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It's getting desperate at UConn
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Post: #41
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
(09-11-2021 06:31 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  UConn is not dropping to FCS.

They built that 40k stadium in Hartford. They have to try to make use of it.

There's no reason they can't be a moderately successful program. They have a state to themselves. Biggest problem has been coaches and a conference that fits.
09-12-2021 07:59 PM
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Post: #42
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
(09-11-2021 07:30 PM)DFW HOYA Wrote:  
(09-11-2021 06:35 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  
(09-11-2021 06:31 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  UConn is not dropping to FCS.

We'll see

UConn's campus stadium was razed years ago. You don't play FCS in a 40,000 seat stadium unless you're the SWAC or the Ivy.

Well you mean unless you are Yale, Penn or Jackson St. stuck with old oversized stadiums.
09-12-2021 08:04 PM
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Post: #43
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
(09-12-2021 07:54 PM)esayem Wrote:  Why not just hire the Holy Cross coach? Or somebody that’s done a rebuild in the northeast before, like Al Golden.

We’re entering a new paradigm where Independence can work. There are more Independent teams now than the last 20 years. We might even see more so long as they secure a basketball league.

They did. Twice. Randy Edsal built them into a Fiesta Bowl team and went to Maryland. So, they re-hired him to do what he did the first time. Paul Pasqualoni didn't re-build Syracuse but he presided over the last team from the North East that was National Caliber. (Unless you consider Matt Ryan at Boston College national caliber.) Going with a once builder is only good if he still has the same drive. They need a young coach who is a Miracle worker.
09-12-2021 08:34 PM
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AssyrianDuke Offline
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Post: #44
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
(09-12-2021 07:59 PM)bullet Wrote:  
(09-11-2021 06:31 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  UConn is not dropping to FCS.

They built that 40k stadium in Hartford. They have to try to make use of it.

There's no reason they can't be a moderately successful program. They have a state to themselves. Biggest problem has been coaches and a conference that fits.

UConn didn't build the stadium, the state of Connecticut did and the state still owns it. It'll find another tenant if needed. I honestly think UConn would be better off shuttering the football team and saving their money.
09-12-2021 09:41 PM
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46566 Offline
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Post: #45
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
I honestly think UConn will stay fbs. If UMass and New Mexico State can stay FBS then UConn can. There's enough schools who would want a easy fbs buy game. All you need is at least 5 fbs games with 1 fcs game if you're looking for a bowl invite at 6:6. UConn will be like Kansas a easy football win.
09-12-2021 10:17 PM
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esayem Offline
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Post: #46
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
(09-12-2021 08:34 PM)ChrisLords Wrote:  
(09-12-2021 07:54 PM)esayem Wrote:  Why not just hire the Holy Cross coach? Or somebody that’s done a rebuild in the northeast before, like Al Golden.

We’re entering a new paradigm where Independence can work. There are more Independent teams now than the last 20 years. We might even see more so long as they secure a basketball league.

They did. Twice. Randy Edsal built them into a Fiesta Bowl team and went to Maryland. So, they re-hired him to do what he did the first time. Paul Pasqualoni didn't re-build Syracuse but he presided over the last team from the North East that was National Caliber. (Unless you consider Matt Ryan at Boston College national caliber.) Going with a once builder is only good if he still has the same drive. They need a young coach who is a Miracle worker.

Rutgers seems to be doing okay. He still has the drive. Golden might be burnt out after Miami.
(This post was last modified: 09-12-2021 10:27 PM by esayem.)
09-12-2021 10:21 PM
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BullsFanInTX Offline
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Post: #47
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
UConn needs to find a way to join the MAC as a football only. Promise some basketball games to MAC schools in men's and women's basketball. The football team needs something to play for and independent won't cut it long term. Not at UConn.
09-12-2021 10:39 PM
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Post: #48
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
(09-12-2021 09:41 PM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  
(09-12-2021 07:59 PM)bullet Wrote:  
(09-11-2021 06:31 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  UConn is not dropping to FCS.

