Should we play UMass home and home?

[Palatine]

It would be like two home games as we are likely to send as many or more to Gillette Stadium (UMass's home ) as they are. That would be good Boston pub and generate more Boston coverage than BCU.

 

[huskymedic]

It would be like two home games as we are likely to send as many or more to Gillette Stadium (UMass's home ) as they are. That would be good Boston pub and generate more Boston coverage than BCU.

Fine with me if there are no other candidates that would boost our SOS available (UMass won't).

 

[Lewconn]

IMO it would have to be a 3 game series, (2 at the Rent, 1 at Foxboro), and it would have to replace the FCS scheduled games for 2016, 2017, 2018… since we already have FCS games scheduled for 2014 (Villanova) and 2015 (Stony Brook), unless we could get out of them..

 

[noeynox]

At this point why not? Its a bus ride road game. We won't have too many of those in this league. I'd love to see UCONN up there.

 

[Waquoit]

Why not? What could go wrong?

 

[PRHusky]

They might not agree to do a 2 for 1, but they may agree to do a 3 for 2. That sounds reasonable for both sides.

 

[CL82]

You are the company you keep. I'd rather play up than down, but if it is replacing our FCS game, then sure.

 

[SubbaBub]

no.

 

[Yonick]

I su.ppose it's better than Buffalo. But, 2 for one at best. Few fans of either team will travel to Foxboro. I believe they averaged 12K there this year. Some prominent folks in Amherst want them to go back to 1-AA

 

[SubbaBub]

We need 3 of the 4 OOC games to be against BCS teams. The fourth needs to be a home game. Playing a non-bcs team on the road is a non-starter.

 

[huskymedic]

We need 3 of the 4 OOC games to be against BCS teams. The fourth needs to be a home game. Playing a non-bcs team on the road is a non-starter.

Would be nice but I'm quickly becoming a proponent of "beggars can't be choosy"...

I assume that you mean only "Power 5" when you use the term BCS? - No MWC or other D1?

 

[Lewconn]

Just to continue this conversation on... IMO UConn (we) are at a point now where we really need a strong OC schedule, thus it really does not help us to play any FCS schools (other than for monetary reasons and an easy win). We need the Michigan’s, Tennessee’s, Virginia’s, BYU’s and Boise State’s on the schedule. Thus UMass does not fit in, unless it replaces an FCS school. In addition, I would suggest we no longer play any FCS schools, rather replace them with the likes of UMass, Army, Old Dominion, Buffalo and South Alabama...

 

[jbdphi]

Would be nice but I'm quickly becoming a proponent of "beggars can't be choosy"...

I assume that you mean only "Power 5" when you use the term BCS?

I'm sure someone will crap all over you in the next 30 minutes for calling UConn beggars. Apologist...

From my perspective, this whole scheduling debate centers around the issue of competitiveness vs ceiling. There are a lot of people who feel that UConn needs to schedule much tougher given the apparently weak conference schedule in the future. I presume this is because they feel this is the only way to qualify for a College Football Playoff? These people want the highest ceiling possible.

On the other hand, I would prefer that UConn has a schedule that we can compete against and win a bunch of games. Playing Texas, Alabama and USC every year would be real fun and all but after getting our asses handed to us 9 times out of 10, I don't think it's that great. And is playing Wake Forest, Vanderbilt and Baylor really that much better than playing BYU, Boise and Southern Mississippi (just as an example)? I'd prefer dominating against a weaker schedule which is exactly what TCU and Boise State did over the past 10 years. It makes being a fan much more fun even though we have virtually no chance of making a playoff. I'm OK having a lower ceiling while having better competitiveness.

Of course on a message board it's real easy to want the best of both worlds. Play a really tough schedule and dominate it. Hate to break it to people but that just isn't going to happen anytime soon. You need to build to that and it takes time and a lot of luck in terms of getting the right coach who wants to stick with your program.

I'd take a home and home with UMass every year. It gives us a close road game for fans to attend which is going to be rare enough for UConn nowadays. At the moment, it also provides us with a game we can win. Trying to hold UMass down to keep UConn up will not work (see BC - UConn). Elevate New England. Make it relevant to the broader college football world.

Rant over. Flame away.

 

[huskymedic]

I'm sure someone will crap all over you in the next 30 minutes for calling UConn beggars. Apologist...

For clarification - I use the term " beggars" because realistically, we don't have a ton of leverage to demand terms to the PAC, SEC, Big 12 or B1G.

As FAIRTIDES said in another post... Anyone, anywhere, anytime as long as we are on a mainstream TV channel

 

[UConnJim]

The problem with playing UMass is that the AAC is made up of too many teams similar to UMass which means we need to schedule more difficult OOC games. If we did play UMass, it should be 2 for 1s as the Rent is closer to Amherst than Foxboro.

Also, if UConn did not bring at least 20k fans to Foxboro, it would reflect poorly on our fam support and potential to upgrade conferences. If we play games in Foxboro, it should be against big name teams, which would draw UConn fans.

 

[ruskin]

maybe in 2020-21. Gotta play top BCS for non AAC games until it's safe to do so

 

[Palatine]

You are the company you keep. I'd rather play up than down, but if it is replacing our FCS game, then sure.

You cannot play EVERY game up. That makes no sense.

 

[HuskyBlue08]

We already schedule home and homes with Buffalo, Ohio, and Central Michigan.

I for one would prefer UMass.

 

[uconNYC]

Replace 1AA and Buffalo with UMass.

 

[Waquoit]

We should always playe Buffalo. We started the 1-A journey around the same time. We played each other before, during and after the transition. Have we played any other team more often as a D-1? We played each other in a bowl game. We're both in mid-major conferences. We're kindred spirits.

 

[CL82]

You cannot play EVERY game up. That makes no sense.

Which is why I said if it replaces an FCS opponent, I'm fine with it. If it replaces a better opponent, I'm not. Straight forward enough, right?

 

[CL82]

We should always playe Buffalo. We started the 1-A journey around the same time. We played each other before, during and after the transition. Have we played any other team more often as a D-1? We played each other in a bowl game. We're both in mid-major conferences. We're kindred spirits.

Buffalo is like that kid in HS who never amounted to much and wants to go drink some beer, and shoot rats at the dump as a 40 year old. Let's shoot for associating with people who we want to be in our future, rather than hang around someone who is stuck in the past.

 

[coachcap]

Why not? What could go wrong?

OMG.. You typed "What could go wrong?" & I flashed back to U. New Haven at Memorial Stadium.

 

[SubbaBub]

Need 7 winnable games (5-6 should come from the AAC) If we can't be above. 500 in conference every year, we should pack it in.)

Need 2-3 games per year worthy of national attention. AAC might give us 1, but I wouldn't count on it. So they have to come from the OOC schedule.

We need at least one BCS OOC home game per year, probably need two most years. AAC isn't selling 40,000 tickets after the initial novelty of the new teams.

Need one home gimme. This is where UMass fits in. But why permanently lock up this spot? Absolutely no road games against non-BCS teams.

Every schedule should follow this format win the minimum number of wins.

Conf (4h/4a) - 5W-3L
BCS (1h/1a) - W/L
Lower FBS (1h) - W
BCS (1a) or MWC (1h or 1a) tossup

3-1 or 2-2 OOC and
8-0 to 5-3 AAC is the goal.

Schedule accordingly as best you can.





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[freescooter]

My inclination would be not to play right now except as a one-off type thing. Give them a couple of seasons to develop first. Then lets see where it goes. I don't object in principal. They just aren't a very good football program at the moment. I'd prefer to wait until they've established a bit before I do some long term deal.