Do you think Post-Covid MAC could offer UConn a conference home?

[BapeKidd88]

The MAC is falling on hard times. Just like UConn, they lost their guarantee games and there was no financial path for them to suit up.
That said, could that present opportunity for UConn?
The MAC has the precious Bowl ties and a CFP/NY6 access point that UConn desperately needs. Without those relationships, the FB team is essentially an opponent.
Can UConn leverage the MAC's poor financial position to getting an invite?
I've always thought Buffalo can provide UConn with a partner that could become another rivalry game. Buffalo has a history with the Hurley family. Could UConn offer to play Buffalo and a smattering of MAC teams each year in MBB/WBB to become a member?
Benedict's recent alliance with UMASS could allow both schools to leverage some kind of financial/scheduling package that could help the league adjust to all of the hardship they will face post-COVID.

 

[Waquoit]

If we were able to do a FB-only deal with an escape clause, it might help a bit. But all the MAC teams would hate us.

 

[Chin Diesel]

From what we saw in a very short period of time, the UConn athletic dept has put together a much better FB schedule than the MAC could ever offer.

Hard pass and not a hard decision.

 

[phillionaire]

I would rather get rid of our football program entirely than join the MAC

 

[freescooter]

From what we saw in a very short period of time, the UConn athletic dept has put together a much better FB schedule than the MAC could ever offer.

Hard pass and not a hard decision.

I’m in this camp too. Though probably not as strongly. My guess is that with 5 years Notre Dame will go to the ACC in football and they will bring us on board as the partner. Though the usual hoops only boys will probably oppose it because they want to play Creighton Xavier DePaul. You know the “ historic” Big East ...oh and MSG. But we seem to have a pretty solid schedule. I’d like to see BYU added on an annual basis and UMass annually. I agree it’s preferable to the MAC.

 

[Exit 4]

There is really no way this happens, sorry @BapeKidd88

i) UConn can build better schedules w/o the MAC
ii) A MAC football schedule would keep local football interest in the gutter. It would permanently ice ticket sales. There is no connection between midwest MAC schools and UConn alumni.
iii) UConn will eventually get some bowl access, we dont need much.
iv) If the MAC decides to go FCS, I wonder if Buffalo would go independent football and try to park its basketball in the A10.

I like MACtion, try to stick around and hold on to that.

 

[Chin Diesel]

There is really no way this happens, sorry @BapeKidd88

i) UConn can build better schedules w/o the MAC
ii) A MAC football schedule would keep local football interest in the gutter. It would permanently ice ticket sales. There is no connection between midwest MAC schools and UConn alumni.
iii) UConn will eventually get some bowl access, we dont need much.
iv) If the MAC decides to go FCS, I wonder if Buffalo would go independent football and try to park its basketball in the A10.

I like MACtion, try to stick around and hold on to that.

What Benedict has been able to do is basically schedule a couple of mini bowl game like road trips for the football fans during the season.
Yes, the core of the schedule will be fellow independents and northeast/mid-atlantic schools.
Throw in one to two interesting road games just beyond driving distance, get that on the schedule 1-2 years in advance and fans can plan to visit some cool college towns and campuses all while playing teams off the every day radar.
Many fans, myself included, were skeptical and took the "show me" attitude towards independence and what the schedule would look like. It's been great so far.

 

[Exit 4]

Another thing @BapeKidd88 - Adding UConn just wouldn't save the MAC anyway. The MAC has to stay within its tight guardrails as a bare budget FBS conf. I suspect a lot of macro issues we are seeing with higher Ed is a larger part of the tough story with the MAC, not just the challenges of football. MAC schools as an academic brand face stiff competition.

 

[dvegas]

I would rather get rid of our football program entirely than join the MAC

I'd just tell the original poster to put down the crack pipe

 

[huskysupporter]

We went all in on the Big East and independent football. Can’t see UCONN joining any conference for football - just going to be strung along until administration finds the right excuse at the right time to end the program.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Hard no on joining the conference as football only. Wouldn't mind some kind of informal scheduling agreement with them for a couple games a year.

 

[CTMike]

Booooooooo @BapeKidd88 boooooooo hisssss

 

[UConnDan97]

Can't tell if this is a troll or not. But in the case that he's not, why on earth would we ever join the MAC??? What benefit would it possibly offer us, now that we know we can get nice games against the B1G, SEC, and ACC rivals? Not very well thought out. Feel free to blame COVID...

 

[BapeKidd88]

Can't tell if this is a troll or not. But in the case that he's not, why on earth would we ever join the MAC??? What benefit would it possibly offer us, now that we know we can get nice games against the B1G, SEC, and ACC rivals? Not very well thought out. Feel free to blame COVID...

Definitely not a troll. The problem is that scheduling for football is not like basketball. Post-season access is not decided by charts that consider who plays who.
Consequently, UConn could schedule ND in Hartford and it wouldn't move the needle on any season-long goal, since access to post-season is driven by conference contracts.
Unfortunately, none of the teams that Benedict is scheduling is in the ballpark of a ND and attendance in more correlated to wins than it is to opponent.
Outside of scheduling ND, no one is going to show up to watch a sub 100 ranked UConn play anyone. People want to watch good, competitive, games. They wont sit and watch drubbings. We've seen that.
I don't think the MAC is a destination but it certainly provides a realistic season-long road to some kind of achievable goal. Without that road map to a destination, I'm not sure what is gained by supplying guarantee games to teams in the lower half of their leagues that recruit at a much higher clip. It just seems like a bad model to me.

