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Fiesta Bowl

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sportsart said:
So if UCF were to beat Baylor, would we get more credit when/if we beat UCF next year?
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We get nothing more than an a bigger number in the W column. One step closer to the conference championship and maybe a real shot at the Beef O Grady bowl.
 
I guess we should just give up watching college football unless UConn is playing. Or we should watch AAC teams in their OOC games and root against them.

In conference games we should root for 6-3 games so everyone looks bad and UConn gets picked for another conference.

I got news for you. We may never get an invite and we may be stuck in the AAC for life.

If we do get an invite it will be because we have solidified our football program and that only happens if our conference mates win OOC.

If the other teams suck we will look good in a very bad conference.

I'm just not getting you guys. It makes zero sense to root against our conference mates.
 
sportsart said:
So if UCF were to beat Baylor, would we get more credit when/if we beat UCF next year?
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I get what you're saying. I've just grown very cynical of everything CR. It seems like anything and everything that can kick UCONN in the nuts happens. But to answer your question, no, I don't think it would matter if we beat UCF next year. What big game has Rutgers won in the Big East? How about Syracuse? What big games did they win in the Big East (after UCONN joined)? Pitt? If Pitt's one upset over WVU a few years ago to deny the Eers a national championship game spot got them an ACC invite, then I'd buy into this. Nope. It's all about politics, back channels, and perception. All we can hope for is that UCONN raises its academic profile to gain AAU acceptance soon, that the football program becomes fairly competitive again, that UCONN fans sell out their venues and travel well to away games, and that we have a group of people in high places having very real and very influential conversations with people in the B1G.

If I had to give you what event in 2014 would look better in the eyes of CR, I'd say a sold out Yankee Stadium against Army (packed with 40-50K UCONN fans of course) would hold 1000x times more water than 1 win over UCF.
 
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sportsart said:
So if UCF were to beat Baylor, would we get more credit when/if we beat UCF next year?
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Back when the Big East was still a thing I was of the mind that it would take more than WVU having a bunch of good seasons, even including BCS wins, in order for that league to gain "respect". It would have taken one team being something like Miami of the 80s, competing for NCs, and a 1 or 2 other teams to be perennially good enough to consistently knock off ranked OOC foes and once in a while (but not too often) beat the top dog. We never had that, we had a decent WVU and a a decent Cincy, a few decent years of UL or USF or UConn, but we didn't have the familiar, consistent top dog and #2 dog. I don't know if the AAC will be any different.
 
sportsart said:
I guess we should just give up watching college football unless UConn is playing. Or we should watch AAC teams in their OOC games and root against them.

In conference games we should root for 6-3 games so everyone looks bad and UConn gets picked for another conference.

I got news for you. We may never get an invite and we may be stuck in the AAC for life.

If we do get an invite it will be because we have solidified our football program and that only happens if our conference mates win OOC.

If the other teams suck we will look good in a very bad conference.

I'm just not getting you guys. It makes zero sense to root against our conference mates.
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Just to be clear, I'm not rooting against UCF. I"m just not rooting for them like I have rooted for WVU or Cincinnati in years past.
 
sportsart said:
I guess we should just give up watching college football unless UConn is playing. Or we should watch AAC teams in their OOC games and root against them.

In conference games we should root for 6-3 games so everyone looks bad and UConn gets picked for another conference.

I got news for you. We may never get an invite and we may be stuck in the AAC for life.

If we do get an invite it will be because we have solidified our football program and that only happens if our conference mates win OOC.

If the other teams suck we will look good in a very bad conference.

I'm just not getting you guys. It makes zero sense to root against our conference mates.
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This.
 
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sportsart said:
I guess we should just give up watching college football unless UConn is playing. Or we should watch AAC teams in their OOC games and root against them.

...

I'm just not getting you guys. It makes zero sense to root against our conference mates.
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Speaking only for myself... the other possibility is to watch UConn, and sometimes watch other AAC teams, but not get invested emotionally in our conference mates since we've been burned before. If any team is likely to leave the AAC right now it's UCF. Some will take that and root against them, others (like me) will just be neutral. Neutral like their beige uniforms.
 
sportsart said:
I guess we should just give up watching college football unless UConn is playing. Or we should watch AAC teams in their OOC games and root against them.

In conference games we should root for 6-3 games so everyone looks bad and UConn gets picked for another conference.

I got news for you. We may never get an invite and we may be stuck in the AAC for life.

If we do get an invite it will be because we have solidified our football program and that only happens if our conference mates win OOC.

If the other teams suck we will look good in a very bad conference.

I'm just not getting you guys. It makes zero sense to root against our conference mates.
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I am with Dooley. I am just too cynical to care. The AAC is nothing more than mechanism to fill our schedule. And rooting against them will have no impact on the game, not that I am rooting against them. I am just not nearly as invested in seeing these teams do well.
 
