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Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
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Sam Minuteman Offline
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Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
This is a bit of a different perspective, and I expect to get plenty of hate mail but here goes.....

I know it doesn't seem like it now but Once Uconn gets through the 2020 schedule which will be challenging to fill but not impossible Independence isn't that bad. With the hoops games they can offer other schools they should easily be able to find schools playing each other to push a game back and instead each play Uconn in exchange for Men's and Women's Hoop games.

No opportunity to play for a conference championship. How often were they going to compete for one in the AAC? Less than 20% of schools get to play in the game every year anyway.

No more Civil ConnFLict. No more rivalry with Tulane. Smack talk with SMU is all but done. Maybe they had some rivalries with Temple? Cinci? USF? Instead they will have games against Florida, Mississippi, Rutgers, Army, Hawaii, BYU, ND, Toledo, App State, UMass, BC, Buffalo, and so on and so forth.

Less $$.... they go from $7M/yr to $5M (or something like that I'm not an expert here) one check from an SEC team for $1.9M buy game takes care of that real quick, add another and they come out ahead I think.

Less CFP $$, see above.

Harder to find on TV. This was a gripe of mine in first year or two of UMass independence but with the quality of streaming service now it's not such a big deal. PLUS the away games are held by the opponent, and local fans are going to the games anyway. As someone who lives a 24 hour ride away from his school I have more trouble getting UMass away games on TV that home games. Also possible the average trip (mileage wise) for UConn away games will decrease in some years as an independent.

Officials from other conferences will have no problem hosing you with bad calls. Sorry this is true.

Your AD WILL have to earn his salary when it comes to putting the schedule together, but that is why they get paid the big bucks.

Respect. You will get none.... until you earn it. Even then you won't get much.

If you like football, they are still playing the game every week. Sit down have a cold beer and root for your team to win. All of this is without even considering how good the Big East will be for the rest of the Athletic Department.

All this is from a guy who hates everything about UConn, except the spring party in that one apartment village, that is cool.
06-28-2019 11:13 AM
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Attackcoog Offline
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RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
(06-28-2019 11:13 AM)Sam Minuteman Wrote:  This is a bit of a different perspective, and I expect to get plenty of hate mail but here goes.....

I know it doesn't seem like it now but Once Uconn gets through the 2020 schedule which will be challenging to fill but not impossible Independence isn't that bad. With the hoops games they can offer other schools they should easily be able to find schools playing each other to push a game back and instead each play Uconn in exchange for Men's and Women's Hoop games.

No opportunity to play for a conference championship. How often were they going to compete for one in the AAC? Less than 20% of schools get to play in the game every year anyway.

No more Civil ConnFLict. No more rivalry with Tulane. Smack talk with SMU is all but done. Maybe they had some rivalries with Temple? Cinci? USF? Instead they will have games against Florida, Mississippi, Rutgers, Army, Hawaii, BYU, ND, Toledo, App State, UMass, BC, Buffalo, and so on and so forth.

Less $$.... they go from $7M/yr to $5M (or something like that I'm not an expert here) one check from an SEC team for $1.9M buy game takes care of that real quick, add another and they come out ahead I think.

Less CFP $$, see above.

Harder to find on TV. This was a gripe of mine in first year or two of UMass independence but with the quality of streaming service now it's not such a big deal. PLUS the away games are held by the opponent, and local fans are going to the games anyway. As someone who lives a 24 hour ride away from his school I have more trouble getting UMass away games on TV that home games. Also possible the average trip (mileage wise) for UConn away games will decrease in some years as an independent.

Officials from other conferences will have no problem hosing you with bad calls. Sorry this is true.

Your AD WILL have to earn his salary when it comes to putting the schedule together, but that is why they get paid the big bucks.

Respect. You will get none.... until you earn it. Even then you won't get much.

If you like football, they are still playing the game every week. Sit down have a cold beer and root for your team to win. All of this is without even considering how good the Big East will be for the rest of the Athletic Department.

All this is from a guy who hates everything about UConn, except the spring party in that one apartment village, that is cool.

