Future Big East football picture?

[HuskyHawk]

You're a clown. Seriously, you are. WHERE ON EARTH DID I SAY I ONLY WATCH UCONN IF THEY WIN?? And I also remember the days of Perno, since that's the UConn that I grew up with. I remember the days watching Earl Kelley, and I remember the days of women's basketball when you could walk into a game with just your student ID, and I certainly remember UConn football when Yale was our biggest game on the schedule.

You are the one with the gigantic superjohn about only liking a conference if they have a team that can be a top25 caliber team every year. My argument is that we just picked up one to replace the one we lost, and I believe that UConn can be the second one. And by the way, I don't require you to agree with me, since most of the nation already does (i.e., ESPN saying that the NBE absolutely needs Boise for credibility purposes). So why don't you take your fair-weather attitude back to the Big12 and root for whatever team you used to in whatever big city it was in, and leave me mine with my cows on Horsebarn Hill!

This is what you said: "What's the point of rooting for them if you don't think they can win?" I don't have a fair weather attitude, I'm actually excided about our rapid progress. I don't need UConn to become Alabama to be happy. If we're a competitive FBS program with the usual ups ad downs most of them experience, great.

 

[HuskyHawk]

and people say I'm living in the past..structural disadvantages? That was the argument against 1-A football in 1992. Twenty years ago. Come on Huskyhawk, move up to 2012. I'm really confused too. You must recognize then, that the following for UConn basketball, didn't really become a diehard thing and explode until the late 1990s, even though we had won the NIT.....and advanced in the tourney. Remember getting blown out by Jackson State in Gampel? There was a time not too long ago, where people wondered if UConn basketball was a just a splash in the pan, because Calhoun couldn't win the big games.

Sometimes, basketball folks just don't understand football folks, and vice versa. That's all this is. The football program is growing, and I"m more than confident in the fact that our leadership is going to everything they can to ensure that it continues to grow.

Come on Carl...basketball is entirely different. Schools like St. Johns, PC, Butler and Gonzaga can succeed in basketball. We have huge disadvantages that are not going away. You can ignore them if you'd like, or be proud of what we have accomplished and can accomplish despite them. I've been watching college fooball since I was five..about 1970. Growing up in Manchester, but being from the midwest, I was just about the only kid I ever met in CT who did follow college football.

But let me ask you this....are the other schools failing on purpose? Schools like Illinois, with a much bigger alumni base, bigger market, bigger stadium, better history, better local HS talent and better competition to play against, are they just not trying? Or is it perhaps pretty freaking difficult to crack into the top rung of the sport for more than a short period (usually due to a lucky QB recruit and coaching hire). It is several degrees of magnitude more difficult than what the basketball team accomplished, which was itself amazing. I will be thrilled if we can do it.

 

[UConnDan97]

This is what you said: "What's the point of rooting for them if you don't think they can win?" I don't have a fair weather attitude, I'm actually excided about our rapid progress. I don't need UConn to become Alabama to be happy. If we're a competitive FBS program with the usual ups ad downs most of them experience, great.

Exactly right; what I said was "What's the point of rooting for them if you don't think they can win?" I didn't say "What's the point of rooting for them if they don't win?" I'm sure you can tell the difference between those two statements, can't you?

The point is that I root for UConn no matter what. I do not require them to be a top25 program every year. I simply believe that they can be, and I root for them to be.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Exactly right; what I said was "What's the point of rooting for them if you don't think they can win?" I didn't say "What's the point of rooting for them if they don't win?" I'm sure you can tell the difference between those two statements, can't you?

The point is that I root for UConn no matter what. I do not require them to be a top25 program every year. I simply believe that they can be, and I root for them to be.

I root for them to be, but doubt that they can be. Simple as that.

 

[UConnDan97]

I don't think UConn has any realistic chance to do what it did in hoops and become a "blue blood" football program.

Now since we are evaluating quotes, explain the one above for me, since that quote is what prompted my response.

 

[UConnDan97]

I root for them to be, but doubt that they can be. Simple as that.

That was my point all along; if you don't believe that we can do well, what is the point of your following the team? To see if you are right??

 

[HuskyHawk]

That was my point all along; if you don't believe that we can do well, what is the point of your following the team? To see if you are right??

We define "do well" differently. If we are competitive, go to 3-4 bowl games a decade and look more or less like Arizona State or UNC's football programs, to me that is "doing well". It's much better than being Temple, or Buffalo, or Duke.