They built that 40k stadium in Hartford. They have to try to make use of it.

There's no reason they can't be a moderately successful program. They have a state to themselves. Biggest problem has been coaches and a conference that fits.

UConn didn't build the stadium, the state of Connecticut did and the state still owns it. It'll find another tenant if needed. I honestly think UConn would be better off shuttering the football team and saving their money.

What other tenant? They built it specifically for UConn.
09-12-2021 11:29 PM
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Post: #49
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
(09-12-2021 10:39 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  UConn needs to find a way to join the MAC as a football only. Promise some basketball games to MAC schools in men's and women's basketball. The football team needs something to play for and independent won't cut it long term. Not at UConn.

This. UMass and UConn to the Mac for football only but agree to play some basketball games with the MAC
09-12-2021 11:31 PM
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Post: #50
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
(09-12-2021 11:31 PM)No Bull Wrote:  
(09-12-2021 10:39 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  UConn needs to find a way to join the MAC as a football only. Promise some basketball games to MAC schools in men's and women's basketball. The football team needs something to play for and independent won't cut it long term. Not at UConn.

This. UMass and UConn to the Mac for football only but agree to play some basketball games with the MAC.

The Temple/Umass deal, which never happened because Temple went to the old BigEast the year that UMass joined, was four OOC MBB games each, two home, two away. That means every MAC school plays both in a three year cycle and hosts one of the two.

And UConn is a good school, which the MAC schools would be happy to be associated with as an institution, but their FB is even more of a rescue project than Temple when they joined. Maybe four MBB & four WBB games would be enough sweetener.
09-13-2021 12:17 AM
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Post: #51
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
I am hoping that after Temple, Marshall (twice), UCF and UMass, the MAC will have shut the revolving door. There is no reason for the MAC to bail out UMass and UConn football just because/if they want to stay FBS and need a conference. The situations they are in are of their own making.

And with all this talk about home-and-home bball ... how many o-o-c bball games are UConn and UMass going to willingly give up every year to schedule games with 12 different MAC schools? My guess is as few as possible because there's a ton of other schools they want to play to maintain their status. Basketball is their "thing." So such a home-and-home "deal" is b***hockey, despite all the mathematical gymnastics to make it sound good.
09-13-2021 12:50 AM
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Post: #52
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
(09-13-2021 12:50 AM)pvk75 Wrote:  I am hoping that after Temple, Marshall (twice), UCF and UMass, the MAC will have shut the revolving door. There is no reason for the MAC to bail out UMass and UConn football just because/if they want to stay FBS and need a conference. The situations they are in are of their own making.

And with all this talk about home-and-home bball ... how many o-o-c bball games are UConn and UMass going to willingly give up every year to schedule games with 12 different MAC schools? My guess is as few as possible because there's a ton of other schools they want to play to maintain their status. Basketball is their "thing." So such a home-and-home "deal" is b***hockey, despite all the mathematical gymnastics to make it sound good.

Yup. I’d upvote if I could.
09-13-2021 01:02 AM
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BruceMcF Offline
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Post: #53
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
(09-13-2021 12:50 AM)pvk75 Wrote:  I am hoping that after Temple, Marshall (twice), UCF and UMass, the MAC will have shut the revolving door. There is no reason for the MAC to bail out UMass and UConn football just because/if they want to stay FBS and need a conference. The situations they are in are of their own making.
It's not like they did any of those moves for charity ... they were pursuing the interests of the MAC Universities. Of course, that's the interests as perceived by the Presidents, not the interests as perceived by the Athletics Director, given the direction that the money flows.

Quote:And with all this talk about home-and-home bball ... how many o-o-c bball games are UConn and UMass going to willingly give up every year to schedule games with 12 different MAC schools? My guess is as few as possible because there's a ton of other schools they want to play to maintain their status. Basketball is their "thing."

