I'd guess the majority of people who don't watch any football at all have no connection to UConn other than rooting for the men's basketball team. Yes, I know there are exceptions to this. So pipe down.
I would imagine that there is less affiliation between alums and the women's basketball fan base. Them being so dominant and transcendent creates more of a cult (and I don't mean that in a negative way - they have achieved notoriety that undoubtedly lengthens the gap between community and fan base, which is another way of saying they are a team with national pull)
Football fans would certainly be more likely to have attended the school, if I had to guess. I think the survey that
@temery conducted a couple months ago reflects that.
I love UConn basketball, and to some extent, that has spilled into UConn football. Even though I can't name more than a handful of players on the roster, I watch most games and plan on attending a couple this season.
That said, I hesitate to assign nobility to supporting the football program like so many here tend to do. I support UConn football because it's fun, but the moralizing about things like needing to have every TV in your house turned to the game - even if you're not home - is probably a little misplaced. Following sports is a recreational activity that is supposed to be fun, and if somebody likes UConn basketball and not UConn football, I don't think they have some obligation to sit through a UConn-ECU game and I don't think it's contradictory to assume a passive stance on the football program while bemoaning what has happened to the basketball program. I hope UConn football turns the corner and rescues the entire athletic department, but it shouldn't have come to that.
Last thing I'll add is that there are probably a lot of kids who grew up in Connecticut and the New England area who became fans of UConn basketball despite not attending the school. Connecticut has no pro sports team, so the state University becomes a natural extension of state pride. Sometimes that breads entitlement that wouldn't otherwise exist among alums (though I haven't noticed that to be the case here), but for the most part it's representative of a healthy growth within a fan base that needs to occur but sometimes hasn't because of all the pro teams in the region. Bring Oklahoma to the Rent, though, with the Big 12 title on the line, and the whole state will be there.