Yeah, that was a part of it but I don't think it played an enormous role in the Louisville decision in the fall of 2012. That was so heavily predicated on football that P and the lack of success of the program post-Fiesta was far, far more important.
UConn had do many swings and misses in football it's really sad .
From the 50's onward UConn firmly established itself as Connrcticut's team in BB
Conversely UConn never established itself as Connrcticut's football team even yesrs after Yale faded from the picture. That was the first missed opportunity.
Even Delaware type success annually in a lesser division would have captured a state starved for college football. Winning seasons were rare even among lesser competition and successful programs like Southetn Conn got more press in some sections of the state than UConn. A low point was a loss to Div 11 New Haven.
Every time UConn football had a positive spin it was quickly followed by a bigger negative story.
We're going Big Time finally the state showed interest - the conference falls apart even before we join.
and the story becomes about lawsuits.
We win a championship and story is we lost money in a huge bowl game.
The bottom line is UConn never succeeded in capturing the love of their own state sometimes because of circumstances beyond their control. They don't have a big enough in state alumni base to sell out a BCS venue and beoming what they've attained in BB is the true ticket to success.
But one parting shot our record for the three seasons of the AAC is something like 7-16 , We were routed by Western Mich ,lost to a pathetic Army team and beat up by FCS Towson ,yet we continue to blame the AAC for fan apathy.
If we're were 16-7 in league play the last few years and beat up on the Cupcakes I strongly suspect the rent would be filled