Another angry voice: UConn is Leaning Hard Into Not Caring About Football

[Husky25]

Plus arranging football schedules by offering basketball games is still on the table.

Does this happen? I hear it constantly here, but I don't recall a particular instance where one party or another (or even the evidence born out of the scheduling agreement) indicates that offering to play basketball nets a football game.

 

[whaler11]

Then why do you waste your time posting on a UConn football fan board, if it's a laughing stock. So your job on the Boneyard football board is to "educate" fans and bring them back to reality. It no wonder they can't sell season tickets with fans like you rooting the team on. Sounds to me like someone has an axe to grind.

yep uconn football’s problem is the fans who can recognize garbage football when they see it.

not the fact they play garbage football.

makes sense.

 

[Guapo]

Does this happen? I hear it constantly here, but I don't recall a particular instance where one party or another (or even the evidence born out of the scheduling agreement) indicates that offering to play basketball nets a football game.

Yes it does happen.

For instance, UMass did a football buy game at UGA in exchange for a home and home basketball series.

 

[Husky25]

Yes it does happen.

For instance, UMass did a football buy game at UGA in exchange for a home and home basketball series.

Thanks for that. I will take this idea with more than a grain of salt...not much more, but still.

 

[BlueMAB]

Your last paragraph directly contradicts your opening argument.

I agree with the last paragraph. We are a basketball power, we are not a football power.

Let’s see if we can leverage the basketball power to help schedule better football games.

No need to chicken little quite yet.

It doesn't though. If the football brand was even average, we wouldn't have to trade basketball games for football games.

I'm not chicken littling. I didn't say we're screwed. But I'm not going to pretend like this is nothing but good news. It's not. It's an incredible challenge for an athletic department that has not done much to show they are capable of overcoming incredible challenges.

I think we had to leave the AAC. I think it present an opportunity to be more financially stable. One we had to jump at.

That doesn't mean it's without risk. And the morons who ask stupid questions like "were we a laughingstock when we went to the Fiesta Bowl?" have very little context of UConn football's place in the national landscape.

Basketball has elevated the school, but not to the point where people won't call UConn football the dumpster fire that it is.

I sure hope Edsall turns it around. If not him, someone. I want my kids to grow up going to games, enjoying the tailgating, the football, the atmosphere. Right now, taking them to games is more like a punishment. It's boring and we suck.

My ignore list is getting pretty long these days

Me or the guy blaming fans for not wanting to go watch bad football for 8 consecutive seasons?

 

[Guapo]

Thanks for that. I will take this idea with more than a grain of salt...not much more, but still.

Yeah, I don’t think it’ll make up the bulk of our scheduling strategy but it’ll come into play.

 

[Guapo]

It doesn't though. If the football brand was even average, we wouldn't have to trade basketball games for football games.

I'm not chicken littling. I didn't say we're screwed. But I'm not going to pretend like this is nothing but good news. It's not. It's an incredible challenge for an athletic department that has not done much to show they are capable of overcoming incredible challenges.

I think we had to leave the AAC. I think it present an opportunity to be more financially stable. One we had to jump at.

That doesn't mean it's without risk. And the morons who ask stupid questions like "were we a laughingstock when we went to the Fiesta Bowl?" have very little context of UConn football's place in the national landscape.

Basketball has elevated the school, but not to the point where people won't call UConn football the dumpster fire that it is.

I sure hope Edsall turns it around. If not him, someone. I want my kids to grow up going to games, enjoying the tailgating, the football, the atmosphere. Right now, taking them to games is more like a punishment. It's boring and we suck. They

Me or the guy blaming fans for not wanting to go watch bad football for 8 consecutive seasons?

Yeah I mean, again, nothing you say here is wrong. I acknowledge the risks and potential pitfalls, but I’m hoping for the best rather than expecting the worst regarding the football program.

I would ask that you not freak out when the first couple of schedules are released; there is a distinct possibility that they will be bad those first two years.

If, after the first two years, we’re still playing Southwest Delaware State and the Willimantic YMCA every week, then we can freak out lol

 

[BlueMAB]

Yeah I mean, again, nothing you say here is wrong. I acknowledge the risks and potential pitfalls, but I’m hoping for the best rather than expecting the worst regarding the football program.

I would ask that you not freak out when the first couple of schedules are released; there is a distinct possibility that they will be bad those first two years.

If, after the first two years, we’re still playing Southwest Delaware State and the Willimantic YMCA every week, then we can freak out lol

I expect growing pains, I know schedules are made years in advance. and won't freak out. I still hope for the best, just mentally preparing for the worst.

For the record I have no problem with positivity, and excitement over the potential here. But I refuse to suspend reality, and pretend like UConn is a strong enough brand to get a schedule comparable to BYU. Our schedule will be worse for the foreseeable future. Obviously winning would help...

 

[ConnHuskBask]

The Big East is that in name only though. You are not wrong about that. Five of UConn's seven best former Big East rivals are in the ACC.