I think thats fairly accurate. I think the real issue is that football program is likely to lose even more money playing indy than they do in the AAC. Not good when you have a 40 million dollar deficit. Thats why I suspect the long term plan is let the program continue to struggle against all the headwinds you describe with the expectation that it will slowly lose fan support. Then, after a few years of declining support, the administration can say "we gave it a fair try" and downgrade or eliminate the program all together--which will make a significant dent in the athletic budget overruns.
(This post was last modified: 06-28-2019 11:31 AM by Attackcoog.)
06-28-2019 11:29 AM
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loki_the_bubba Online
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RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
(06-28-2019 11:29 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  
(06-28-2019 11:13 AM)Sam Minuteman Wrote:  This is a bit of a different perspective, and I expect to get plenty of hate mail but here goes.....

I know it doesn't seem like it now but Once Uconn gets through the 2020 schedule which will be challenging to fill but not impossible Independence isn't that bad. With the hoops games they can offer other schools they should easily be able to find schools playing each other to push a game back and instead each play Uconn in exchange for Men's and Women's Hoop games.

No opportunity to play for a conference championship. How often were they going to compete for one in the AAC? Less than 20% of schools get to play in the game every year anyway.

No more Civil ConnFLict. No more rivalry with Tulane. Smack talk with SMU is all but done. Maybe they had some rivalries with Temple? Cinci? USF? Instead they will have games against Florida, Mississippi, Rutgers, Army, Hawaii, BYU, ND, Toledo, App State, UMass, BC, Buffalo, and so on and so forth.

Less $$.... they go from $7M/yr to $5M (or something like that I'm not an expert here) one check from an SEC team for $1.9M buy game takes care of that real quick, add another and they come out ahead I think.

Less CFP $$, see above.

Harder to find on TV. This was a gripe of mine in first year or two of UMass independence but with the quality of streaming service now it's not such a big deal. PLUS the away games are held by the opponent, and local fans are going to the games anyway. As someone who lives a 24 hour ride away from his school I have more trouble getting UMass away games on TV that home games. Also possible the average trip (mileage wise) for UConn away games will decrease in some years as an independent.

Officials from other conferences will have no problem hosing you with bad calls. Sorry this is true.

Your AD WILL have to earn his salary when it comes to putting the schedule together, but that is why they get paid the big bucks.

Respect. You will get none.... until you earn it. Even then you won't get much.

If you like football, they are still playing the game every week. Sit down have a cold beer and root for your team to win. All of this is without even considering how good the Big East will be for the rest of the Athletic Department.

All this is from a guy who hates everything about UConn, except the spring party in that one apartment village, that is cool.

I think thats fairly accurate. I think the real issue is that football program is likely to lose even more money playing indy than they do in the AAC. Not good when you have a 40 million dollar deficit in a cash strapped state. Thats why I suspect the long term plan is let the program continue to struggle with the expectation that it will slowly lose support. Then, the administration can say "we gave it a fair try" and downgrade or eliminate the program all together--which will make a significant dent in the athletic budget overruns.
Yeah, I really can't see it any other way. And I struggle to see how FCS is the end game. Elimination of football is the clear destination.
06-28-2019 11:32 AM
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otown Offline
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RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
(06-28-2019 11:29 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  
(06-28-2019 11:13 AM)Sam Minuteman Wrote:  This is a bit of a different perspective, and I expect to get plenty of hate mail but here goes.....

I know it doesn't seem like it now but Once Uconn gets through the 2020 schedule which will be challenging to fill but not impossible Independence isn't that bad. With the hoops games they can offer other schools they should easily be able to find schools playing each other to push a game back and instead each play Uconn in exchange for Men's and Women's Hoop games.

No opportunity to play for a conference championship. How often were they going to compete for one in the AAC? Less than 20% of schools get to play in the game every year anyway.

No more Civil ConnFLict. No more rivalry with Tulane. Smack talk with SMU is all but done. Maybe they had some rivalries with Temple? Cinci? USF? Instead they will have games against Florida, Mississippi, Rutgers, Army, Hawaii, BYU, ND, Toledo, App State, UMass, BC, Buffalo, and so on and so forth.

