do you have hope in this?

[CONN78SEJ]

Define hope.

Expectations of eventually beating the odds.

 

[RSTuthill]

Expectations of eventually beating the odds.

That will DEFINITELY happen. The only question is whether it is in this millennium or the next.

 

[RSTuthill]

The UConn budget is $3.1 Billion for next year. The budget without UConn Health is 1.6 Billion. Spending on football is lost in the decimal points.

Not quite. That spending is offset by revenue. It is the balance between the two which is important. The deficit, if there is one, must be covered by the State. That is the touchy part.

 

[RioDog]

This isn't even honest. We played 4 P5 opponents including BC who is one of the worst power conference programs.
Most of us went into the season thinking we could win anywhere from 5-8 games. Yes, Tennessee was going to be an automatic loss, but every other game (bar NC State), most people thought we would have a chance to win. The other problem is that many people are forgetting our two easiest opponents we have not even played yet. We are not going to finish 1-11. At worst we will finish 2-10 and likely 3-9. We literally blew three games this year. That is the difference between being a bowl team and not. We can be competitive, and we are likely to get blown out by James Madison this week but they are 9-0.

I would rather be 7-5 playing a P4-heavy schedule than 8-4 or 9-3 playing in the MAC. It is much more of an achievement, and let's not forget, UConn has NEVER won more than 9 games at the FBS level so I do not expect that to happen in CUSA or the MAC.

My sentiments exactly.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

This isn't even honest. We played 4 P5 opponents including BC who is one of the worst power conference programs.
Most of us went into the season thinking we could win anywhere from 5-8 games. Yes, Tennessee was going to be an automatic loss, but every other game (bar NC State), most people thought we would have a chance to win. The other problem is that many people are forgetting our two easiest opponents we have not even played yet. We are not going to finish 1-11. At worst we will finish 2-10 and likely 3-9. We literally blew three games this year. That is the difference between being a bowl team and not. We can be competitive, and we are likely to get blown out by James Madison this week but they are 9-0.

I would rather be 7-5 playing a P4-heavy schedule than 8-4 or 9-3 playing in the MAC. It is much more of an achievement, and let's not forget, UConn has NEVER won more than 9 games at the FBS level so I do not expect that to happen in CUSA or the MAC.

UConn has never won more than nine games in a regular season and only two, 2 loss regular seasons since the year I was born which was a long time ago. Program should have been better even without the BCS come.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

That will DEFINITELY happen. The only question is whether it is in this millennium or the next.

Thank you for your interest and support of Jim Mora and UConn football.

 

[nycscooby]

i think the point was, we need to stop playing clemson/michigan/ohio state/tennessee, etc. for the immediate future. the money we make is not worth the embarassment and deeper hole that getting ruined like that, puts us in. it's true that a sun belt opponent isn't as sexy as Michigan, but again what the heck is the point if we have to go to ann arbor just to get destroyed by the end of the first quarter. we need FBS wins and fast. a fairer schedule against appropriate competition, makes that more possible. overscheduling P4's without being one, is masochism.

I can see your point but I also think (1) we will get zero to little football credibility from a conference realignment perspective joining a G5 conference as football only or playing a G5 weighted football schedule, and (2) if we joined one of the better G5 conferences or even played the better G5 football teams consistently, we may not win the majority of those games which just devalues our football brand even more.

 

[freescooter]

This isn't even honest. We played 4 P5 opponents including BC who is one of the worst power conference programs.
Most of us went into the season thinking we could win anywhere from 5-8 games. Yes, Tennessee was going to be an automatic loss, but every other game (bar NC State), most people thought we would have a chance to win. The other problem is that many people are forgetting our two easiest opponents we have not even played yet. We are not going to finish 1-11. At worst we will finish 2-10 and likely 3-9. We literally blew three games this year. That is the difference between being a bowl team and not. We can be competitive, and we are likely to get blown out by James Madison this week but they are 9-0.

I would rather be 7-5 playing a P4-heavy schedule than 8-4 or 9-3 playing in the MAC. It is much more of an achievement, and let's not forget, UConn has NEVER won more than 9 games at the FBS level so I do not expect that to happen in CUSA or the MAC.