 

[UConnDan97]

We define "do well" differently. If we are competitive, go to 3-4 bowl games a decade and look more or less like Arizona State or UNC's football programs, to me that is "doing well". It's much better than being Temple, or Buffalo, or Duke.

That's fine. For me, "doing well" is winning it all. And if they don't, or if UConn ends up like Buffalo or Temple or Duke, I'll still be back the next year to try to help them win it all.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Come on Carl...basketball is entirely different. Schools like St. Johns, PC, Butler and Gonzaga can succeed in basketball. We have huge disadvantages that are not going away. You can ignore them if you'd like, or be proud of what we have accomplished and can accomplish despite them. I've been watching college fooball since I was five..about 1970. Growing up in Manchester, but being from the midwest, I was just about the only kid I ever met in CT who did follow college football.

But let me ask you this....are the other schools failing on purpose? Schools like Illinois, with a much bigger alumni base, bigger market, bigger stadium, better history, better local HS talent and better competition to play against, are they just not trying? Or is it perhaps pretty freaking difficult to crack into the top rung of the sport for more than a short period (usually due to a lucky QB recruit and coaching hire). It is several degrees of magnitude more difficult than what the basketball team accomplished, which was itself amazing. I will be thrilled if we can do it.

You know, I was going to type a long thing, I did actually - but it's gone.

One word Huskyhawk.

Recruiting.

Well more words...

REcruiting for football program that's a perennial top 25, is so very much NOT landing a lucky QB or coach. That's basketball recruiting, not football. That one player is enough for basketball, but even for a position as important as the QB, that one player is not enough. To be at that level, you need 15-20 of those playes every year, and you have to manage to keep them healthy, motivated, eligible and not knocking themselves out with social and school behavior, or injury for 2-3 years before they see game time, and you have to do the same thing EVERY year.

Basketball and football - two different things.

 

[Carl Spackler]

We define "do well" differently. If we are competitive, go to 3-4 bowl games a decade and look more or less like Arizona State or UNC's football programs, to me that is "doing well". It's much better than being Temple, or Buffalo, or Duke.

Husky hawk. I'm very glad that our university leadership doesn't have the same view as you, and has much higher goals. YOu only go as far as you can imagine yoursefl going.

WHen we had one of the most incredibal coaching staffs ever assembled at UConn some decades ago.....they all split up and went on to bigger and better things.

Lou Holtz is on record, saying tha tthe only thing that ever held UConn football back, - for those that don't know - Lou coached at UConn....., was the failure of the higher ups, to commit to the highest level of excellence and having the goals.

Jim Calhoun changed that at UConn, the committment to being the best from the top down, and only very recently has it translated to the expectations for football, so it's no surprise to read your opinions on UCOnn football here.

You answered your own question there, about the likes of Indiana, etc. It's the committment from the very top on down the line.

The way it happens - is recruiting.

have a great memorial day. I hope that you raise your own expectations for uconn football, to what the expectations at the university, really are now.

 

[Carl Spackler]

p.s. Geno and Jim changed it.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Husky hawk. I'm very glad that our university leadership doesn't have the same view as you, and has much higher goals. YOu only go as far as you can imagine yoursefl going.

WHen we had one of the most incredibal coaching staffs ever assembled at UConn some decades ago.....they all split up and went on to bigger and better things.

Lou Holtz is on record, saying tha tthe only thing that ever held UConn football back, - for those that don't know - Lou coached at UConn....., was the failure of the higher ups, to commit to the highest level of excellence and having the goals.

Jim Calhoun changed that at UConn, the committment to being the best from the top down, and only very recently has it translated to the expectations for football, so it's no surprise to read your opinions on UCOnn football here.

You answered your own question there, about the likes of Indiana, etc. It's the committment from the very top on down the line.

The way it happens - is recruiting.

have a great memorial day. I hope that you raise your own expectations for uconn football, to what the expectations at the university, really are now.

I agree with both posts. Which is why I said what I did. I think it will be very hard to recruit at UConn, with its small town campus, off-campus stadium, lack of history and unsettled conference situation. It should be much easier to recruit at Illinois. I hope you are right. I would love to be proven wrong on this one.