UCF is shatting the bed right now.
 
Dooley said:
I get what you're saying. I've just grown very cynical of everything CR. It seems like anything and everything that can kick UCONN in the nuts happens. But to answer your question, no, I don't think it would matter if we beat UCF next year. What big game has Rutgers won in the Big East? How about Syracuse? What big games did they win in the Big East? Pitt? If Pitt's one upset over WVU a few years ago to deny the Eers a national championship game spot got them an ACC invite, then I'd buy into this. Nope. It's all about politics, back channels, and perception.
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Wouldn't this same logic be able to applied for why it doesn't matter if our conference mates do well? By your logic, which is somewhat true, UCF could win the National Championship in a year or so through some miracle and it wouldn't help them in CR. So why does it hurt to cheer for AAC schools? Basically, you guys are all saying that no one will better their CR role because winning means nothing (look at Rutgers! look at Syracuse! look at blah blah). So why not root for UCF or ECU or any other AAC school? Just seems like some people here think we are better than these schools when in reality, we aren't.

People can root for or against any of these schools, it's your choice, I just find it odd for why you wouldn't cheer for them. To each their own.
 
ZooCougar said:
I am with Dooley. I am just too cynical to care. The AAC is nothing more than mechanism to fill our schedule. And rooting against them will have no impact on the game, not that I am rooting against them. I am just not nearly as invested in seeing these teams do well.
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That's fair. I understand the cynical point of view.

I just look at the teams that have left. WVU dominated the conference and then beat name teams in bowl games. UL started winning, had a star player and coach and beat Florida in a bowl game.

Pitt and Syracuse got by on tradition.

Rutgers...location.

The reason Cincy and UCF are getting strong mentions for Big 12 CR. They are winning and have great recruiting locations.

We don't have tradition and don't have a fertile recruiting area. So we need to win and we need to look like we are beating good teams. We need UCF and Cincy to remain good. We need to get to the top and beat those teams, AFTER they beat good teams OOC.

AAU alone won't get us in the B1G or ACC. Beating teams that are 7-5 in the AAC won't help our cause either.
 
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sportsart said:
That's fair. I understand the cynical point of view.

I just look at the teams that have left. WVU dominated the conference and then beat name teams in bowl games. UL started winning, had a star player and coach and beat Florida in a bowl game.

Pitt and Syracuse got by on tradition.

Rutgers...location.

The reason Cincy and UCF are getting strong mentions for Big 12 CR. They are winning and have great recruiting locations.

We don't have tradition and don't have a fertile recruiting area. So we need to win and we need to look like we are beating good teams. We need UCF and Cincy to remain good. We need to get to the top and beat those teams, AFTER they beat good teams OOC.

AAU alone won't get us in the B1G or ACC. Beating teams that are 7-5 in the AAC won't help our cause either.
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I think OOC scheduling has become FAR more critical for UConn. I'm supportive of WM adding Boise and BYU. But it's a huge challenge to get those games, admittedly. We need to get more Tennesee, Michigan types to come to the Rent by hook or by crook, and we need to find neutral site games to play (in a day's drive is helpful) and maybe even reconsider 1 or 2 oneoffs like the one at South Bend if it's the only way we can get marquis names on the schedule. Then we have to win those games. AAC will be similar to the OBE - maybe 1 top ten team, maybe 1-2 top 25 teams, but not enough to make any fan of traditional powers take notice. Unless UConn runs the table - meaning going undefeated 2 straight years or more - winning the AAC will barely register even if UCF, Cincy or whoever is having a good year.
 
sportsart said:
I guess we should just give up watching college football unless UConn is playing. Or we should watch AAC teams in their OOC games and root against them.

In conference games we should root for 6-3 games so everyone looks bad and UConn gets picked for another conference.

I got news for you. We may never get an invite and we may be stuck in the AAC for life.

If we do get an invite it will be because we have solidified our football program and that only happens if our conference mates win OOC.

If the other teams suck we will look good in a very bad conference.

I'm just not getting you guys. It makes zero sense to root against our conference mates.
Expand ...

If we are here for awhile, I am thinking that a stronger conference showing helps in the AAC TV contract negotiations secure a better TV contract payday for us and helps
us in our discussions with the brownshirts (ESPN) or NBC Sports.
Nothing else.......
As for us, we need to win period to help solidify the fan base/get the fans back on track........ CR is more about TV sets than anything else.
 
I'm rooting for UCF.

It won't have any impact on the outcome, and the outcome won't have any impact on UConn.

But I would like them to be ranked when we beat them next year, and if they win tonight, it will aid that possibility.
 