Since 2015 here is our record against P5 teams: 2-19. Outscored 751-233. 6 Losses by less than 2 tds. So 14 have essentially been blowouts. The teams we have played ranged from the top (Michigan, Tenn, Clemson) to the bottom (Bc, Vandy) of P5. I’m not saying don’t ever play another P4. I’m fine with teams like BC, Virginia, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Illinois. I am saying we need to limit those games to 2/year. We simply don’t have the horses to compete. We barely compete with the bottom wrung of P5 teams. If we start putting together winning seasons with 9-10 wins and national rankings or borderline ranking, better bowls and so forth, we can rethink scheduling.

 

[shizzle787]

Since 2015 here is our record against P5 teams: 2-19. Outscored 751-233. 6 Losses by less than 2 tds. So 14 have essentially been blowouts. The teams we have played ranged from the top (Michigan, Tenn, Clemson) to the bottom (Bc, Vandy) of P5. I’m not saying don’t ever play another P4. I’m fine with teams like BC, Virginia, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Illinois. I am saying we need to limit those games to 2/year. We simply don’t have the horses to compete. We barely compete with the bottom wrung of P5 teams. If we start putting together winning seasons with 9-10 wins and national rankings or borderline ranking, better bowls and so forth, we can rethink scheduling.

Lol most of the blowouts were when we were in a G5 league.

As an indie: we are 1-7 against the P4 (with a 10-point loss to NC State, and a 7-point loss to BC). 3 of the losses were buy games we should have never played.

Our record against P4 teams as part of H/H series as an indie: 1-4. Not great, but if we play 5 P4 opponents every year and go 1-4 that leaves us seven games to get five wins (including one against an FCS opponent). That is very doable. If you can't go 4-2 against a smattering of G5 programs, the issue isn't with scheduling: it's with coaching.

 

[Waquoit]

Well, their teams do still schedule UConn, so I don't quite agree with that part. But yes,nothing less than P4 football will be supported. Except when it comes to raising money to pay the players. So there is indeed no path unless UConn wins both natties this winter and a P4 invites UConn. Then things get easier. But until then?

There is no doubt we will be competitive if we got in, in NIL and any other way. But I can't see us ever getting good enough to get in from the outside.

 

[uconntailgater]

We definitely shouldn't schedule anymore bodybag/payday games. It's not worth the money losing 59-3. Schedule a Sunbelt/CUSA/MAC/Mountain West team and have a fighting chance of winning the game and get a home and home. The goal going forward is to finish 6-6 to 8-4 so we're in good position when the next round of Conference realignment happens, likely in 5-7 years.

A payday game such as Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park or similar may be something to be considered?

 

[Jetskies]

I can see your point but I also think (1) we will get zero to little football credibility from a conference realignment perspective joining a G5 conference as football only or playing a G5 weighted football schedule, and (2) if we joined one of the better G5 conferences or even played the better G5 football teams consistently, we may not win the majority of those games which just devalues our football brand even more.

my point is simple - nothing loses credibility faster than LOSING. Quality of schedule does matter, I agree - but if it were all that mattered for getting into P4, then screw it - let's just schedule the entire SEC and B1G for all 12 games. go 0-12 and 60 Points For / 550 Points Against, but MANNN look at those brands on our schedule!!! please let us in, Big 12?? Bueller?

see what i mean?

it doesn't matter if it's the dallas cowboys, if we get destroyed. Especially if we the next week we get destroyed again by the likes of GA State.

we. are. not. at. that. point. yet. We need to win first. Winning gets eyeballs, eyeballs gets money, money gets better recruits and staffing talent, talent get wins, wins get eyeballs... etc. Because we don't have the talent to win at the level we want to win at, we must adjust the schedule to give us a shot to win with the talent we ARE able to get. Since our schedule is set and we're locked to going to Columbus OH in a few years, then we need money to buy the kids. lol

 

[Jetskies]

We definitely shouldn't schedule anymore bodybag/payday games. It's not worth the money losing 59-3. Schedule a Sunbelt/CUSA/MAC/Mountain West team and have a fighting chance of winning the game and get a home and home. The goal going forward is to finish 6-6 to 8-4 so we're in good position when the next round of Conference realignment happens, likely in 5-7 years.

