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Message: [QUOTE="Stainmaster, post: 1984300, member: 5260"] I'm basically saying that frontrunning and apathy outside of championship seasons is to be expected with the UConn fanbase. You can ask the people you know who were living in the state during the 1980s. Compared to its heyday, the fanbase was peanuts under Perno and the first two Calhoun years. Other comparable "blue blood" programs have long-standing traditions of robust fanbases dating back generations, filling arenas since before both of our parents were alive. UConn does not have that particular tradition. There was such little support for UConn athletics that there were literally no copyright restrictions on AD branding materials until after the NIT run. Think about it; there wasn't even enough fan support for the university to think it was worthwhile to exercise their right to control the market on merchandise. Conference affiliation plays into this (look at where the current Yankee Conference schools who stayed at that level are now). So does the longtime dominance of private institutions in CT as opposed to Indiana, UNC, Kentucky, etc. While CT was still being dominated by private colleges in terms of desirability for in-state residents, those other areas had just as many people flocking to attend their state flagships as they do now. Additionally, Indiana, UNC, and Kentucky have pretty much always been the most prominent schools in their states in terms of name recognition. UConn had to contend with Yale, Wes, Conn College, any of the other elite academic privates for much of the 20th century. Connecticut residents looking at UConn as a big-name school with prestige is a fairly recent thing. All of that considered, it makes sense that very few people outside of alums and multi-generational diehards have a strong connection to UConn athletics, and thus only drop by when championships are being won. [/QUOTE]

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