 

[uconnbill]

That would be a hard pass.

If they could play a game against a MAC school that would be okay, but nothing more

 

[Ldandy]

Definitely not a troll. The problem is that scheduling for football is not like basketball. Post-season access is not decided by charts that consider who plays who.
Consequently, UConn could schedule ND in Hartford and it wouldn't move the needle on any season-long goal, since access to post-season is driven by conference contracts.
Unfortunately, none of the teams that Benedict is scheduling is in the ballpark of a ND and attendance in more correlated to wins than it is to opponent.
Outside of scheduling ND, no one is going to show up to watch a sub 100 ranked UConn play anyone. People want to watch good, competitive, games. They wont sit and watch drubbings. We've seen that.
I don't think the MAC is a destination but it certainly provides a realistic season-long road to some kind of achievable goal. Without that road map to a destination, I'm not sure what is gained by supplying guarantee games to teams in the lower half of their leagues that recruit at a much higher clip. It just seems like a bad model to me.

Let me try to explain what should be obvious already.

1)Nobody cares about MAC Games except for degenerate gamblers looking for a Tuesday Night fix.

2)There is a better chance of a Godzilla Attack in East Hartford than UConn making The CFP out of The MAC.

3)The MAC Bowl Ties are hot garbage. If they are lucky their champ gets to play the 8th place B1G Finisher in Detroit or some other completely forgettable game in late December.

4)People do care about names not just competitive games. There are nail biting contests happening at The D3 Level all over America each Saturday that are lucky to draw 200 fans. Winning matters but it has to have value to it. Nobody gave a rip about Boise State until they started collecting P5 Scalps. You don’t hang a W over Eastern Michigan on the wall.

5) What is gained from guarantee games should be pretty obvious. $$$ Without it G5 Schools, including The MAC, can’t sustain a functioning AD. A worse model is zero money=zero football program.

I 100% believed leaving The AAC was a bad move and done only with basketball in mind. However the AD’s ability to put together a fairly decent schedule pre C19 had me adjust my view a bit. UCONN needs to stay the course, play teams from all conferences, and see if something better comes available should conference realignment heat up again.

 

[BigTenFan]

It will be interesting to see if any conferences have their members play out of conference post Covid- whenever that is. I foresee conference only games for the next few years unless it's a real marquee matchup. The big programs have lost so much money and the college towns are desperate for $$$
Having a stadium in East Hartford is not helping the situation although it is socially distant from the UConn campus.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

Having a stadium in East Hartford is not helping the situation although it is socially distant from the UConn campus.

We were ahead of our time with social distancing. Now people will come to realize the genius of building PAWS in E. Hartford.

 

[BigTenFan]

Yes- It was part of the master plan by politicians and UConn administration. Play your home games in a parking lot far from students and fans to keep them safe. Brilliant and strategic planning.

 

[phillionaire]

Let me try to explain what should be obvious already.

1)Nobody cares about MAC Games except for degenerate gamblers looking for a Tuesday Night fix.

I feel attacked

 

[UConnDan97]

Definitely not a troll. The problem is that scheduling for football is not like basketball. Post-season access is not decided by charts that consider who plays who.
Consequently, UConn could schedule ND in Hartford and it wouldn't move the needle on any season-long goal, since access to post-season is driven by conference contracts.
Unfortunately, none of the teams that Benedict is scheduling is in the ballpark of a ND and attendance in more correlated to wins than it is to opponent.
Outside of scheduling ND, no one is going to show up to watch a sub 100 ranked UConn play anyone. People want to watch good, competitive, games. They wont sit and watch drubbings. We've seen that.
I don't think the MAC is a destination but it certainly provides a realistic season-long road to some kind of achievable goal. Without that road map to a destination, I'm not sure what is gained by supplying guarantee games to teams in the lower half of their leagues that recruit at a much higher clip. It just seems like a bad model to me.

I love the fact that you're concerned we'll be kept out of the post season, so in order to avoid that, we should join....the MAC.

I love the fact that you're concerned we won't draw fans back to the stadium, so in order to avoid that, we should join....the MAC.

Fantastic stuff. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on solving COVID, global warming, and world peace...

 

[hank970]

Maybe UConn should just make football a club sport and settle for a game with conference-mate Xavier each year. For away-games, the Huskies could pack 'em in at Nippert, Paul Brown, or any of the high school venues in Cincinnati.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Another great thread from the mind that brought you: “can we spend the money we save without football on basketball”

 

[TMB4405]

It’s funny so many people think it would be hard to get into a bowl game. I just don’t see that being the case with the amount of bowls out there now. Also I will take an 8-4 season with no bowl game right now. Lol.

As for MAC affiliation. Hard no thank you from me. Makes zero sense in my mind.

 

[Adios]

Yes- It was part of the master plan by politicians and UConn administration. Play your home games in a parking lot far from students and fans to keep them safe. Brilliant and strategic planning.

There's more fans closer to East Hartford than Storrs.