 

[pj]

Small towns are great for getting work done. Fewer distractions. That won't bother committed athletes. ... Off-campus stadium - what's the big deal? UConn has a great on-campus practice facility, and it's not a long drive. The conference situation needs to get resolved. History can be solved in 10-20 years. 18 year olds only remember 10 years back, so it doesn't take long to build the history you need. ... Champaign-Urbana is even more remote than Storrs. If you're willing to leave Chicago for Urbana, you can just as easily leave for Ann Arbor, Madison, or Columbus. If you want to leave New England or New York, where's the nearest quality football program? Penn State? Ohio State? Penn State is a much tougher drive from New York than Storrs. We've got a much more populous local recruiting area to pull from than Illinois. If we were in the Big Ten, we would have a better chance for success than the Illini.

 

[Stinger92860]

Is that really our conference? {sigh}

Last year, not saying it was you, many people were throwing up on the possibility of a merger with what is now the B12. In retrospect that would have been a great move by thew FB schools.

Last year's final ranking: 5 in the top 30

Team AP/USA
BSU - 8/6
Houston - 18/14
Cinn - 25/21
ORV - Rutgers, Temple

 

[FAIRTIDES]

I root for them to be, but doubt that they can be. Simple as that.

Why, on earth, not. I doubt that the combination of money sources that kicked in $150 Million did so after a presentation that described the future as being mediocre to so-so. The only things that can, at this point, limit UCONN football are the conference situation and poor execution (I hate that word, too.) on the part of those in the school admin, Athletic Department and coaching staff. UCONN is the flagship University representing the wealthiest state in the union. All that is needed are people that can sell the dream to recruits and fans alike. The conference issue will either be part of the dream or something that has to by sold around.

If schools like Boise State, with it's limitations, can become a "ranked" program, so can a school with UCONN's resources.

 

[Nostical]

All that is needed are people that can sell the dream to recruits and fans alike. ...If schools like Boise State, with it's limitations, can become a "ranked" program, so can a school with UCONN's resources.

I'm as big a dreamer as anyone, but don't think Boise got here on a dream. Since they had built in disadvantages they decided to recruit players that would never have been admitted at UConn. Do you want to lower our standards and bring in all the top Jucos? That wouldn't be "selling the dream", it would be buying a nightmare.

 

[Dan Thompson]

I'm as big a dreamer as anyone, but don't think Boise got here on a dream. Since they had built in disadvantages they decided to recruit players that would never have been admitted at UConn. Do you want to lower our standards and bring in all the top Jucos? That wouldn't be "selling the dream", it would be buying a nightmare.

you really should do some homework before you spout off about something you know absolutely nothing about, last year Boise was 2nd behind Penn State in grade avg. for their football team, this years scores are being put together as we speak, Boise State has a record 56 players this year who have a 3.5 or higher and are expected to beat out Penn for the top spot.

Boise State has the SAME requirements as any other D1 team, at most 2 Jucos in any given year will be brought in, most years it's zero. Saying that Boise State is only good because they bring in players who can't qualify at other places is just an excuse that ignorant people use as to why they can't beat Boise State. Did you know that there are players on Boise State right now who turned down ND, Stanford, UCLA, etc. to play for them?

 

[Dan Thompson]

Boise is a crappy former community college, with no natural reason for success. The odds of them stringing several more top 25 seasons together are slim. In the Forbes national ranking of colleges, they rank 614th. Think about that. They have never once played a season against decent league competition. Stadium seats 37k. They are not even on the same planet as Penn State. Even if you just go back to 1999, when Boise went to its first bowl game, Penn State has been better. Boise has had a brief run as a good team. Nothing more. You could say the same of Iowa under Hayden Fry.

WOW, were to start, Boise State started over 80 years ago as a religious girls school, became a JC, then DII and then 15 years ago made the jump to DI, they won a NC as a JC, a NC in DII, and 2 BCS Bowl games so far at the DI level, their combined winning % over their entire existence is .726 which puts them 2nd all time just behind Michigan, in the past 4 years they compiled a record of 50-3, which has never been done before by anyone, in the past decade they won more games(119) then anyone over a 10 year period going back over 100 years, in fact you would have to go back to the 1880's when Yale was playing 16 games a year against mostly club teams to find a team who won more games, in fact Dennis Erickson who won 2 NC games just said last week...

