And the 9 games for 2020 so far are...

[pepband99]

Please explain the no bowl game. I don’t know the answer.
Hasn’t BYU and Army or any Indy ever played in a bowl when they had a winning record?
So if UConn is lucky enough to go 8-4 no bowl would want us??

We don't have a bowl agreement, so we would be last in line behind contracted agreements.

 

[Bongo Fury]

Please explain the no bowl game. I don’t know the answer.
Hasn’t BYU and Army or any Indy ever played in a bowl when they had a winning record?
So if UConn is lucky enough to go 8-4 no bowl would want us??

Get to 8-4 then worry about that. Someone would want them

 

[DaveHuskiesFan]

I'd be interested to know which of these games are Home & Homes. Anyone have an idea?

 

[Husky25]

Our schedule will be infinitely better than the AAC. This is awesome. (Yes playing Liberty sucks, but it's something that needs to be done).

As an "institution of higher learning," I agree. I'm not a fan of legitimizing Liberty.

That being said, Independent programs need to play as many of the other independents as they can to fill up their schedule.

When I watch a football game, I try to separate it from politics and religion, even if they are front and center before (i.e. Kaepernick kneeling during the National Anthem in legal silent protest) and/or after (both teams kneeling at midfield, thanking their higher power for whatever victory they scored on the field).

 

[billybud]

Duke, NC State, UMass, Maryland, BC....H&H

and more coming...

 

[Husky25]

Score one for Benedict. Article beautifully sums up the scheduling strategy. This is a win

He certainly earned his salary over the last four months. Very interested to see who the three games are against to round out the year.

 

[UConnRock]

This is a key sentence:

What is being worked on for 2021 looks better than 2020. And further into the future, what actually becomes the increasingly easy part is scheduling attractive games.

The 2020 schedule, which is the supposed low point in independent scheduling, is a couple of steps up from the AAC schedule and it does not include BC, 'cuse, Temple or Rutgers which are quality regional opponents or any Florida opponents which are in the works. This is really good news for the program and recruiting. Tulsa, Tulane, and ECU never moved the interest needle. SMU, Houston, and Memphis at least had a pulse. UCF, USF, Cincy, Temple and Navy created the most interest and all these schools could be part of future schedules.

I was concerned that a really crappy 2020 schedule would impact recruiting and fan interest and delay the potential for the program to move forward. That is certainly not the case. Of the teams on the schedule the only outliers are Liberty and San Diego St.

 

[ScottVib]

Looking at the dates and schedules I’d assume Middle Tennessee at home is one since they were scheduled at Ole Miss the day we go there.

I’m guessing home with Syracuse and away to Western Michigan might be the other broken up date. (I’m assuming a trip/assumed win in East Hartford might be more palatable to Syracuse than Kalamazoo and we’d fill in the home date for WMU)

 

[History Geek]

AD David Benedict did very, very good.

 

[UConnRock]

Virginia's schedule for 2020 in "full". They will have to reschedule the Nov. 7 game with Liberty or the Nov. 21 Game with Old Dominion. I would suspect that OD may show up on a UConn schedule in future years as part of this deal. I also suspect there will be a future deal with MTSU for rescheduling the Ole Miss game. Lots of bartering going on to make a respectable 2020 schedule. Benedict obviously did not want a crap schedule for the 1st independent year.

 

[Husky25]

On such short last minute notice, this is a huge win for Benedict & the program. He has cobbled together a representative schedule with B1G, SEC, & ACC representation. Of the 3 unannounced games, the article says that one of them is also an ACC team. AND, UConn will have 7 home games per the article. Kudos. (I just hope that Benedict doesn't have to resort to adding a second FCS team to round out the schedule).

Two New England teams (almost too easy), Indiana (Corn and Pork), Virginia (will need to get creative with ham), and New York (Did NY Strip for Wagner, so that is always an option, but I've also found the supposed favorite drink of Gen. Patton online. Doesn't look like it will go over well, but we will cross that bridge...).

Wonder if the final two home games will make for interesting tailgate menus.

 

[MCMax]

Great job by AD Dave Benedict on short notice. Much better than I thought it would look like.

If he can consistently put together a schedule like this (or better), what a great selling tool for those recruits overlooked by the Power 5 schools. This gives them a chance to play against 5-6 Power 5 schools a season....something they wouldn't be able to do at an AAC or MWC school. Awesome job AD DB!

 

[ScottVib]

The UVA date was the buy out of their Liberty game. I think MTSU and Syracuse - Western Michigan are the missing teams/game adjustments.


Edit to add - Liberty confirmed they moved their 2020 game with UVA to 2023

 

[CL82]

The future schedules will be even better. ACC, SEC, B1G and others. UConn is a brand name. These schedules and our facilities will help recruiting. We’ll get better on the field. Success begets success. Interestingly and ironically, I was also told that our stadium location being conveniently close to the airport for visiting teams and their fans was a positive selling point for DB in approaching potential opponents.

