Playoff going to 12 in 2026

[metsfan2323]

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.

 

[huskymedic]

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

UCF56 UConn20 Football final (PDF) - University of Connecticut Athletics

UCF56 UConn20 Football final (PDF)

uconnhuskies.com

 

[Hoophound]

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.

 

[Hoophound]

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.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Does UConn get any CFP money since it’s not associated with a conference?

No. But it isn’t as lucrative as you would think. Lot of mouths to feed.

 

[Kolumbo]

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?

 

[Chin Diesel]

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.

 

[JohnFSilver]

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.

 

[JohnFSilver]

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.

 

[huskymedic]

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

ACC And SEC Big Winners In 2020-21 College Football Playoff Payouts

The Fighting Irish will share performance-based College Football Playoff payout this year with the ACC as part of one-year agreement.

businessofcollegesports.com

 

[Hoophound]

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.

 

[bobbyinaz]

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.

 

[Hoophound]

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.

 

[CL82]

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.

 

[Kolumbo]

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​

	Overall	Conference	Points Per Game	SRS	Polls
School	W	L	Pct	W	L	Pct	Off	Def	SRS	SOS	AP Pre	AP High	AP Rank	Notes
UCF	12	1	.923	8	0	1.000	34.6	21.3	8.42	-2.96		10	10
Louisville	12	1	.923	7	1	.875	35.2	12.2	9.99	-5.85	9	7	15
Cincinnati	9	4	.692	6	2	.750	32.1	21.0	0.41	-6.90
Houston	8	5	.615	5	3	.625	33.2	21.8	4.93	-1.92
SMU	5	7	.417	4	4	.500	26.8	33.3	-7.44	-2.44
Rutgers	6	7	.462	3	5	.375	26.5	29.8	-5.68	-3.37
Connecticut	3	9	.250	3	5	.375	20.6	30.3	-11.97	-2.97
South Florida	2	10	.167	2	6	.250	13.8	28.6	-13.56	-0.47
Memphis	3	9	.250	1	7	.125	19.5	24.6	-7.41	-2.66
Temple	2	10	.167	1	7	.125	24.9	29.8	-10

 

[metsfan2323]

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​

	Overall	Conference	Points Per Game	SRS	Polls
School	W	L	Pct	W	L	Pct	Off	Def	SRS	SOS	AP Pre	AP High	AP Rank	Notes
UCF	12	1	.923	8	0	1.000	34.6	21.3	8.42	-2.96		10	10
Louisville	12	1	.923	7	1	.875	35.2	12.2	9.99	-5.85	9	7	15
Cincinnati	9	4	.692	6	2	.750	32.1	21.0	0.41	-6.90
Houston	8	5	.615	5	3	.625	33.2	21.8	4.93	-1.92
SMU	5	7	.417	4	4	.500	26.8	33.3	-7.44	-2.44
Rutgers	6	7	.462	3	5	.375	26.5	29.8	-5.68	-3.37
Connecticut	3	9	.250	3	5	.375	20.6	30.3	-11.97	-2.97
South Florida	2	10	.167	2	6	.250	13.8	28.6	-13.56	-0.47
Memphis	3	9	.250	1	7	.125	19.5	24.6	-7.41	-2.66
Temple	2	10	.167	1	7	.125	24.9	29.8	-10

Correct, Cincy's fanbase didn't dwindle in the AAC, it probably improved. UCF used the AAC to catapult themselves into the P5. Memphis and Houston reignited their football fortunes in the AAC. Blaming AAC conference affiliation for UCONN football's decline is classic boneyard BS. PP, Debacle and the fools who hired them poisoned the UCONN fanbase far more than the AAC did.

The AAC provided outstanding football competition, and our football coaches responded by assuming the fetal position and stealing a boatload of money in the process.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Its pretty simple... Players want to play the best competition they can so they can get better and show their wares against the best. Fans want to see their team play against the best and most interesting teams. Right now, we get that through being an independent. It might not last for another 5 or 10 years but it is our best option at this time. Period.

 

[Hoophound]

Correct, Cincy's fanbase didn't dwindle in the AAC, it probably improved. UCF used the AAC to catapult themselves into the P5. Memphis reignited there football fortunes in the AAC. Blaming AAC conference affiliation for UCONN football's decline is classic boneyard BS. PP, Debacle and the fools who hired them poisoned the UCONN fanbase far more than the AAC did.

Nope. Most UConn football fans are also big basketball fans. The AAC affiliation was embarrassing for our blue chip basketball programs. That made me and many others have issues with the AAC that a decent football team wouldn’t solve.

 

[metsfan2323]

Nope. Most UConn football fans are also big basketball fans. The AAC affiliation was embarrassing for our blue chip basketball programs. That made me and many others have issues with the AAC that a decent football team wouldn’t solve.

We're talking about the causes for the decline of UCONN football and the role conference affiliation played in football's decline are we not?

Nobody is suggesting we move our basketball program back to a G5 conference.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Yes... there is pool of money split between the Independent schools (minus Notre Dame). IIRC it was like $325k +/-

Really? That’s actually pretty nice of the CFP. Lol

 

[Hogoff]

We're talking about the causes for the decline of UCONN football and the role conference affiliation played in football's decline are we not?

Nobody is suggesting we move our basketball program back to a G5 conference.

Really? I thought we were talking about the 12 team playoff.

 

[metsfan2323]

Really? I thought we were talking about the 12 team playoff.

IMO that is the reason the scales have now tipped in favor of G5 conference affiliation while we bide our time waiting for a P5 invite.

 

[Hoophound]

IMO that is the reason the scales have now tipped in favor of G5 conference affiliation while we bide our time waiting for a P5 invite.

If we go 12-0 with our tougher schedules, we will have a decent shot. I don’t think any of the conferences willing to entertain us as a football only will have an auto bid anyway.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

IMO that is the reason the scales have now tipped in favor of G5 conference affiliation while we bide our time waiting for a P5 invite.

A 12 team playoff should not drive any UConn football affiliation unless we'd have a ~ 85% chance of getting a spot in it as part of a football-only affiliation, or it is part of being in a "P5" conference for all sports. Otherwise, it's just fool's gold.

 

[metsfan2323]

If we go 12-0 with our tougher schedules, we will have a decent shot and I don’t think any of the conferences willing to entertain us as a football only will have an auto bid anyway.

Well we know for a fact CUSA called UCONN last year and invited them don't we? They weren't calling to talk about academics. The decision would be up to their TV network, CBS if I remember correctly, who happens to be our TV network. The TV network pulls the strings. I doubt it would take much lobbying.