To me, I feel like the former Big East rivals are slightly stronger in the ACC than the current Big East, but past the top two in each, PC, StJ, Hall and BC, Ville, ND are all pretty much the same to me.

Big East - Georgetown, Villanova, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall
ACC - Syracuse, Pitt, BC, Louisville, ND

 

[kemba]

They really aren't though.

Does anyone view Duke Football through a better lens due to the basketball team?
Does anyone think of basketball when you say the name Alabama?
Kansas Jayhawks. One of the best environments for CBB and one of the biggest names. Kansas football? Not remotely the same.

It has a little impact imo. Not a huge impact, but I do think schools would favor playing us than UMass partially because of our brand name as a school

 

[TJT]

UConn football is headed to a long slow death by a thousand cuts.

 

[whaler11]

UConn football is headed to a long slow death by a thousand cuts.

posts from 2010

 

[junglehusky]

The new AAC deal was too ESPN+ heavy for UConn's liking. The women's basketball program is of more value than the AAC would/could negotiate for so the powers that be in Storrs said we can make better money on SNY and big time event games on ESPN(UConn vs ND, UC vs Tenn, ect) so that sport at the very least pays for itself and then some. UConn men's basketball should save a couple bucks on logistics but how much, playing as many uninteresting league opponents as when they were in the AAC, is still a question. Who's going to Nebraska from CT to watch a men's or women's basketball game and.... who is going to televise it and for what kind of profit if any? And... the powers that be in Storrs have pretty much left UConn football to twist in the wind. If they can get their footing and carve out scheduling and results to at least pay for themselves then they can continue but it's clear they do this on their own. The state, the CT residents, the school are done with them. The football program has to sell itself now to survive. I think they can. This mountain I believe they can climb. And man will it be sweet when a top 10 UConn squad plays on New Years Day.

What's with the Times New Roman?

 

[BlueMAB]

It has a little impact imo. Not a huge impact, but I do think schools would favor playing us than UMass partially because of our brand name as a school

We can't quantify the impact. It's all supposition. We do know that we use basketball to get football games. To what extent to ADs prefer playing us because we're a brand name in basketball? I don't know. I don't think anyone making the "national name" argument really knows either. It's just a convenient argument to make.

The brand is basketball. We are a basketball school. And I'm someone who has had football season tickets far more than basketball season tickets. You can't say we have a national name without recognizing the reason for that is basketball. Not academics. Not field hockey. Not baseball or soccer or football. Calhoun and Auriemma are why we have a national brand in basketball.

The men were coming off a final four appearance in 2009, the women won it all in 2009 and 2010. And here's UConn in the Fiesta Bowl at 8-4 in January of 2011, and how do the powers that be react? Dismantling the system that allowed us access to the most prestigious bowls, and leaving us behind in conference realignment.
So maybe the national name brand doesn't carry as much weight as people here would like to think?

 

[ConnHuskBask]

The men were coming off a final four appearance in 2009, the women won it all in 2009 and 2010. And here's UConn in the Fiesta Bowl at 8-4 in January of 2011, and how do the powers that be react? Dismantling the system that allowed us access to the most prestigious bowls, and leaving us behind in conference realignment.
So maybe the national name brand doesn't carry as much weight as people here would like to think?

Yes and no. The UConn brand doesn't carry nearly as much weight as most on this board would like to think, and while that's true, it's also true we were runner-ups in the ACC twice for realignment with schools whose value were perceived as relatively equal to ours (Pitt and Louisville). While being a runner-up doesn't count for anything, it's not like we were never considered or not thought to bring much to the table.

UConn is a case study in poor management, bad timing, and circumstances out of our control and that's why we are where we are. It's more that than we bring such little value that we were left behind and everyone taken ahead of us doubled us up.

 

[BlueMAB]

Yes and no. The UConn brand doesn't carry nearly as much weight as most on this board would like to think, and while that's true, it's also true we were runner-ups in the ACC twice for realignment with schools whose value were perceived as relatively equal to ours (Pitt and Louisville). While being a runner-up doesn't count for anything, it's not like we were never considered or not thought to bring much to the table.

UConn is a case study in poor management, bad timing, and circumstances out of our control and that's why we are where we are. It's more that than we bring such little value that we were left behind and everyone taken ahead of us doubled us up.

Giving you a like, but I never said we weren't big/good/known enough to "not" be considered, or that we don't bring much to the table. I think we bring a lot to the table, but for the one item that matters most, we don't bring much at all, unless we throw in some basketball games.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Giving you a like, but I never said we weren't big/good/known enough to "not" be considered, or that we don't bring much to the table. I think we bring a lot to the table, but for the one item that matters most, we don't bring much at all, unless we throw in some basketball games.

Sure, nowadays I agree with that. It's been a whole of a lot of losing since the Fiesta Bowl.

I think I'm optimistic that things will be ok. It won't be the Big East and it won't be the ACC, but it will be FBS football that hopefully has some winning/regional flavor.