A payday game such as Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park or similar may be something to be considered?

agree - i think some people here think i'm saying that we shouldn't play any P4's ever. That's not what i'm saying. I have no problem scheduling mid-level P4 teams (indiana, illinois, wake forest, duke, arizona, northwestern, vandy, georgia tech, etc.) to keep our strength of schedule at a respectable level for the eventual next round of conference discussions.

But there is no value in getting annihilated by Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Bama, and the like. well besides a literal paycheck, but man that is some FCS-level thinking to do that to ourselves. Keep in mind those body bag games are the few times Uconn gets on primetime ESPN - so all people see of us, is demolishings. That cannot be worth the paycheck Michigan is paying us.

like cmon guys (talking to UConn athletic dept)

 

[KryHavok]

UConn had a losing season in 2012...Louisville was 11-2 that year in the BE...and in 2013 went 12-1 in the AAC while UConn was 3-9...UConn didn't hold serve after their 8 win seasons and Louisville was tapped to go to the ACC in 2014.

You can blame an ACC grudge...but UConn had three consecutive losing seasons right before Louisville went to the ACC...the fact that Louisville was 2012-13 basketball NC probably did not play in....but it did not hurt.

It's more than blame on grudge, it's optics. I can't defend UConn's record after the Fiesta Bowl, they laid a massive goosegg. Yet the ACC knew that record and still had it play out very publicly that UConn was under (leading?) consideration to join. Can't dispute that Louisville did a better job of advocating while Warde and Suzy were chasing butterflies. If the ACC, like the Big12 this year, truly wanted UConn, they take them. Nope. I'm exaggerating, but I think this disdain for UConn goes back to the 1999 MBB championship upset of their precious Puke. Had UConn lost, maybe they actually get invited.

 

[cullaville]

We definitely shouldn't schedule anymore bodybag/payday games. It's not worth the money losing 59-3. Schedule a Sunbelt/CUSA/MAC/Mountain West team and have a fighting chance of winning the game and get a home and home. The goal going forward is to finish 6-6 to 8-4 so we're in good position when the next round of Conference realignment happens, likely in 5-7 years.

A payday game such as Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park or similar may be something to be considered?

Doesn't Notre Dame still owe UCONN a game at Rentschler?

 

[billybud]

Actually...it was Coach K that wanted UConn.....UNC and Duke wanted to continue the ACC as a basketball first conference and both supported UConn...and UConn folks knew that.

When the ACC Commissioner announced that about 80% of the upcoming media contract was based on football, that door closed.

Clemson AD in 2012........."For example, in this latest contract with ESPN, 80 percent of it is generated by football," Phillips told TigerNet.com. "As good as basketball has been in the ACC, it is very evident just through this contract that the football has to be very, very relevant."

FOOTBALL......basketball

 

[RioDog]

Actually...it was Coach K that wanted UConn.....UNC and Duke wanted to continue the ACC as a basketball first conference and both supported UConn...and UConn folks knew that.

When the ACC Commissioner announced that about 80% of the upcoming media contract was based on football, that door closed.

Clemson AD in 2012........."For example, in this latest contract with ESPN, 80 percent of it is generated by football," Phillips told TigerNet.com. "As good as basketball has been in the ACC, it is very evident just through this contract that the football has to be very, very relevant."

FOOTBALL......basketball

Your basketball font is too big...

 

[freescooter]

Lol most of the blowouts were when we were in a G5 league.

As an indie: we are 1-7 against the P4 (with a 10-point loss to NC State, and a 7-point loss to BC). 3 of the losses were buy games we should have never played.

Our record against P4 teams as part of H/H series as an indie: 1-4. Not great, but if we play 5 P4 opponents every year and go 1-4 that leaves us seven games to get five wins (including one against an FCS opponent). That is very doable. If you can't go 4-2 against a smattering of G5 programs, the issue isn't with scheduling: it's with coaching.

Now we are G5 without a league. So it is a fair comparison. I want to be more than a .500 team regularly. You are happy with 6-6. That’s fine. Just don’t complain when that’s our ceiling. I want to watch games where we are competitive. You are ok with blow outs as long as it’s against a P4 opponent. Again, that’s fine but don’t complain about the players or the coach when it happens.

 

[Alum86]

Can we get a serviceable QB and a few decent RBs, WRs from the portal? We can’t sniff the end zone. I’m tellin’ ya SHU is going to be hanging with us at half nexftweek

 

[UCTitleTown]

There are other threads about next steps, and all the details about portal/NIL/conference.
This is not that.
My question here is more of a take-away / one-liner.

