Final after sweeping the New York Islanders in Round 2. While noting the celebrations have been toned down during the playoffs, Cherry called Carolina fans “front-running” while going on an incoherent rant about why the Hurricanes’ celebrations are the “wrong thing to do.” Oh, yeah — Cherry, somehow ignorant about the Internet’s existence, also wondered how his comments made it down from Canada to Raleigh during the latest incident. Sadly Cherry’s views on this seem to be commonplace in sports. Players — world-class athletes performing at a ridiculously high level — should not be able to celebrate their amazing accomplishments because — well, other than “unwritten rules,” there really doesn’t seem to be a reason why other than people get mad. Take the bat flip that apparently inspired Foegele’s “bat flip” that sparked the “bunch of jerks” comment in the first place — the famous Jose Bautista bat flip in Game 5 of the 2015 American League Divisional Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers. After hitting a go-ahead three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning, Bautista performed what
Don Cherry is just the latest in a long line of people who shame athletes for celebrating their accomplishments. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE
was “the most ostentatious bat flip in MLB history,” according to Andrew Keh of The New York Times. It was awesome and the perfect way to cap off the most dramatic inning of the series, if not the entire postseason. However, the Rangers — perhaps completely unaware of the fact that if Bautista were retired in that at-bat, no bat would have been flipped — didn’t like it. The next season, Rangers relief pitcher Matt Bush intentionally hit Bautista. Bautista responded with an illegal slide into second base and Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor punched Bautista. All this because Bautista celebrated a homer in the moment. Ranger fans were so proud of Odor’s assault on Bautista, even, that I saw a vendor outside Globe Life Park selling a shirt that read “Bat Flip, Broken Lip” when I attended a game there later that season. “I’m upset that you’re good at baseball” was apparently too long to fit on the shirt. In a sort-of similar situation that relates to USF baseball, last season against ECU, Joe Genord launched a massive homer and then proceeded to showboat a bit, drawing the ire of Pirates coach Cliff Godwin. “If this was professional baseball, he would’ve gotten smoked [hit] his
next at-bat,” Godwin said at the time. Godwin was right, but he shouldn’t have been, especially since ECU pitcher Gavin Williams instigated the entire situation by telling Genord to get back in the batter’s box then serving him up a meatball. If Genord is retired in that at-bat, there’s no reason for the Pirates to be upset and have their coach ranting about what would happen to Genord in the pros if he had the audacity to enjoy his accomplishments in the moment. But back to the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes have taken Cherry’s idiotic comments in good stride, selling t-shirts with “A Bunch of Jerks” on them and spelling out “Jerks” with rally towels in the seats at PNC Arena. After Cherry doubled down with his “front-running” comments, Carolina released an updated shirt to reflect that it is now a team of “front-running jerks.” The Hurricanes’ response to these inane ramblings are exactly what the celebrations were supposed to be in the first place — fun. Not only fun for the team, but fun for its fans, who have completely embraced the “bunch of jerks” tagline. After all, sports are supposed to be fun, right? Maybe someone should tell Cherry that.
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U N I V E RS I T Y O F S OU T H F L O R I DA
RUNDOWN
USF and Miami schedule two-for-one Just days after having its scheduled two-for-one series with Texas reduced to a single away game in 2020, USF football has added another Power Five team to its future schedule. The Bulls and Miami are set to play a three-game series starting in 2025, Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly announced Tuesday. “We are excited to continue to add very high-level opponents with great national interest to our future football schedules,” Kelly said in a statement. “In the next 10 years we now have six games on the schedule against Florida and Miami and our studentathletes, coaches and fans look forward to the challenge.” USF will travel to Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium in 2025 and 2028, while the Hurricanes will visit Tampa in 2027, marking Miami’s first trip to USF since 2013. Miami holds a 5-1 all-time series lead with the Bulls’ lone win coming at Miami in 2010. The Bulls’ 2025 nonconference schedule, which is now complete, features games against Boise State (home, Aug. 30), Florida (away, Sept. 6), Miami (away, Sept. 13) and San Jose State (home, Sept. 20). The 2027 season, which features games against Miami (home, Sept. 4), Boise State (away, Sept. 11) and Northern Illinois (away, Sept. 25), still has one vacant nonconference date.
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Sailing
A unique cooperation on the waters of Tampa Bay
By Brian Hattab S P O R T S
E D I T O R
ST. PETERSBURG — A relatively small building a couple of hundred feet from the waters of Tampa Bay at USF St. Pete houses perhaps one of the most intriguing setups in collegiate athletics. The setup is that of USF sailing. That building, the Haney Landing Sailing Center, is quite the drive from the Lee Roy Selmon Athletic Center at USF Tampa. But make no mistake — unlike a lot of its peers, USF women’s sailing is a full-fledged USF Athletics team — and it’s led to some pretty great results. Next week, the Bulls head to Newport, Rhode Island, for the Women’s Nationals Semifinals. USF has reached the national finals six of the last seven years and a large part of the success belongs to the staff back on Fowler Avenue as much as it does coach Allison Jolly. “You know what really has been behind that is the support
Softball
USF sailing takes to the waters of Tampa Bay for practice on May 9. The Bulls practices tend to feature intraconference opponents in an effort to make everyone better. ORACLE PHOTO/BRIAN HATTAB of Athletics,” Jolly said. “I’ve lost recruits to the University of Florida, the University of Miami, to Eckerd [College], to Jacksonville — and none of them get that varsity-level of support that we get.” But it’s not just the varsitylevel women’s sailing team at the
Sailing Center. USF St. Pete’s coed sailing team also operates alongside the women’s team, although unlike the women’s team, the coed side is run through USFSP’s campus rec department. But, despite the different method of funding, that side of USF sailing is just as serious
about the sport as the varsity side. “Our designation is a club team, yes, but we function as most college athletes would,” junior Christian Koules said.
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Going back to Tally By Brian Hattab S P O R T S
USF softball before a game against UCF on April 14. The Bulls head to Tallahassee for their NCAA Regional starting Friday against South Carolina. ORACLE PHOTO/BRIAN HATTAB
E D I T O R
In a season where the Bulls welcomed any and all opponents, perhaps it’s only fitting that their NCAA Regional is stacked. USF (40-17, 17-4 AAC) opens up the Tallahassee Regional on Friday at noon with a game against No. 21 South Carolina, which will be televised on SEC Network.
The Gamecocks (36-17, 9-14 SEC) are the only team in the regional that also includes Bethune-Cookman (26-28, 13-2 MEAC) and overall No.4-seed FSU (51-8, 19-5 ACC) that did not win their conference. But, again, a weekend against powerhouses is nothing new for coach Ken Eriksen’s team.
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