Playoff going to 12 in 2026 | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Playoff going to 12 in 2026

Fine, but lets be clear, indy is not P6, it is G5 without conference mates and it also means we have no shot at the G5 bowl bid starting in 2026. There is a crazy notion among some that independence puts us somewhere between the P5 and the G5, that is a delusional fantasy.

Keep going as an independent so we can get wasted on the road by Tennessee and Michigan instead of playing competitive games against Liberty, Western Kentucky. Have at it. It's delusion at its best.
What is P6? Who is the 6th power conference in football? I keep seeing you post this. Just curious.
 
I'm not sure why people don't understand and admit that UConn fans, outside a of small handful, have no interest in playing MAC, Sunbelt or even AAC football. It is incredibly obvious. Something like 90% of season ticket holders prefer Independence. It isn't appealing to fans that experienced Big East football. In fact, it would almost seem like throwing in the towel to most of us. We are on the best course available, just embrace it.

Also, there is no P6 and there never was. The argument that the AAC was a very formidable football conference died when UCF, Cincy and Houston turned in their resignations. Any reasonable argument for a P6 is completely dead now.
 
What is P6? Who is the 6th power conference in football? I keep seeing you post this. Just curious.

My bad, P5. I guess the old AAC marketing campaign stuck in my head. I meant P5. The 5 conferences that make all of the money.
 
I'm not sure why people don't understand and admit that UConn fans, outside a of small handful, have no interest in playing MAC, Sunbelt or even AAC football. It is incredibly obvious. Something like 90% of season ticket holders prefer Independence. It isn't appealing to fans that experienced Big East football. In fact, it would almost seem like throwing in the towel to most of us. We are on the best course available, just embrace it.

Also, there is no P6 and there never was. The argument that the AAC was a very formidable football conference died when UCF, Cincy and Houston turned in their resignations. Any reasonable argument for a P6 is completely dead now.
Similar to the minor league hockey team in Hartford
 
And it's really a P4 now. The PAC is going to lose Oregon and Washington at some point soon.
 
We didn't leave the AAC for football as much as we were kicked out after we decided to move all of our other sports. We wanted to stay for football and the AAC said no.

BTW it wasn't the AAC schedule that drove fans away as much as it was pitiful coaching hires producing pitiful football. Take a look at what UCF and Cincy accomplished with their AAC schedule. Most northeast fans only show up if the teams are putting a good product on the field.

I'll post the below schedule again. The laughable thing about the below opponents is that we have Boneyarders singing the praises of these independent home games when they are announced but God forbid we join a conference with teams like this. IMO these games would be far more interesting if they were conference games.

Here are our currently scheduled October and November home games after this year:

USF
Sacred Heart
Temple
Georgia State
FIU
UAB
UMASS
James Madison
Syracuse (the one outlier)
Army
Control? Define control. More like begging, pleading, and rationalizing.
They have Syracuse, Michigan ,Boston College and NC State on the schedule this year .

Schedule is much more interesting now than the aac. And, fans left UConn football before they were terrible.

Aac killed the program. The issue? The league was very good, and had no buzz.

That is the worst situation to be in. No one cares about Houston, SMU, Tulane and Tulsa.

Indy allows uconn to play Army, UConn, bc, Syracuse, Umass, temple and hopefully, Rutgers.

Maybe in Future years Pitt with a home and home and at Penn State
 
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I'm not sure why people don't understand and admit that UConn fans, outside a of small handful, have no interest in playing MAC, Sunbelt or even AAC football. It is incredibly obvious. Something like 90% of season ticket holders prefer Independence. It isn't appealing to fans that experienced Big East football. In fact, it would almost seem like throwing in the towel to most of us. We are on the best course available, just embrace it.

First off, I don't believe this is true. I think the same fans who follow now will follow if we joined a G5 conference and more will follow if we started winning. Look at the nationwide cult following Coastal Carolina has because they win and their schedule is nothing special. Winning attracts attention and losing repels fans.

Second, this is what I mean by delusional fanbase because we are already playing these G5 teams quite a bit. Did you not follow the first two games this year when we played Utah State and FCS Central?
 
I'm not sure why people don't understand and admit that UConn fans, outside a of small handful, have no interest in playing MAC, Sunbelt or even AAC football. It is incredibly obvious. Something like 90% of season ticket holders prefer Independence. It isn't appealing to fans that experienced Big East football. In fact, it would almost seem like throwing in the towel to most of us. We are on the best course available, just embrace it.

