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Message: [QUOTE="gsmooth, post: 4532622, member: 9355"] I would thinks so. Being independent gives them flexibility of scheduling P5 games as opposed to being in the AAC even as a football only. I always remember what Jim Calhoun said in the late 80s and into 90-91, he would tell potential recruits "look you can play against and have a chance to shine against Alonzo Mourning, Derrick Coleman, etc and be on ESPN so your family will see you". UConn wasn't a brand name at the time so Calhoun couldn't sell them on being on how prestigious it would be to be part of UConn (now Hurley obviously can). Being Indy in football allows Jim Mora to play that recruiting tactic on some level at least by scheduling some P5 opponents. The goal, while they are not in P5 football, would be for UConn to be like a Notre Dame independent, albeit a nerfed down lower level ND and hopefully negotiate and independent TV contract bigger and greater than the one they have with CBS Sports Network. If UConn can achieve this that would inevitably mean UConn would be attractive to some P5 eventually. Obviously they can't be as big as Notre Dame because ND developed their fame, reputation, cache, or whatever you want to call it over 100 years and developed generational fans through radio marketing almost 100 years ago. UConn fans let me know if you think I am off on this what your thoughts are. [/QUOTE]