I think too much is made about the AAC affiliation and "rotting on a vine" over there. UCONN just won a friggin' NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP playing in a mid-major conference. Conference affiliation will not have the same destructive effect on our hoops programs as it will with the development of our football program. UCONN has a national appeal. We can recruit anywhere (so can Cuse and other good programs). If Syracuse doesn't want to put UCONN on the schedule, other programs will because there is an undeniable reward in playing a top 5 program. So while their fanbase hems and haws at whether it would be worth replacing Colgate or Canisius on their schedule with UCONN, one of their conference mates would surely jump at the chance because whenever you have an opportunity to play a marquee game that would generate buzz, you do it.
Personally, I would love to see games against the Fruit on a regular basis. Neither program needs to schedule game(s) because of recruiting. Storrs doesn't give them recruiting exposure and upstate NY doesn't give us recruiting exposure. Both programs recruit nationally and both programs can hold open mic nights in NYC to land talent with very little effort. We certainly aren't "rotting" in the AAC as evidenced by last year's run and the level of top-rated recruits interested in coming to UCONN. As long as we are in the AAC (which I truly don't believe will be for more than 5 years), if programs like Memphis, SMU, UCF, Temple, etc can remain competitive, UCONN will always be able to get top OOC games. Scheduling the Orange would be fun for both fan bases and create buzz. I do agree that Syracuse is scheduling from an advantage because they do play a fair amount of marquee games from their ACC affiliation. They could simply decide that their scheduling practice of fattening up on cupcakes in Nov-Dec then go into conference play is who they are and they will still get to play games against Duke, UNC, UVA, Louisville, Pitt, ND, etc. That's a good schedule. We have more work to do going OOC but we have enough credential to get OOC scheduling done. But like I said, if Syracuse won't schedule UCONN because they would rather see UCONN "rot", other top programs would love the opportunity to play UCONN. I'm not worried about OOC scheduling whatsoever.
UCONN vs Syracuse would be fun for the fans of both schools and for college hoops fans across the country (especially in the TV ratings rich northeast). The schools are rivals (who cares who is each other's "top" rivals??) and there is an equal amount of dislike that goes both ways. That's what sports are all about, I thought. But if their fanbase would rather keep scheduling status quo and play Niagara, Conisius, and Buffalo types at the Carrier Dome, so be it. Their paper tiger reputation would only be cemented as they inflate their early season rankings with easy Ws then lose to tougher competition later in seasons because they never challenged themselves. I guess some of their fans over there truly do value 25-0 t-shirts over ones that say "National Champions".