Dennis Erickson compliments Broncos

In CDA press interview discussing conference shuffling.
http://www.cdapress.com/news/sports/article_6dd63b 5a-8552-5be1-b145-3e961734bafe.html

"That’s why everybody’s realigning. That’s why teams are going to the Big East — they don’t know if the Big East is even going to be in the bowl alliance. So people are bailing — Boise goes there, San Diego State goes there. Boise had to do it, because it’s a tremendous football program. (Coach Chris) Petersen’s done a great job; the community of Boise has been unbelievable. They’ve got so many things going down there that now they want that opportunity to get into a national championship game, and the only way for them to do it is to get into one of those conferences. People jump at stuff, and they don’t really know what’s going to happen. Financially they (Boise State) are going to be way better off going to the Big East. And that’s part of the reason they went. And the other reason is they feel they have an opportunity to win a national championship, and I’ll tell you what — last year, I’m not so sure they couldn’t. (Boise State beat Arizona State 58-26 in the MAACO Bowl in Las Vegas last year, in Erickson’s final game at ASU). They were that good."

 

[Carl Spackler]

Dan you appear to be a Boise guy. UNderstand that around here, you will run into people like Husky Hawk that are basketball oriented people. To the people that have grown up as fans of UCOnn athletics as a big east basketball power in the past 20 years, and don't have a football understanding nationally, of what has happened in the past 20-30 years, or where UConn has really come from and where we are..... the current big east moving forward is a disgusting frankenstein of a monster, and they'd rather be in the ACC with no control whatsoever over our own media rights.

Sorry - huskyhawk, for using you as an example.....but if the shoe fits...?

Now, in reality, the concept of Boise playing in the big east? Well i find it really ironic, there was a lot of discussion a while back, by uconn fans around ehre, about if UConn should be pursuing the likes of Boise for scheduling........lots of back and forth. Before any of the madness. I personally am excited for the competition.

As far as the college football post season goes, to my knowledge, all of the discussions that led to Boise and the Big EAst becoming partners, as well as all the other additions, was done with the full knowledge, and anticipation, that the BCS AQ and all of that as it existed in 2011, would be gone by 2014.

So, to me, the BCS and it's reorganization, it's non-issue for membership moving forward, we all anticipated this. The Big EAst is now a national conference, and the likes of UConn and Boise are part of it. I gave a rundown of the history of the ocnference and northeast college football, that also involved Yale on a different thread. Take the time to read if you will.

The conference leadership, from 1979, up until 2011, was very much held in the hands of the parochial school leadership that founded out the Big East out of the reorganization of college athletic departments in the northeast USA in the 1970s.

I firmly believe that leadership, from the conference offices to the various university presidents and councils has changed paradigms completely in the past year, as their basketball creation on the east coast, nearly died, from the way they operated it from the mid 1980s until 2011.

I look forward to the success of the big east conference in the future, under new leadership.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Dan you appear to be a Boise guy. UNderstand that around here, you will run into people like Husky Hawk that are basketball oriented people. To the people that have grown up as fans of UCOnn athletics as a big east basketball power in the past 20 years, and don't have a football understanding nationally, of what has happened in the past 20-30 years, or where UConn has really come from and where we are..... the current big east moving forward is a disgusting frankenstein of a monster, and they'd rather be in the ACC with no control whatsoever over our own media rights.

Sorry - huskyhawk, for using you as an example.....but if the shoe fits...?

Now, in reality, the concept of Boise playing in the big east? Well i find it really ironic, there was a lot of discussion a while back, by uconn fans around ehre, about if UConn should be pursuing the likes of Boise for scheduling........lots of back and forth. Before any of the madness. I personally am excited for the competition.

As far as the college football post season goes, to my knowledge, all of the discussions that led to Boise and the Big EAst becoming partners, as well as all the other additions, was done with the full knowledge, and anticipation, that the BCS AQ and all of that as it existed in 2011, would be gone by 2014.

So, to me, the BCS and it's reorganization, it's non-issue for membership moving forward, we all anticipated this. The Big EAst is now a national conference, and the likes of UConn and Boise are part of it. I gave a rundown of the history of the ocnference and northeast college football, that also involved Yale on a different thread. Take the time to read if you will.

The conference leadership, from 1979, up until 2011, was very much held in the hands of the parochial school leadership that founded out the Big East out of the reorganization of college athletic departments in the northeast USA in the 1970s.

I firmly believe that leadership, from the conference offices to the various university presidents and councils has changed paradigms completely in the past year, as their basketball creation on the east coast, nearly died, from the way they operated it from the mid 1980s until 2011.

I look forward to the success of the big east conference in the future, under new leadership.

In my defense, I was a college football fan before Boise State played its first game as a D1 program. It is precisely that appreciation for history, and the history of watching Colorado challenge and surpass my favorite team at the time, Nebraska, only to fall back again, that makes me believe that Boise's success is not sustainable. I've watched it over any over. Few programs can make the leap, and fewer still can sustain it for any period of time (which Boise has not yet). I don't suggest that they haven't been darned good of late.