I understand setting the goal of a league title/bowl game are lost, but ultimately I've always felt college football is more about enjoying playing rivals as the sport is basically set up for maybe 8 schools to actually contend for titles.

 

[huskyrob1]

Why do you worry about how I spend my time? Where did I say my job was to educate people like you? I'd never accept that job. The pay is crap, the hours are long, and at the end of the day, you end up with people like you thinking that fans are the problem. Rather than the fact that UConn football has not had a winning season since the iPad was invented.

You know you lost this disagreement right? Because you're focusing on me, rather than trying to back up the ridiculous post you made.

I didn't lose anything, maybe except some respect for WingU-Conn.

 

[BlueMAB]

I didn't lose anything, maybe except some respect for WingU-Conn.

I don't know how I can cope with this terrible news. My day is ruined.

 

[BlueMAB]

yep uconn football’s problem is the fans who can recognize garbage football when they see it.

not the fact they play garbage football.

makes sense.

This guy is touting UConn's Fiesta bowl appearance as evidence of our national pull.

Ignoring the fact of course that UConn's Fiesta bowl appearance killed the BCS and led to the even more exclusive playoff format.

But some guys who have succeeded at other schools once coached at UConn!!!!! Look out Clemson, we're on the come up!

 

[HuskyBandDad]

1) Yes UCF was a laughingstock at 0-10. Never seen a winless team NOT be a laughingstock. And they have nothing to do with us. Literally nothing. We're discussing UConn football's national appeal, and you bring up another school. Do you need more evidence that when it comes to over-inflating UConn football's national appeal you are exhibit A? Okay..
2) nobody thinks about UConn when they think about Ambrose, Orlando or Morehead. They haven't elevated UConn football's brand. Unless you're argument is.."UConn, great stepping stone for coaches!"
3) Yes. UConn was still pretty much a laughingstock both times we won a share of the "Big Least". Our winning it, was used as evidence that the conference was trash, rather than merely a success story.
4) UConn's Fiesta Bowl appearance was the death of the BCS system. Sending an 8 win team at a basketball school from what (fairly or not) was widely considered the weakest of the BCS conferences literally was the nail in the coffin. We changed the system with that appearance, and it's done nothing but harm to us since.
5) The fact you have to bring up coaches who have made their name AT OTHER SCHOOLS shows how out of touch you are with UConn's perception on a national level.

Please don't bother responding, you're out of touch with reality here.

I hated to like your post. LOL But spot on.

 

[AndOne]

Yes it does happen.

For instance, UMass did a football buy game at UGA in exchange for a home and home basketball series.

So how exactly did the basketball games contribute to the football game? UMass basketball stinks. UGA basketball stinks. UGA paid UMass to be their football punching bag. Did UMass take less money for the football game to entice a lousy UGA to play home & home basketball games? Makes no sense.

 

[Guapo]

So how exactly did the basketball games contribute to the football game? UMass basketball stinks. UGA basketball stinks. UGA paid UMass to be their football punching bag. Did UMass take less money for the football game to entice a lousy UGA to play home & home basketball games? Makes no sense.

This isn’t a theory!! This actually happened.

And guess what I learned from reading this article (one of many you can find on the topic with simply google search)? They did the same thing with South Carolina.

I accept your apology.

UMass to Play UGA in Football and Men's Basketball

The Massachusetts Minutemen will play the Georgia Bulldogs in football and men's basketball beginning in the 2018 season.

www.google.com

 

[Adios]

Yes and no. The UConn brand doesn't carry nearly as much weight as most on this board would like to think, and while that's true, it's also true we were runner-ups in the ACC twice for realignment with schools whose value were perceived as relatively equal to ours (Pitt and Louisville). While being a runner-up doesn't count for anything, it's not like we were never considered or not thought to bring much to the table.

UConn is a case study in poor management, bad timing, and circumstances out of our control and that's why we are where we are. It's more that than we bring such little value that we were left behind and everyone taken ahead of us doubled us up.

I don't disagree there's been mismanagement but I'd say we're more of a case study of what it takes to succeed in modern FBS level D1 athletics, as a new money school.

The football independence does give us a chance to dictate and express our school's culture.

 

[kemba]

We can't quantify the impact. It's all supposition. We do know that we use basketball to get football games. To what extent to ADs prefer playing us because we're a brand name in basketball? I don't know. I don't think anyone making the "national name" argument really knows either. It's just a convenient argument to make.

I agree, we can't quantify it. It's just an opinion. I guess we'll find out once we see what types of schedules we can put together.

The brand is basketball. We are a basketball school. And I'm someone who has had football season tickets far more than basketball season tickets. You can't say we have a national name without recognizing the reason for that is basketball. Not academics. Not field hockey. Not baseball or soccer or football. Calhoun and Auriemma are why we have a national brand in basketball.

Of course

So maybe the national name brand doesn't carry as much weight as people here would like to think?

Well saying that we should be able to have more success than UMass putting schedules together as an independent isn't exactly claiming it carries a ton of weight