Also, there is no P6 and there never was. The argument that the AAC was a very formidable football conference died when UCF, Cincy and Houston turned in their resignations. Any reasonable argument for a P6 is completely dead now.
I agree here. The fans totally rejected the aac. From football to men’s basketball.

Whatever arguments that can be made for aac and going Into a conference for football..the fanbase won’t like it.
 
Does UConn get any CFP money since it’s not associated with a conference?
 
I’d much rather those mid-October games with Temple, Syracuse, Army, UMass and other regional (ODU, James Madison)/varied and different opponents; rather than annual dates with Jacksonville State or Sam Houston State. Last years mid-October matchup with one of C-USA’s top remaining teams (MTSU) drew 10,698 announced and having been there about 6500 in the stands.

There’s a huge difference in perception for recruits to the school that routine plays P5 schools (even on the road) and has all its games televised and a team playing a C-USA slate on a small streaming website. That’s before you factor in the lost revenue from a TV deal that is smaller than UConn’s football only deal and forgone opportunities against P5 schools.

There is merit to joining a conference for football only… just not C-USA. A conference that can offer better revenue? Sure. That wouldn’t diminish UConn in the eyes of recruits? OK. One that winning would offer a materially better chance to reach that 6th conference champion bid to the playoffs? Absolutely. C-USA is not that and would represent a step back over the current Independent situation.
 
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Does UConn get any CFP money since it’s not associated with a conference?
Yes... there is pool of money split between the Independent schools (minus Notre Dame). IIRC it was like $325k +/-
 
If the top 4 seeds are the top 4 conference champions with byes, does that mean conference champion 5 and 6 are the fifth and sixth seeds without a bye and the highest ranking a nonconference champion or ND can have is seventh? Or, are conference champion 5 and 6 mixed in with the six who were not conference champions?
They just told you there’s be a P4 in short order.
 
I agree here. The fans totally rejected the aac. From football to men’s basketball.

Whatever arguments that can be made for aac and going Into a conference for football..the fanbase won’t like it.
Fans totally rejected the AAC because UCONN sucked *ss and never played above .500 in football and yes, it was awful for basketball. If UCONN Football had been remotely successful against Cinci, SMU, UCF, USF, Houston, Temple, Navy, Tulane, then it would have been a different story. Like you said, the AAC was a very good conference with no buzz but if UCONN had been winning and competing for championships, fans would have viewed it much differently.

Of course fans prefer to play in a B1G or ACC over MAC or Sunbelt but that is not happening. We can hope that UCONN jumps from one of the worst programs in the country to P5 level, but hope is a dangerous thing.

Another point: Fans of programs care about other programs in their conference. They follow each other. No one cares about UCONN Football outside of our fanbase and that has to affect recruiting too.
 
Anyone know what our attendance was in 2018 when we opened the season in 100 degree heat vs UCF? I seem to remember a decent crowd for that AAC game in Edsall's second year back. The game was a blowout in the first quarter.

If Saturday's game against local rival and P5 brand Syracuse with our hot new coach Jim Mora fails to outdraw that UCF AAC game in 100 degree heat it will throw a huge monkey wrench in this notion that the fanbase only responds to our local brand rivals.

It's time to separate opinions from facts. Saturday is a prove it game.
 
Anyone know what our attendance was in 2018 when we opened the season in 100 degree heat vs UCF? I seem to remember a decent crowd for that AAC game in Edsall's second year back. The game was a blowout in the first quarter.

If Saturday's game against local rival and P5 brand Syracuse with our hot new coach Jim Mora fails to outdraw that UCF AAC game in 100 degree heat it will throw a huge monkey wrench in this notion that the fanbase only responds to our local brand rivals.
Attendance: 23,081
 
Fans totally rejected the AAC because UCONN sucked *ss and never played above .500 in football and yes, it was awful for basketball. If UCONN Football had been remotely successful against Cinci, SMU, UCF, USF, Houston, Temple, Navy, Tulane, then it would have been a different story. Like you said, the AAC was a very good conference with no buzz but if UCONN had been winning and competing for championships, fans would have viewed it much differently.

Of course fans prefer to play in a B1G or ACC over MAC or Sunbelt but that is not happening. We can hope that UCONN jumps from one of the worst programs in the country to P5 level, but hope is a dangerous thing.

Another point: Fans of programs care about other programs in their conference. They follow each other. No one cares about UCONN Football outside of our fanbase and that has to affect recruiting too.

I don't know what the debate is. The AAC wouldn't let us stay for football only and the AAC is less appealing now than ever before anyway. The lesser conferences won't pay as much as CBS pays us for football. We haven't even scratched the surface of the potential income from CBS or another network if we improve our program.