I’ve often thought that could be a selling point. Truth be told though, our stadium being in Storrs wouldn’t be dramatically different. A lot of FBS programs require a long drive from the airport. Being on the plane a little longer is a lot less of a hassle than a long bus ride after your flight.

Why wouldn’t you schedule UConn rather than an FCS team? The results are about the same, you’re getting an FBS win over a university that has good national brand recognition.

This is a very, very solid beginning and a strong indication that the university is on board with football. All we need to do now is be more competitive on the field. If we can actually start winning games against quality opponents, we may have something here.

 

[storrsroars]

Appears there are still five FBS teams with openings in 2020 (according to FBSchedules.com):
Air Force, Old Dominion, So. Miss, VaTech and UAB. I assume DB has spoken to all of them.

Another possible game that might be broken up is Richmond @ Pitt on 9/19. I know Pitt fans would love having an FBS rather than FCS opponent, especially one they can beat handily (which has been an issue for their OOC sked in recent years). Not sure if Richmond is a pay game and if so for how much.

 

[Guapo]

Impressive job taping together a legit FBS schedule in the span of a few months.

Oxford <3

 

[thatguyed]

This is a key sentence:

What is being worked on for 2021 looks better than 2020. And further into the future, what actually becomes the increasingly easy part is scheduling attractive games.

The 2020 schedule, which is the supposed low point in independent scheduling, is a couple of steps up from the AAC schedule and it does not include BC, 'cuse, Temple or Rutgers which are quality regional opponents or any Florida opponents which are in the works. This is really good news for the program and recruiting. Tulsa, Tulane, and ECU never moved the interest needle. SMU, Houston, and Memphis at least had a pulse. UCF, USF, Cincy, Temple and Navy created the most interest and all these schools could be part of future schedules.

I was concerned that a really crappy 2020 schedule would impact recruiting and fan interest and delay the potential for the program to move forward. That is certainly not the case. Of the teams on the schedule the only outliers are Liberty and San Diego St.

Don't ever use "Rutgers" and "quality" in the same sentence. Ever.

 

[storrsroars]

Don't ever use "Rutgers" and "quality" in the same sentence. Ever.

"Quality", in a strict business sense, means creating processes that ensure consistency of the product. That's why you see a lot of companies that produce products most people would consider mediocre at best receive quality awards.

If Rutgers continually sucks, but the process is designed to ensure it consistently sucks, that could indeed be called "quality".

 

[UConnRock]

A couple of ancillary points: 1) no help from Fox in 2020 with B-12 connections. The deal could just be 100% hoops. 2) The financial element is also in play here. Where does a quality football schedule take potential TV negotiations with SNY?

 

[Pudge]

"Quality", in a strict business sense, means creating processes that ensure consistency of the product. That's why you see a lot of companies that produce products most people would consider mediocre at best receive quality awards.

If Rutgers continually sucks, but the process is designed to ensure it consistently sucks, that could indeed be called "quality".

Good job. This is truly brilliant response for Rutgers athletics. And I actually love New Brunswick as a Collegetown.

 

[CL82]

I actually love New Brunswick as a Collegetown.

Really? Why?

My kids toured RU and left with a 'meh.' The campuses are disconnected and there aren't marquee facilities (Student Union, Rec Center) because each of the campuses have their own smaller buildings. It's a decent enough school but the history of the five separate campuses has left it disjointed.

New Brunswick is okay, but I wouldn't really call it a college town.

 

[ScottVib]

2) The financial element is also in play here. Where does a quality football schedule take potential TV negotiations with SNY?

The article indicates that potential TV deal would have to be ironed out before the end of the year.

 

[noeynox]

By quality I mean we didn't get a bunch of FCS and no-name G5's like lots of people thought. Army and an unnamed ACC team are more attractive TV opponents than most of the AAC.

This is better than an AAC schedule for sure. I have no issues with it.

 

[Pudge]

Really? Why?

My kids toured RU and left with a 'meh.' The campuses are disconnected and there aren't marquee facilities (Student Union, Rec Center) because each of the campuses have their own smaller buildings. It's a decent enough school but the history of the five separate campuses has left it disjointed.

New Brunswick is okay, but I wouldn't really call it a college town.

I’m in student housing & development. Financed a Rutgers private project.

I can tell you I like what’s going on there & can contrast it with 2008 when I first explored the town. Great things came since then. And YES, B1G conference move was impactful. Little regional State College PA - btw - is seeing explosive growth.

Spent days around Storrs this summer. I’m hopeful ... but it’s lagging today.

 

[huskymedic]