john01992
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UCONN in the 70s
For a while I've noticed that on various online sources UCONN is listed as an FBS member for a single year in 1979. I always thought this was some sort of error but considering that many other examples have some sort of legitimacy to them (Florida A&M 2004) I'm wondering if there is an actual reason for this.
any old UConn fans know why people would think UConn was FBS.
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06-09-2016 09:31 AM |
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HartfordHusky
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RE: UCONN in the 70s
I don't know. I'm an 80's kid so I don't remember the FBS/FCS split. I assume it must have something to do with that though.
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06-09-2016 09:52 AM |
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Hank Schrader
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RE: UCONN in the 70s
They finished third in the Yankee Conference in 1979. The Yankee Conference was Division 1-AA.
Schedule consisted of Army, Navy, Yale, UNH, Rutgers, Maine, Umass, Virginia Military Institute, Boston U, URI, and Holy Cross.
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06-09-2016 10:29 AM |
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john01992
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RE: UCONN in the 70s
(06-09-2016 10:29 AM)Hank Schrader Wrote: They finished third in the Yankee Conference in 1979. The Yankee Conference was Division 1-AA.
Schedule consisted of Army, Navy, Yale, UNH, Rutgers, Maine, Umass, Virginia Military Institute, Boston U, URI, and Holy Cross.
You would think that would be where this story ends:
The early days of the FBS/FCS split had hybrid FCS/FBS conferences. so conference affiliation doesn't really solve this.
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06-09-2016 10:51 AM |
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upstater1
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RE: UCONN in the 70s
(06-09-2016 10:51 AM)john01992 Wrote: (06-09-2016 10:29 AM)Hank Schrader Wrote: They finished third in the Yankee Conference in 1979. The Yankee Conference was Division 1-AA.
Schedule consisted of Army, Navy, Yale, UNH, Rutgers, Maine, Umass, Virginia Military Institute, Boston U, URI, and Holy Cross.
You would think that would be where this story ends:
The early days of the FBS/FCS split had hybrid FCS/FBS conferences. so conference affiliation doesn't really solve this.
When was the split? I distinctly recall Yale being ranked in the top 20 of the AP Poll way back then. This was back in the Rich Diana years under Carm Cozza. So for Yale to be one of the top 20 teams in the country, I am going to say that the split hadn't happened yet. How about Holy Cross and Gordie Lockbaum? They were ranked a few years later.
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06-10-2016 09:34 AM |
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wavefan12
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RE: UCONN in the 70s
BTW, what took UCONN so long to add D1 football?
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06-10-2016 09:37 AM |
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shere khan
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Re: UCONN in the 70s
Some teams will always be 1-aa to me. We were always a major southern independent beating top 20 teams all the way back to the 60's.
All you new comer chicken shite teams have made the mess we have now
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06-10-2016 09:38 AM |
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upstater1
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RE: UCONN in the 70s
(06-10-2016 09:37 AM)wavefan12 Wrote: BTW, what took UCONN so long to add D1 football?
UConn was on board to add at least a decade earlier, but the Big East fights were difficult. The BE was on the verge of splitting multiple times, 1991, 1992, and again later in the decade. It was an on again off again thing. UConn essentially traded its vote to allow Virginia Tech etc. in for future football.
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06-10-2016 10:53 AM |
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upstater1
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RE: UCONN in the 70s
(06-10-2016 09:38 AM)shere khan Wrote: Some teams will always be 1-aa to me. We were always a major southern independent beating top 20 teams all the way back to the 60's.
All you new comer chicken shite teams have made the mess we have now
In the 20 year head start on D1 ball for Memphis, you never went better than 6-5, and had several years of 1 win only, and several more of 2 wins only. You might as well have been in D1-AA. You did nothing those 20 years, so it's like it never even existed.
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06-10-2016 10:57 AM |
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DefCONNOne
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RE: UCONN in the 70s
(06-10-2016 09:38 AM)shere khan Wrote: Some teams will always be 1-aa to me. We were always a major southern independent beating top 20 teams all the way back to the 60's.
All you new comer chicken shite teams have made the mess we have now
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06-10-2016 11:15 AM |
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HartfordHusky
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RE: UCONN in the 70s
(06-10-2016 09:37 AM)wavefan12 Wrote: BTW, what took UCONN so long to add D1 football?
I think it was just the regional mindset. None of the public schools in New England or New York had big time college football. The privates actually had much more tradition. I blame the small-mindedness of CT's leaders and citizens in failing to recognize that it would have been a way to set UConn a part and increase its prominence at the time of the split.
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06-10-2016 12:47 PM |
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