Lastly, we are recruiting better than ever. Independence and the CBS deal even improved Edsall's recruiting and he admitted it openly. He's a guy that thinks that the world is working against him, yet even he liked independence with CBS and talked it up.

So, we have increased fan interest, better recruiting and season ticket holders supporting independence yet you think we are better off in a small time conference. Why? It just doesn't make any sense at this point. Maybe it will someday, but not today.
 
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First off, I don't believe this is true. I think the same fans who follow now will follow if we joined a G5 conference and more will follow if we started winning. Look at the nationwide cult following Coastal Carolina has because they win and their schedule is nothing special. Winning attracts attention and losing repels fans.

Second, this is what I mean by delusional fanbase because we are already playing these G5 teams quite a bit. Did you not follow the first two games this year when we played Utah State and FCS Central?
Lol. Miami opened with Bethune Cookman, FSU with Duquesne. I won't bother to look up all the others.

It doesn't matter who we play first, we have a good schedule. Utah St was a fringe Top 25 team coming in. That's like opening with Boise St. Its a good early game no matter what conference you are in.
 
I don't know what the debate is. The AAC wouldn't let us stay for football only and the AAC is less appealing now than ever before anyway. The lesser conferences won't pay as much as CBS pays us for football. We haven't even scratched the surface of the potential income from CBS or another network if we improve our program.

Lastly, we are recruiting better than ever. Independence and the CBS deal even improved Edsall's recruiting and he admitted it openly. He's a guy that thinks that the world is working against him, yet even he liked independence with CBS and talked it up.

So, we have increased fan interest, better recruiting and season ticket holders supporting independence yet you think we are better off in a small time conference. Why? It just doesn't make any sense at this point. Maybe it will someday, but not today.
I've already stated several reasons why I think joining a conference for football only is better than being independent, even if it meant joining the MAC or Sun Belt. I think Randy Edsall improved Edsall's recruiting and Jim Mora is Jim Mora. I don't think being independent was a reason recruiting got better. If it were, programs other than ND and Army would choose to go indie. Conference championships, conference rivals, rival fan bases, and even the G5 playoff spot are all pluses. CR will likely continue so change might open the doors for UCONN, but if not, indie is not a good long term option.

What's the cbs football deal worth anyway?
 
My bad, P5. I guess the old AAC marketing campaign stuck in my head. I meant P5. The 5 conferences that make all of the money.

So, you're the one. The one person, when the AAC was coming up with their slogans and ad campaigns, they knew they could reach.
 
Fans totally rejected the AAC because UCONN sucked *ss and never played above .500 in football and yes, it was awful for basketball. If UCONN Football had been remotely successful against Cinci, SMU, UCF, USF, Houston, Temple, Navy, Tulane, then it would have been a different story. Like you said, the AAC was a very good conference with no buzz but if UCONN had been winning and competing for championships, fans would have viewed it much differently.

Of course fans prefer to play in a B1G or ACC over MAC or Sunbelt but that is not happening. We can hope that UCONN jumps from one of the worst programs in the country to P5 level, but hope is a dangerous thing.

Another point: Fans of programs care about other programs in their conference. They follow each other. No one cares about UCONN Football outside of our fanbase and that has to affect recruiting too.
I was there through it. Fans rejected aac flat out, from the beginning. The slow degradation of football ticket sales late in the first Edsall regime tanked in the aac.

Aac hurt hoops, football and soccer immensely.
 
Anyone know what our attendance was in 2018 when we opened the season in 100 degree heat vs UCF? I seem to remember a decent crowd for that AAC game in Edsall's second year back. The game was a blowout in the first quarter.

If Saturday's game against local rival and P5 brand Syracuse with our hot new coach Jim Mora fails to outdraw that UCF AAC game in 100 degree heat it will throw a huge monkey wrench in this notion that the fanbase only responds to our local brand rivals.

It's time to separate opinions from facts. Saturday is a prove it game.
What?

I think they should aim for 30k tbh.they had 24k for ccsu. 30k for Syracuse would be an excellent crowd.
 
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Does UConn get any CFP money since it’s not associated with a conference?
Yes... there is pool of money split between the Independent schools (minus Notre Dame). IIRC it was like $325k +/-
No. But it isn’t as lucrative as you would think. Lot of mouths to feed.

Independent schools split a nominal payout from the CFP Playoffs. Last year in AAC UConn got $1.3m

 
I've already stated several reasons why I think joining a conference for football only is better than being independent, even if it meant joining the MAC or Sun Belt. I think Randy Edsall improved Edsall's recruiting and Jim Mora is Jim Mora. I don't think being independent was a reason recruiting got better. If it were, programs other than ND and Army would choose to go indie. Conference championships, conference rivals, rival fan bases, and even the G5 playoff spot are all pluses. CR will likely continue so change might open the doors for UCONN, but if not, indie is not a good long term option.