Less $$.... they go from $7M/yr to $5M (or something like that I'm not an expert here) one check from an SEC team for $1.9M buy game takes care of that real quick, add another and they come out ahead I think.

Less CFP $$, see above.

Harder to find on TV. This was a gripe of mine in first year or two of UMass independence but with the quality of streaming service now it's not such a big deal. PLUS the away games are held by the opponent, and local fans are going to the games anyway. As someone who lives a 24 hour ride away from his school I have more trouble getting UMass away games on TV that home games. Also possible the average trip (mileage wise) for UConn away games will decrease in some years as an independent.

Officials from other conferences will have no problem hosing you with bad calls. Sorry this is true.

Your AD WILL have to earn his salary when it comes to putting the schedule together, but that is why they get paid the big bucks.

Respect. You will get none.... until you earn it. Even then you won't get much.

If you like football, they are still playing the game every week. Sit down have a cold beer and root for your team to win. All of this is without even considering how good the Big East will be for the rest of the Athletic Department.

All this is from a guy who hates everything about UConn, except the spring party in that one apartment village, that is cool.

I think thats fairly accurate. I think the real issue is that football program is likely to lose even more money playing indy than they do in the AAC. Not good when you have a 40 million dollar deficit. Thats why I suspect the long term plan is let the program continue to struggle against all the headwinds you describe with the expectation that it will slowly lose fan support. Then, after a few years of declining support, the administration can say "we gave it a fair try" and downgrade or eliminate the program all together--which will make a significant dent in the athletic budget overruns.

This is 100 percent what I think is going on. The university is bleeding cash from football. They need to pull the plug. The BE is the best place for them to go since it is fairly local, is another major basketball league, and allows them to slowly pull the plug on football. This will be a much easier task then say a school like UAB in the South. The UConn fan simply do not care about college football, along with the rest of the New England states.
06-28-2019 11:38 AM
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Cyniclone Offline
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RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
(06-28-2019 11:38 AM)otown Wrote:  
(06-28-2019 11:29 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  
(06-28-2019 11:13 AM)Sam Minuteman Wrote:  This is a bit of a different perspective, and I expect to get plenty of hate mail but here goes.....

I know it doesn't seem like it now but Once Uconn gets through the 2020 schedule which will be challenging to fill but not impossible Independence isn't that bad. With the hoops games they can offer other schools they should easily be able to find schools playing each other to push a game back and instead each play Uconn in exchange for Men's and Women's Hoop games.

No opportunity to play for a conference championship. How often were they going to compete for one in the AAC? Less than 20% of schools get to play in the game every year anyway.

No more Civil ConnFLict. No more rivalry with Tulane. Smack talk with SMU is all but done. Maybe they had some rivalries with Temple? Cinci? USF? Instead they will have games against Florida, Mississippi, Rutgers, Army, Hawaii, BYU, ND, Toledo, App State, UMass, BC, Buffalo, and so on and so forth.

Less $$.... they go from $7M/yr to $5M (or something like that I'm not an expert here) one check from an SEC team for $1.9M buy game takes care of that real quick, add another and they come out ahead I think.

Less CFP $$, see above.

Harder to find on TV. This was a gripe of mine in first year or two of UMass independence but with the quality of streaming service now it's not such a big deal. PLUS the away games are held by the opponent, and local fans are going to the games anyway. As someone who lives a 24 hour ride away from his school I have more trouble getting UMass away games on TV that home games. Also possible the average trip (mileage wise) for UConn away games will decrease in some years as an independent.

Officials from other conferences will have no problem hosing you with bad calls. Sorry this is true.

Your AD WILL have to earn his salary when it comes to putting the schedule together, but that is why they get paid the big bucks.

Respect. You will get none.... until you earn it. Even then you won't get much.

If you like football, they are still playing the game every week. Sit down have a cold beer and root for your team to win. All of this is without even considering how good the Big East will be for the rest of the Athletic Department.

