And the 9 games for 2020 so far are... | Page 2 | The Boneyard

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

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.
 
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)
 
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.
 
coachcap said:
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).
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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.
 
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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!
 
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
 
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Nostical said:
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.
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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.
 
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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.
 
UConnRock said:
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.
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Don't ever use "Rutgers" and "quality" in the same sentence. Ever.
 
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thatguyed said:
Don't ever use "Rutgers" and "quality" in the same sentence. Ever.
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"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".
 
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?
 
storrsroars said:
"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".
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Good job. This is truly brilliant response for Rutgers athletics. And I actually love New Brunswick as a Collegetown.
 
Pudge said:
I actually love New Brunswick as a Collegetown.
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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.
 
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UConnRock said:
2) The financial element is also in play here. Where does a quality football schedule take potential TV negotiations with SNY?
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The article indicates that potential TV deal would have to be ironed out before the end of the year.
 
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CL82 said:
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.
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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.
 
Speculative final schedule


1) Sept. 3: UMass
2) Sept. 12: at Illinois
3) Sept. 26: Indiana
4) Oct 24: at Ole Miss
5) Oct. 31: Liberty
6) Nov. 14: at San Jose State
7) Nov. 28: Army

Dates TBA:
8) Maine,
9) at Virginia.

scenario A/B:

10) Middle Tennessee - home game / part of the Ole Miss breakup.
11) Wake Forest or UNC home game <--both are slated to visit Old Dominion in 2020. OD has three P5 games schedule which is a heavy load by most OOC measures for G5s.
12) at Old Dominion <--breaks up game with Old Dominion

Edit update: I think Wake is more likely than UNC since UNC/Old Dominion is actually a home game for UNC.

scenario C:

10) Middle Tennessee - home game / part of the Ole Miss breakup.
11) Syracuse home game <--breaks up game with West Michigan. Syracuse set to play a return game visiting WMU on 9/26
12) at Western Michigan <--to complete the Syracuse-WMU break up

Seems very likely that its one of the A or B scenarios.
 
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Pudge said:
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.
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I was last down there in 2016. There are a lot of problems that I'm sure you well aware of. That said the move to the B1G definitely helped them in terms of brand. I've seen a change, anecdotally, in the level of statewide support. Fans I know are absolutely miserable about their inability to compete there though.

I've always liked Penn St. their campus makes sense and successfully creates "a sense of place." (Penn St. looks like Penn St.) Their athletic quad is intelligently done using lots for for multiple sports. In a lot of ways, State College is a good example of how do build out a campus intelligently and successfully.
 
Skiblets said:
Score one for Benedict. Article beautifully sums up the scheduling strategy. This is a win
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Absolutely, and Bobby Knight would approve of the 5 full-state-named universities currently showing on FBSSchedules (a/o 11:10am):
fbschedules.com

2020 UConn Football Schedule | FBSchedules.com

View the 2020 UConn Football Schedule at FBSchedules.com. The Huskies football schedule includes opponents, date, time, and TV.
fbschedules.com
 
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The teams that are not on the 2020 are of interest. Benedict was able to pull together a quality schedule without any deals with the AAC teams (hope Aresco is not mad), no MAC teams, only 1 FCS game (Maine), and only 1 long trip to a G5 game (San Jose St.). And it doesn't suck to go to San Jose in November. This is counter to many predictions and shows the strength of the UConn name. It will be interesting to see if the basketball team was or will be used as a bargaining tool.
 
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what If we use SNY properly and schedule football games there and per chance we outdraw RU in the NY market. That could make us appealing to BIG 10
 
some more speculative scheduling cus im just so giddy and focused here :)

9/3 UMass
9/12 @ Illinois
9/19 Maine
9/26 Indiana
10/3 OPEN
10/10 OPEN
10/17 OPEN
10/24 @ Ole Miss
10/31 Liberty
11/7 @ UVA
11/14 @ SJSU
11/21 OPEN
11/24 Army
 
UConnRock said:
The teams that are not on the 2020 are of interest. Benedict was able to pull together a quality schedule without any deals with the AAC teams (hope Aresco is not mad), no MAC teams, only 1 FCS game (Maine), and only 1 long trip to a G5 game (San Diego St.). And it doesn't suck to go to San Diego in November. This is counter to many predictions and shows the strength of the UConn name. It will be interesting to see if the basketball team was or will be used as a bargaining tool.
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It's San Jose State not San Diego St. Bay area instead of San Diego.
 
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