What's the cbs football deal worth anyway?

The reason the CBS deal improved recruiting is that almost all of our games are on national TV through CBS networks. That means the families of recruits from across the country can see their games. On top of that, we play more P5 teams as an Indy.

The contract pays 500k per year for football which is what Sunbelt and MAC schools make for all sports. Now consider what they might pay us if we are a decent team. We got that money as one of the worst 3 teams in FBS. UConn has a huge brand that can be very lucrative with a winning football team. You don’t just hand it over to the freaking Sunbelt or MAC.
 
Fans totally rejected the AAC because UCONN sucked *ss and never played above .500 in football and yes, it was awful for basketball. If UCONN Football had been remotely successful against Cinci, SMU, UCF, USF, Houston, Temple, Navy, Tulane, then it would have been a different story. Like you said, the AAC was a very good conference with no buzz but if UCONN had been winning and competing for championships, fans would have viewed it much differently.

Of course fans prefer to play in a B1G or ACC over MAC or Sunbelt but that is not happening. We can hope that UCONN jumps from one of the worst programs in the country to P5 level, but hope is a dangerous thing.

Another point: Fans of programs care about other programs in their conference. They follow each other. No one cares about UCONN Football outside of our fanbase and that has to affect recruiting too.
I agree 100%.

If UConn was playing any of the AAC schools on the Saturday after Thanksgiving with a spot in the AAC championship game at stake, the RENT would've been electric and if not full, pretty damn close.

Was it the same as playing Rutgers, BC or Cuse? No, but UConn fans used the AAC to blame how horrible the football program had become because it was an easy scapegoat. UConn football was so bad it wouldn't have mattered what conference it was a member of. It would've struggled to win games in the old Yankee Conference.

When the C7 broke away and Aresco "created" the AAC there were many BY posts about how UConn was going to dominate the conference and that 8+ win season were about to become the norm. That this didn't happen is not the fault of the AAC.
 
I agree 100%.

If UConn was playing any of the AAC schools on the Saturday after Thanksgiving with a spot in the AAC championship game at stake, the RENT would've been electric and if not full, pretty damn close.

Was it the same as playing Rutgers, BC or Cuse? No, but UConn fans used the AAC to blame how horrible the football program had become because it was an easy scapegoat. UConn football was so bad it wouldn't have mattered what conference it was a member of. It would've struggled to win games in the old Yankee Conference.

When he C7 broke away and Aresco "created" the AAC there were many BY posts about how UConn was going to dominate the conference and that 8+ win season were about to become the norm. That this didn't happen is not the fault of the AAC.
Agreed, but when you survey your fan base and they tell you they hate the AAC and don’t want to be in it, what is there to argue about? We have basketball in a good conference that the fans love and we make just as much money from football as Sunbelt schools make on all sports. Some here seem to want to make less money and alienate the majority of the fans in order to be in low level football conference. It just doesn’t make any sense.
 
Fans totally rejected the AAC because UCONN sucked *ss
Disagree. No one guessed two hoots about the other schools in that conference from day one. When Aresco decided he wanted to rebuild the Big East in the inference image of Conference USA, it was over. We were in a conference that we were a bad geographic fit and with opponents that lacked cachet.
 
I was there through it. Fans rejected aac flat out, from the beginning. The slow degradation of football ticket sales late in the first Edsall regime tanked in the aac.

Aac hurt hoops, football and soccer immensely.
Everyone was p.o.d because UCONN didn't get the ACC invite so yes, remaining in what became the AAC was a very bitter pill. No one was happy about it. But had UCONN won, fans would have been a lot more optimistic about playing the games.

2013 Standings​


OverallConferencePoints Per GameSRSPolls
SchoolWLPctWLPctOffDefSRSSOSAP PreAP HighAP RankNotes
UCF121.923801.00034.621.38.42-2.961010
Louisville121.92371.87535.212.29.99-5.859715
Cincinnati94.69262.75032.121.00.41-6.90
Houston85.61553.62533.221.84.93-1.92
SMU57.41744.50026.833.3-7.44-2.44
Rutgers67.46235.37526.529.8-5.68-3.37
Connecticut39.25035.37520.630.3-11.97-2.97
South Florida210.16726.25013.828.6-13.56-0.47
Memphis39.25017.12519.524.6-7.41-2.66
Temple210.16717.12524.929.8-10
 
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