(09-14-2021 06:23 PM)DawgNBama Wrote:  Agreed, but if UConn really wanted to help out their football program, while simultaneously helping out their basketball programs (men & women's basketball), I think UConn should seriously consider MAC membership. AAC membership required that their basketball teams join as well, and UConn claims that damaged their basketball programs, so the AAC is a no-go. UConn would probably have to play some MAC teams OOC in men & women's basketball, but to me that would be a small price for helping out the football team.

Mathematically, it makes no sense for UConn to play in the MAC. With regards to basketball scheduling, we only get 11 non-conference games a year. At least 5 of them have to be big-name opponents. For instance, we play three games in Battle 4 Atlantis, one game in the Big 12-Big East challenge against WVU, and St. Bonaventure's (the best A-10 team) at a neutral site. That leaves six games. Every UConn fan's biggest issue with this year's schedule was the lack of a major home game OOC. There is no way that UConn could play even two MAC schools a year (one home and one away) and get the regular minimum of 16 home games a year.

Also, the MAC plays on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Attendance is already bad and would get way worse on a week night. Right now, every UConn game is on cable in CT, NY, and New England. Every basketball, women's basketball, or football game is either on a major national sports cable network or on SNY, NESN, ACC Network, or SEC Network. Why would UConn give that up to play football in the MAC, AAC, or any other G5 league? That's the real reason why UConn left. UConn was getting better ratings for women's basketball than Red Sox baseball in CT and ESPN and the AAC wanted to put their games and a lot of the football and basketball games on ESPN+. UConn said no.

With regards to the direction of the program: UConn stinks because they thought they could hire the guy that was successful before to resurrect the program-they thought wrong.

UConn will not be dropping to FCS or dropping the program. The proof of this is in our scheduling. We are scheduling teams like Ole Miss, UNC, NC State, Syracuse, BC, Army, etc. HOME and HOME. The fact that we can schedule these types of games says two things: 1) UConn has the brand to be FBS and 2) most of the ACC and a good portion of the B1G sees UConn as a peer school. You don't schedule those schools because you want to drop the sport.

The fix won't be easy but paying 5-6 million for a staff will get a lot of people interested in the head coaching position. UConn has a few big time donors that will help with that effort.

All in all, I think the reason that people want to see UConn out of the picture is twofold: 1) there is probably a lot of jealousy among G5 schools that UConn got promoted straight from FCS to a BCS conference ahead of all of them and 2) they are afraid UConn will be competitive again when they make a good hire and will be a top 40-50 program like they were in the Big East days.