UMass was willing to play four annually under their past affiliation agreement, and it seems like they would have been willing to see that agreement continue indefinitely.

UConn, might possibly insist on fewer less, but if they don't bring enough to the table to make it worthwhile, there's no deal. If UConn fans think 2 OOC games, 1H/1A, would be sufficient sweetener, they'd be dreaming. Temple had to give 2H/2A annually, UConn would have to do the same.

Given the wreckage that is UConn FB, MAC AD's might suggest UConn sweetens the deal further, but like I said, the general fund covers the Athletic Department deficits, so it's the Presidents who will decide.

Quote:So such a home-and-home "deal" is b***hockey, despite all the mathematical gymnastics to make it sound good.

That is how the FB-only deals worked with Temple and UMass ran before. It's not meant to "sound good" to UConn ... for UConn, it'd be a price they pay, so of course if they could pay a lower price, they'd prefer to. If it's too high a price to pay, they can continue in the shambles they are in.
(This post was last modified: 09-13-2021 01:11 AM by BruceMcF.)
09-13-2021 01:06 AM
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pvk75 Offline
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Post: #54
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
The thread is entitled "It's getting desperate at UConn." So of course the posts turned to proposing all kinds of solutions to UConn's problem.

When the subject of the MAC was brought up, the theme seemed to be get football in and use some bball games to grease the deal. How many was the mathematical gymnastics to make it work (i.e., sound good to the MAC, not UConn). Offer enough and UConn's (and UMass's) problem is solved.

I simply took the opposite tack, not an assault on your post. The MAC hasn't played revolving membership games for a few years now, and as a result (IMO) is the most stable of the G5 conferences. That may be an asset now, at least temporarily. If it wants/needs/can expand its footprint, it can try to make the moves. It can also wait for the current dust to settle, while the other conferences tumble around the Bingo numbers barrel. It does not need to be a catch basin for UConn or anyone else. Been there, done that.

Why the MAC? Because it did it before? Not much of a reason, IMO. But that is simply my opinion. None of us will make the decisions.

BTW, I'm fairly sure the MAC is the only G5 that did not join the crowd with a formal statement on all the conference moves. Head down, eyes forward.

(BTW #2: I haven't checked all 12 MAC schools' future FB schedules, but NIU already has a home-and-home with UMass in 2024 and 2026).
(This post was last modified: 09-13-2021 03:32 AM by pvk75.)
09-13-2021 03:27 AM
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BigEastMike Offline
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Post: #55
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
(09-12-2021 08:34 PM)ChrisLords Wrote:  
(09-12-2021 07:54 PM)esayem Wrote:  Why not just hire the Holy Cross coach? Or somebody that’s done a rebuild in the northeast before, like Al Golden.

We’re entering a new paradigm where Independence can work. There are more Independent teams now than the last 20 years. We might even see more so long as they secure a basketball league.

They did. Twice. Randy Edsal built them into a Fiesta Bowl team and went to Maryland. So, they re-hired him to do what he did the first time. Paul Pasqualoni didn't re-build Syracuse but he presided over the last team from the North East that was National Caliber. (Unless you consider Matt Ryan at Boston College national caliber.) Going with a once builder is only good if he still has the same drive. They need a young coach who is a Miracle worker.

Penn St is in the northeast
09-13-2021 04:17 AM
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The Cutter of Bish Offline
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Post: #56
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
(09-11-2021 08:12 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  
(09-11-2021 08:05 PM)DFW HOYA Wrote:  
(09-11-2021 07:39 PM)WhoseHouse? Wrote:  Then they'll play their games in a different stadium

UConn has a long term lease with Rentschler Field per a state agreement: $172,000 in rent per game. No problem if you can put 30,000 in the place, but untenable if you're drawing 4,000 to play URI.