Entertaing game. I see Baylor covering, tho
 
UCF has to score a TD every possession, 2nd half will be wild
 
We are better than UCF and ECU. Don't fool yourselves because of three bad years in PGDLdom.
 
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UCFBfan said:
Wouldn't this same logic be able to applied for why it doesn't matter if our conference mates do well? By your logic, which is somewhat true, UCF could win the National Championship in a year or so through some miracle and it wouldn't help them in CR. So why does it hurt to cheer for AAC schools? Basically, you guys are all saying that no one will better their CR role because winning means nothing (look at Rutgers! look at Syracuse! look at blah blah). So why not root for UCF or ECU or any other AAC school? Just seems like some people here think we are better than these schools when in reality, we aren't.

People can root for or against any of these schools, it's your choice, I just find it odd for why you wouldn't cheer for them. To each their own.
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If we're just talking Conference Realignment profiles, if you don't think UCONN, as a whole, is clearly head and shoulders above every single school in the AAC, then we have a LOOOOOOONG way to go. As a complete body of work, we best every single one of these sh1tty schools in terms of academic reputation/growth, demographic footprint, athletic budget, national brand appeal, and athletic success. So if UCF wins this game and ESPiN decides to fall in love with them, guess what the new AAC mantra becomes? "It's too bad UCF plays in a garbage conference. They deserve better." Then what happens? FSU and Clemson decide that they need to fill out their conference to get to 16 and decide to add the latest ESPiN football sweetheart (we've seen this happen before) and wait for Notre Dame. And if friggin' UCF gets tapped out of the AAC before UCONN because they become some darling program like Louisville became, then I'll go UCONN postal.

Please note: this CR cycle has turned me into a very cynical and grumpy old man. I'm incredibly proud to be a UCONN alum and fan and it drives me nuts to see schools get tapped ahead of UCONN or be grandfathered in a P5 conference that I think doesn't offer what UCONN offers. Perhaps my UCONN colored glasses are too blue, but CR has made it this way. If it's not UCONN, it's crap.
 
junglehusky said:
I think OOC scheduling has become FAR more critical for UConn. I'm supportive of WM adding Boise and BYU. But it's a huge challenge to get those games, admittedly. We need to get more Tennesee, Michigan types to come to the Rent by hook or by crook, and we need to find neutral site games to play (in a day's drive is helpful) and maybe even reconsider 1 or 2 oneoffs like the one at South Bend if it's the only way we can get marquis names on the schedule. Then we have to win those games. AAC will be similar to the OBE - maybe 1 top ten team, maybe 1-2 top 25 teams, but not enough to make any fan of traditional powers take notice. Unless UConn runs the table - meaning going undefeated 2 straight years or more - winning the AAC will barely register even if UCF, Cincy or whoever is having a good year.
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Agreed. I'm more concerned with what UCONN does than anything else. The outside world views the AAC as a joke. Playing traditional powers and "accepted" big programs consistently tough would do UCONN more good. I'd sign up UCONN to play one offs against any top 15 team right now just to gain the exposure. Gives UCONN fans a chance to travel to the game and show some numbers. UCONN fans, for the most part, aren't going to travel to an away Tulane or UCF game. But we travelled well to Notre Dame and Michigan.
 
Dove said:
Entertaing game. I see Baylor covering, tho
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Baylor has to hold them scoreless and get to 45 right now.
 
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TouchdownHusky said:
Anybody that doesn't think this crap conference & CR crap isn't gonna catch up to basketball and, more importantly recruiting, is kidding themself. How much of an impact is this years freshman class making? Not like the days of Rip Hamilton, Ray Allen, Omeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Kalid El Amin and others.
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newsflash, and some reality. Uconn bb wasn't going undefeated until they wind up in a better conference. please don't turn every loss into a referendum on the demise of uconn bb.
 
Swear they read the BY real time:

“@DanWolken: Probably shouldn't be this way, but you have to think a UCF win would give the AAC a perception edge within the Group of Five next year”
 
I think that some people are underestimating the absolutely powerful value on UCF being in this game (instead of 'Ville) and having a very good showing. If any of you think that it has no impact at all on UConn, you have lost your minds. OF COURSE it has an impact on UConn! The fact that this game serves to show that we are not the MAC or that we are not the Mountain West goes so far in the perception of what we are (or will be) when we play in our league. It was also crucial that Ville not be there tonight, so that people couldn't say "Well, this league isn't that good, because their best team is off to the ACC next year."

People on this board should really wake up to the "perception is reality" and how it affects UConn whether they like it or not. And tip your hats to what has been a very good performance by UCF so far. Go get 'em, Knights!!!
 
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UCF at least establishes that an AAC team can play in big boy bowls. Will help with the multi-Conf slot. But, we have a half to go. Waiting for the shoe to drop on them.
 
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