All this is from a guy who hates everything about UConn, except the spring party in that one apartment village, that is cool.

I think thats fairly accurate. I think the real issue is that football program is likely to lose even more money playing indy than they do in the AAC. Not good when you have a 40 million dollar deficit. Thats why I suspect the long term plan is let the program continue to struggle against all the headwinds you describe with the expectation that it will slowly lose fan support. Then, after a few years of declining support, the administration can say "we gave it a fair try" and downgrade or eliminate the program all together--which will make a significant dent in the athletic budget overruns.

This is 100 percent what I think is going on. The university is bleeding cash from football. They need to pull the plug. The BE is the best place for them to go since it is fairly local, is another major basketball league, and allows them to slowly pull the plug on football. This will be a much easier task then say a school like UAB in the South. The UConn fan simply do not care about college football, along with the rest of the New England states.

Problem is, you have a 38-40,000 seat stadium that has no long-term tenant if UConn drops football. You have to be mindful of the sunken-cost fallacy but at the same time, the state has a vested interest in ensuring that the place gets used, and without UConn, there's nothing but the occasional soccer and football exhibitions. Maybe the XFL or the next failed spring-football league will stick a team there, but that's about it.

I could kinda make a case that moving UConn back to FCS might actually result in better attendance. UConn fans may not especially care about football, but if UMass also moved down and you had games against them, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, the New York FCS schools and the Ivy schools, that might be more compelling than games against higher-level teams from the South and Midwest. Not enough to sell out their stadium but better at least. Maybe.
06-28-2019 12:33 PM
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Cyniclone Offline
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RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
(06-28-2019 11:13 AM)Sam Minuteman Wrote:  With the hoops games they can offer other schools they should easily be able to find schools playing each other to push a game back and instead each play Uconn in exchange for Men's and Women's Hoop games.

It's been said here before and will be said here again, most likely, but to reiterate: UConn isn't going to have much if any flexibility with offering hoops games once they're in the Big East. That's 20 BE games, their exempt tournament, a Gavitt Games contest and a game in whatever they call the Big 12 challenge. That's 23 dates with five or six open, depending on whether they play in a four or eight-team tournament (presuming the NCAA's rule change on scheduling goes through). Buy games and top-line home-and-homes/neutral-site games will fill those gaps quickly.

If UConn is willing to consign the football team to an uncertain future as an independent to put their basketball in the Big East, they're not going to sacrifice a basketball home date or prestige game to send them to a CUSA or MAC school so they can host their football team with no stakes before a crowd in the 5,000-7,000 range.
06-28-2019 12:46 PM
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freshtop Offline
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RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
(06-28-2019 12:46 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  
(06-28-2019 11:13 AM)Sam Minuteman Wrote:  With the hoops games they can offer other schools they should easily be able to find schools playing each other to push a game back and instead each play Uconn in exchange for Men's and Women's Hoop games.

It's been said here before and will be said here again, most likely, but to reiterate: UConn isn't going to have much if any flexibility with offering hoops games once they're in the Big East. That's 20 BE games, their exempt tournament, a Gavitt Games contest and a game in whatever they call the Big 12 challenge. That's 23 dates with five or six open, depending on whether they play in a four or eight-team tournament (presuming the NCAA's rule change on scheduling goes through). Buy games and top-line home-and-homes/neutral-site games will fill those gaps quickly.

If UConn is willing to consign the football team to an uncertain future as an independent to put their basketball in the Big East, they're not going to sacrifice a basketball home date or prestige game to send them to a CUSA or MAC school so they can host their football team with no stakes before a crowd in the 5,000-7,000 range.

Agreed. Without a basketball incentive though, UCONN football does little for any G5 conference. As an independent, there are a limited number of programs that would be willing to travel to Storrs, especially if UCONN doesn't get treated as a P5 for scheduling requirements. Geography isn't going to be doing them any favors. I see a lot of body bag road games and a lot of bought home games against MAC teams. All that with no bowl game guarantee at the end of the season. The might be better off in FCS.
06-28-2019 12:53 PM
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e-parade Offline
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RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
(06-28-2019 12:33 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  
(06-28-2019 11:38 AM)otown Wrote:  
(06-28-2019 11:29 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  
(06-28-2019 11:13 AM)Sam Minuteman Wrote:  This is a bit of a different perspective, and I expect to get plenty of hate mail but here goes.....