Do you have hope for the future?
if you want, feel free to share briefly why/why not, but again i'm not looking to turn this into a nitty gritty next-steps thead.

I'd love a poll on this to see what the feeling amongst our fans is beyond individual comments.

 

[CL82]

I'd love a poll on this to see what the feeling amongst our fans is beyond individual comments.

Wait until the end of the season, give it a week or two, and then post one. If you want me to do it shoot me a PM to remind me and I'll put it up for you. I'm curious as well. This season was a bit of a gut punch for me.

I'm not sure that it has been as much of a regression as our record would lead us to believe. We weren't as good as our record indicated last year, and we're not as bad as our record indicates that we are this year. But we're still not a very good football team. After over a decade of this nonsense, it wears on you. Watching the games feels more like a chore than a pleasure. I'd be curious to see where other people are at the end of the season.

 

[cullaville]

Wait until the end of the season, give it a week or two, and then post one. If you want me to do it shoot me a PM to remind me and I'll put it up for you. I'm curious as well. This season was a bit of a gut punch for me.

I'm not sure that it has been as much of a regression as our record would lead us to believe. We weren't as good as our record indicated last year, and we're not as bad as our record indicates that we are this year. But we're still not a very good football team. After over a decade of this nonsense, it wears on you. Watching the games feels more like a chore than a pleasure. I'd be curious to see where other people are at the end of the season.

You are what your record says you are.

Bill Parcells

 

[CL82]

You are what your record says you are.

Bill Parcells

Yeah, I actually thought about referencing this myself. But with the exception of Tennessee, on the field we haven't looked as outclassed as we have in the past. But yeah, we are a one win bad football team.

 

[Stinger92860]

More hope now than before since I heard Jim Mora on the coach's show say they've got nearly all the high school recruit slots filled and now they're going to hit the transfer portal hard to find 14 impact players. If there was ever any doubt, it appears he is absolutely fully committed to the success of this program. That's the best news I've heard in a while.

Is the 14 number based on the number of open slots today? I have to believe that the final number will be higher after outbounds.

 

[PackTheRent]

I dont have much hope because of the financial situation and the rejection in the latest conference realignment. It's hard to justify the Athletics deficit of $30-40 million per year when the Big 12 used us and the ACC picked Stanford, Cal, SMU (Still can't believe the ACC jammed us like that) over us. If we are not in a major conference by 2026 then I think there's a good chance we shut down the program. Sad, because I like tailgating at Rent.

 

[Alum86]

I dont have much hope because of the financial situation and the rejection in the latest conference realignment. It's hard to justify the Athletics deficit of $30-40 million per year when the Big 12 used us and the ACC picked Stanford, Cal, SMU (Still can't believe the ACC jammed us like that) over us. If we are not in a major conference by 2026 then I think there's a good chance we shut down the program. Sad, because I like tailgating at Rent.

#PackTheRent. Great name for someone who wants to shut us down. #MothballPAWS is a better one.
Take a breath. We need to be in a conference soon. Great if it is a major, okay if it’s mid major.

 

[Dizzy21]

Is the 14 number based on the number of open slots today? I have to believe that the final number will be higher after outbounds.

If you calculate the recruiting class that is coming in and add in that 14 number, it is above the current space on the roster.

 

[huskymedic]

Is the 14 number based on the number of open slots today? I have to believe that the final number will be higher after outbounds.

If you calculate the recruiting class that is coming in and add in that 14 number, it is above the current space on the roster.

This week.

Trust me - they will find room on the roster for anyone they want/need and is looking to come on.

Football signing class limits removed for the next 2 years. Here's what it means for LSU.

Under a new NCAA rule, major college football programs can sign as many players as they want for the next two years as long as they don’t exceed 85 scholarship

www.theadvocate.com

 

[Dizzy21]

On the coaches show, Mora just said that they are in a better situation this year with the portal because some people put up some NIL money to get better players.

 

[zmart]

Hitting the portal "Hard" is all well and good, but they have to do a better job than they have in the past.
On Offense there are 12 portal players with 1 starter.
On Defense there are 15 portal players with 3 starters.