A person ignorant of college football, a pure basketball fan, would assume the opposite. As it is much easier to achieve long term success in basketball, and to elevate a program to new heights. UConn is proof. Had Boise had the same level of success in hoops, I would give them better odds of continuing it.

 

[Pudge]

you really should do some homework before you spout off about something you know absolutely nothing about, last year Boise was 2nd behind Penn State in grade avg. for their football team, this years scores are being put together as we speak, Boise State has a record 56 players this year who have a 3.5 or higher and are expected to beat out Penn for the top spot.

Boise State has the SAME requirements as any other D1 team, at most 2 Jucos in any given year will be brought in, most years it's zero. Saying that Boise State is only good because they bring in players who can't qualify at other places is just an excuse that ignorant people use as to why they can't beat Boise State. Did you know that there are players on Boise State right now who turned down ND, Stanford, UCLA, etc. to play for them?

Thanks for your comment ... you obviously have knowledge beyond our fan base.

I think PERCEPTION is a hard thing to purge. Peterson (and Hawkins before him) has clearly set a great path. The academic element fits the overall structure of that program ... imho. Boise gets a lot of California kids (and others) who have options for other places; but, Boise provides a great football/academic fit. That's hard to know from the Northeast.

We (UCONN fans) are just a little fatigued with our 8 year BE tumlultuous venture. It is obvious to me that Programs all over this country are fighting like we are to get to a good platform in football. Which sets in place many other things for our University.

 

[Dan Thompson]

"Boise State, which has had 10 consecutive senior classes claim 40 or more wins in their career, is hoping whatever the answer might be the latest crop of signal-callers can follow up the remarkable four-year career of Moore in an effort to keep the Broncos a household name beyond The Gem State."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/06/05/life-at-boise-after-kellen-moore/#ixzz1wwAn7uo0​

Did you miss the part were they have the 2nd best winning % of all time?​

 

[Carl Spackler]

In my defense, I was a college football fan before Boise State played its first game as a D1 program. It is precisely that appreciation for history, and the history of watching Colorado challenge and surpass my favorite team at the time, Nebraska, only to fall back again, that makes me believe that Boise's success is not sustainable. I've watched it over any over. Few programs can make the leap, and fewer still can sustain it for any period of time (which Boise has not yet). I don't suggest that they haven't been darned good of late.

A person ignorant of college football, a pure basketball fan, would assume the opposite. As it is much easier to achieve long term success in basketball, and to elevate a program to new heights. UConn is proof. Had Boise had the same level of success in hoops, I would give them better odds of continuing it.

I remember you saying somethin glike that about football, which is why I apologized for singling you out. I think Boise is going to do just fine recruiting as a Big East conference member.

 

[HomeKing93]

Just a point on Boise State. Although BSU's academic standards are not as high as ours, it's not as if they are using that to load up on 4 and 5 star recruits. Their recruiting classes look a lot like ours over the past 10 years or so.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Just a point on Boise State. Although BSU's academic standards are not as high as ours, it's not as if they are using that to load up on 4 and 5 star recruits. Their recruiting classes look a lot like ours over the past 10 years or so.

That's what is remarkable. I think they have overachieved based on talent, in the same way Notre Dame and maybe FSU underachieve. Good coaching and a winning atmosphere help. Don't get me wrong, I like Boise St. for the most part, I just think that when playing a tougher schedule they will lose more often, and over time, overeachievers like Kellen Moore won't come along consitently enough.

 

[Pudge]

Just a point on Boise State. Although BSU's academic standards are not as high as ours, it's not as if they are using that to load up on 4 and 5 star recruits. Their recruiting classes look a lot like ours over the past 10 years or so.

What does this mean?

I mean: are you comparing UConn to Boise based on Rivals & Scout?

That, from my time around the services, is meaningless. Who knows what these kids are? Particularly contrasting two entirely different sides of the country. I don't trust an evaluation from either service by just looking at video.

 

[HomeKing93]

Yes, I am comparing rankings based on the the recruiting services. Of course, whether the rankings from those services are accurate evaluations of talent is not my point. We all agree (and I'm sure BSU fans do as well) that the services are not always accurate. Quick example - Donald Brown and Doug Martin were 2 star RBs according to Scout and both of them were NFL first round picks.

 

[Nostical]

Boise has twice as many Juco players as UConn.