I know it doesn't seem like it now but Once Uconn gets through the 2020 schedule which will be challenging to fill but not impossible Independence isn't that bad. With the hoops games they can offer other schools they should easily be able to find schools playing each other to push a game back and instead each play Uconn in exchange for Men's and Women's Hoop games.

No opportunity to play for a conference championship. How often were they going to compete for one in the AAC? Less than 20% of schools get to play in the game every year anyway.

No more Civil ConnFLict. No more rivalry with Tulane. Smack talk with SMU is all but done. Maybe they had some rivalries with Temple? Cinci? USF? Instead they will have games against Florida, Mississippi, Rutgers, Army, Hawaii, BYU, ND, Toledo, App State, UMass, BC, Buffalo, and so on and so forth.

Less $$.... they go from $7M/yr to $5M (or something like that I'm not an expert here) one check from an SEC team for $1.9M buy game takes care of that real quick, add another and they come out ahead I think.

Less CFP $$, see above.

Harder to find on TV. This was a gripe of mine in first year or two of UMass independence but with the quality of streaming service now it's not such a big deal. PLUS the away games are held by the opponent, and local fans are going to the games anyway. As someone who lives a 24 hour ride away from his school I have more trouble getting UMass away games on TV that home games. Also possible the average trip (mileage wise) for UConn away games will decrease in some years as an independent.

Officials from other conferences will have no problem hosing you with bad calls. Sorry this is true.

Your AD WILL have to earn his salary when it comes to putting the schedule together, but that is why they get paid the big bucks.

Respect. You will get none.... until you earn it. Even then you won't get much.

If you like football, they are still playing the game every week. Sit down have a cold beer and root for your team to win. All of this is without even considering how good the Big East will be for the rest of the Athletic Department.

All this is from a guy who hates everything about UConn, except the spring party in that one apartment village, that is cool.

I think thats fairly accurate. I think the real issue is that football program is likely to lose even more money playing indy than they do in the AAC. Not good when you have a 40 million dollar deficit. Thats why I suspect the long term plan is let the program continue to struggle against all the headwinds you describe with the expectation that it will slowly lose fan support. Then, after a few years of declining support, the administration can say "we gave it a fair try" and downgrade or eliminate the program all together--which will make a significant dent in the athletic budget overruns.

This is 100 percent what I think is going on. The university is bleeding cash from football. They need to pull the plug. The BE is the best place for them to go since it is fairly local, is another major basketball league, and allows them to slowly pull the plug on football. This will be a much easier task then say a school like UAB in the South. The UConn fan simply do not care about college football, along with the rest of the New England states.

Problem is, you have a 38-40,000 seat stadium that has no long-term tenant if UConn drops football. You have to be mindful of the sunken-cost fallacy but at the same time, the state has a vested interest in ensuring that the place gets used, and without UConn, there's nothing but the occasional soccer and football exhibitions. Maybe the XFL or the next failed spring-football league will stick a team there, but that's about it.

I could kinda make a case that moving UConn back to FCS might actually result in better attendance. UConn fans may not especially care about football, but if UMass also moved down and you had games against them, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, the New York FCS schools and the Ivy schools, that might be more compelling than games against higher-level teams from the South and Midwest. Not enough to sell out their stadium but better at least. Maybe.

UMass isn't moving down.
06-28-2019 12:59 PM
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johnbragg Online
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RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
(06-28-2019 12:33 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  Problem is, you have a 38-40,000 seat stadium that has no long-term tenant if UConn drops football. You have to be mindful of the sunken-cost fallacy but at the same time, the state has a vested interest in ensuring that the place gets used, and without UConn, there's nothing but the occasional soccer and football exhibitions. Maybe the XFL or the next failed spring-football league will stick a team there, but that's about it.