They had 14k today against Purdue, so they're in trouble one way or another

Yeah, that was pretty grim. I know nobody expected them to win or maybe even stay close, but, I get the impression this is the reality for UConn for a time being, and probably the next two or three seasons. If even at this point people won’t show up, I think it may be only a matter of time what happens next to this program with respect to which side of the Division 1 line they are.

You know Villanova had to be close to UConn when the push for VU to consider FBS was there. Now, I wonder, since they’re reunited in ways, whether there is talk of an escape plan back to FCS with VU in CAAF.

I don’t doubt UConn wants to be something more than the other New England state universities in this sport. Barring some miracle invite from the MAC, and I don’t know why that conference would circle back, I would think UConn doesn’t love any of its options right now.
09-13-2021 04:51 AM
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chess Offline
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Post: #57
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
UConn may join the CAA for football.

-Playing Maine, New Hampshire, Delaware, JMU, Villanova, Richmond, etc...
09-13-2021 05:19 AM
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ken d Offline
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Post: #58
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
At some point, UConn has to ask itself this core question: Why do we play football?

Traditionally, universities have considered football to be an important way to keep alumni connected emotionally to their alma mater so that they will be a continuing source of donations and bequests that sustain their educational mission. It's what Homecoming is all about.

If a university's football program is accomplishing that purpose, and is in the long run producing more donations than the school would receive without it, then the next question is does the program cost less to sustain it than the revenue it produces.

Clearly, a lot of schools believe having a football team is worth whatever it costs to run it. Some who, in the past, had decided it was not worth the cost and dropped their programs have since reversed their decision and resumed the sport. Some actual experience without football must have led them to that decision. Ego alone probably wouldn't have done that.

So what are the answers for UConn? Is having a lousy program better than no program at all? If the answer is no, is there some investment the school might make that would make them a consistently better program? As an alternative, could basketball fill the role with alumni that football does for other schools?

Whatever the answers are, one thing is certain. Whatever they are doing now doesn't seem to be working well for them. Whatever value "reputation" has for a university is not now being enhanced by playing football as an FBS independent. Something has to give.
09-13-2021 06:16 AM
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The Cutter of Bish Offline
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Post: #59
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
I would also pose this question: what would UConn do if UMass did get invited to the AAC, however remote/slim that chance? What if UMass took a full invitation to the MAC?

This idea of UMass being on some kind of better football ground than UConn has me wondering.
09-13-2021 06:50 AM
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Post: #60
RE: It's getting desperate at UConn
(09-11-2021 11:24 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  
(09-11-2021 09:42 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  UConn sacrificed their football for hoops, and their hoops still not as good in the Big East either. They should have waited until this year to stay in the AAC.

UConn was not getting in the Big 12. They had a better shot when they were still in the original Big East.

First year in the Big East they made the NCAA Men's Tournament for the first time in five years. Looks like their hoops has already made a positive move and now they can recruit as a Big East member as opposed to an AAC member.

As for the Big 12, unfortunately they are too much of a geographical outlier (as they were in the AAC). The football conferences that they would fit in (ACC, Big 10) don't want them. The MAC would be decent for a football but not men's/women's basketball. If UConn could do a partial for football they'd take it but I get why the MAC wouldn't want to do it. My hope for UConn would be to build their men's basketball back up to regular NCAA level that one day the ACC comes calling (maybe the football schools that blocked UConn last time (cough, Clemson) leave for the SEC). Did the move out of the AAC hurt UConn football? Probably. But UConn had zero value being an NIT level men's basketball team in the AAC and having no one want to play for a team that had to travel to SMU and Tulsa every year (and can you imagine being in the AAC once Cincinnati leaves?) If UConn gets back to winning national championships, at least the ACC has to listen. Of course, UConn would settle for a women's national championship. They haven't won since 2016, that's an eternity for them. And I think Connecticut has to at least keep FBS football just in case the ACC gets raided and has to backfill one day, they'll have an edge over Villanova (assuming the ACC doesn't want non FBS members).
09-13-2021 06:55 AM
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