Stadium lease ends in 2023, and I've read something about needing major rehab in the next 10 years. How major is the 25-year rehab on a stadium built in 2000 or so, I don't know.

Quote:I could kinda make a case that moving UConn back to FCS might actually result in better attendance. UConn fans may not especially care about football, but if UMass also moved down and you had games against them, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, the New York FCS schools and the Ivy schools, that might be more compelling than games against higher-level teams from the South and Midwest. Not enough to sell out their stadium but better at least. Maybe.

Well, last year UMAss @ UConn had a turnstile count of about 4000, so I don't expect big attendance for FCS HUsky football
06-28-2019 01:02 PM
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Kit-Cat Offline
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RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
(06-28-2019 12:46 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  
(06-28-2019 11:13 AM)Sam Minuteman Wrote:  With the hoops games they can offer other schools they should easily be able to find schools playing each other to push a game back and instead each play Uconn in exchange for Men's and Women's Hoop games.

It's been said here before and will be said here again, most likely, but to reiterate: UConn isn't going to have much if any flexibility with offering hoops games once they're in the Big East. That's 20 BE games, their exempt tournament, a Gavitt Games contest and a game in whatever they call the Big 12 challenge. That's 23 dates with five or six open, depending on whether they play in a four or eight-team tournament (presuming the NCAA's rule change on scheduling goes through). Buy games and top-line home-and-homes/neutral-site games will fill those gaps quickly.

If we roll with the number 23 and only 6 openings in the non-conference they might be better off signing a partial scheduling agreement with the MAC for 6 FB games and the ability to schedule 3× men and womens BB against the Top 3 of the MAC from the prior year.

That way the MAC gets non conference scheduling help out of it while UConn retains maximum payday flexibility.

If they go full FB member to the MAC they would require 4 games, something Temple was able to meet as a part of the Big 5 but UConn might find the deal more inhibiting.
06-28-2019 01:09 PM
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RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
(06-28-2019 11:13 AM)Sam Minuteman Wrote:  With the hoops games they can offer other schools they should easily be able to find schools playing each other to push a game back and instead each play Uconn in exchange for Men's and Women's Hoop games.

I am not sure that is a real possibility. With 23 games already spoken for, and assuming an excempt tournament, that leaves only 4 games to play with. Sacrificing those games for the football program, is going back to the same issue they are trying to escape: sacrificing basketball (men and women) for football.

I think Uconn football is on its own in this regard, in most cases.
06-28-2019 01:16 PM
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Cyniclone Offline
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RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
(06-28-2019 01:02 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  Stadium lease ends in 2023, and I've read something about needing major rehab in the next 10 years. How major is the 25-year rehab on a stadium built in 2000 or so, I don't know.

That's a valid question. I also don't know what the expectations for the stadium were at the onset. Was it always meant for UConn football mostly, or were they hoping for other things (an MLS team, a spring-football team, a bowl game, NFL/MLS exhibitions)?


Quote:Well, last year UMAss @ UConn had a turnstile count of about 4000, so I don't expect big attendance for FCS HUsky football

Perhaps not. However, in the admittedly unlikely event that UConn and UMass dropped to FCS and played each other at the end of the season with potentially FCS playoff position and American East/CAA title hopes in the balance, that might generate more interest than two non-bowl teams stumbling through to the end of another ignominious season. But maybe not.
06-28-2019 01:34 PM
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Michael in Raleigh Offline
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RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
UConn football has had such a huge downfall. I remember UConn hosted a game in either 2013 or 2014 against Michigan. Had to have been the biggest home game in school history. UConn gave Michigan a game before UM pulled away. Game was on either ABC or ESPN.

Now dropping the program is realistic in the next few years.

I feel very blessed to have watched my school advance in ways I couldn't have imagined when I graduated 15 years ago. It's like the opposite trajectory in football.
06-28-2019 01:48 PM
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Post: #14
RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
I think they will be fine as well.

Anyone who thinks UConn has given up on joining a P5 isn't thinking clearly. That's their end-goal.
06-28-2019 01:53 PM
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MissouriStateBears Offline
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Post: #15
RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
(06-28-2019 01:53 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  I think they will be fine as well.

Anyone who thinks UConn has given up on joining a P5 isn't thinking clearly. That's their end-goal.

I agree. The end goal is the ACC or Big Ten. Big East basketball keeps them in the upper echelon league and independence in football allows them to rebuild their football program. UConn hasn't had any problems scheduling ACC and Big Ten teams in the past, shouldn't be a problem in the future. I would look for FOX to step in and get some football/basketball deals done with the Big Ten schools in regards to playing UConn.
06-28-2019 02:40 PM
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33laszlo99 Offline
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Post: #16
RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
(06-28-2019 01:53 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  I think they will be fine as well.

Anyone who thinks UConn has given up on joining a P5 isn't thinking clearly. That's their end-goal.

I can't see it. Tell me the scenario that you envision which ends with UConn in a P5 conference.
06-28-2019 02:50 PM
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TardisCaptain Offline
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Post: #17
RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
IMHO as long as there are plenty of independent teams to help fill out the later half of the schedule, UConn football should be fine as an indy.
06-28-2019 02:53 PM
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quo vadis Offline
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Post: #18
RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
(06-28-2019 02:40 PM)MissouriStateBears Wrote:  
(06-28-2019 01:53 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  I think they will be fine as well.

Anyone who thinks UConn has given up on joining a P5 isn't thinking clearly. That's their end-goal.

I agree. The end goal is the ACC or Big Ten. Big East basketball keeps them in the upper echelon league and independence in football allows them to rebuild their football program. UConn hasn't had any problems scheduling ACC and Big Ten teams in the past, shouldn't be a problem in the future. I would look for FOX to step in and get some football/basketball deals done with the Big Ten schools in regards to playing UConn.

Yes, it is astonishing how many around here are saying UConn has "given up" on joining a Power league. I suspect it is sour grapes from those disappointed that they have upgraded to the Big East and want to make themselves feel better by imagining they can write off UConn as a possible power player. But as a Big East fan, I am realistic to know that the BE is not UConn's "destination" conference, more than every they want to position for a P5 bid.

As you say, the move to the Big East enhances their P5 prospects. It allow gives them their best chance to stop the bleeding of their flagship men's hoops program, and to rebuild football.

Is it a good chance? No, but what was happening to them in the AAC? Football was rock-bottom and men's hoops was declining steeply, so they'd have been crazy to stay.

The funniest comments are those that say UConn is "giving up on football" by leaving the AAC. That's hilarious. The AAC was the worst thing ever for UConn football, it cratered there. It's like if someone's house is on fire and they run out, a bystander says "they've given up on living in a house". Cra-Cra.
(This post was last modified: 06-28-2019 02:57 PM by quo vadis.)
06-28-2019 02:54 PM
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Georgia_Power_Company Offline
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Post: #19
RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
(06-28-2019 02:53 PM)TardisCaptain Wrote:  IMHO as long as there are plenty of independent teams to help fill out the later half of the schedule, UConn football should be fine as an indy.

I agree once they get past 2020 and 2021 which will be hard to schedule on short notice they will have plenty of late season options with Army, Liberty, UMass and NMSU all on the board as independents.
06-28-2019 02:59 PM
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Bogg Offline
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Post: #20
RE: Uconn Football Will Be Fine as an Independent
(06-28-2019 02:59 PM)Georgia_Power_Company Wrote:  
(06-28-2019 02:53 PM)TardisCaptain Wrote:  IMHO as long as there are plenty of independent teams to help fill out the later half of the schedule, UConn football should be fine as an indy.

I agree once they get past 2020 and 2021 which will be hard to schedule on short notice they will have plenty of late season options with Army, Liberty, UMass and NMSU all on the board as independents.

Also, and I can't stress this enough, they should leverage Yankee Stadium to get an annual series with BYU.
06-28-2019 03:00 PM
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