The Bright Side

[CL82]

I hope SNY already told them they will buy the football media rights regardless of where we land. If we have a decent indy football contract with SNY and/or Fox, we can make it work if we get games with regional schools like CUSE, RU, BCU etc.

 

[huskysupporter]

Definitely see an uptick in home attendance having an Independent Schedule. People will be lining up to watch northwest Missouri State come to East Hartford.

We go independent start the clock for ending of program.

 

[Chia Pet]

Has the MAC officially turned us down?

If UConn could negotiate joining with UMass (yes I know their MAC history) that would be a great situation. Gives the MAC many NE viewers. The level of competition is such that it’s feasible for UConn to build a solid resume if/when alignment occurs. Footprint overlaps BE.

 

[RyanFoul]

I don't think I agree with everyone's emphasis on scheduling. I think scheduling mediocre teams might help if it translates to wins! Fans--and tailgating faux fans---want to see wins. They don't want to bother come watching 3-9 teams. Only football junkies care about seeing top visiting teams come to town. Most just want to see the home team win.

 

[EJHarrington]

3) Of course, we have to start to do things like win games, but that was always the assumption if you want to keep football.

It all boils down to this...

 

[storrsroars]

Bright side, time freed up.

There's a certain truth to that. I do all sorts of fun stuff on Sundays since I gave up the NFL a few years ago.

 

[upstater]

Tell the state we plan on killing the football program unless you pay the Rent people or whoever runs that to give UConn the stadium for free.

These decisions are so drastic and desperate that I bet the pols will actually take that threat half seriously.

It's like UConn put a gun to its football team's head, and asked, "Are you sure I won't pull the trigger?"

The Rent is literally the Elephant in the room right now.

The Shenk/Burton will be OK. They can always be used as hydroponic ag structures to figure out how to grow food in climate change conditions, but that Rent place is a heap of concrete nervously waiting for the shoe to drop.

 

[whaler11]

Bright side, time freed up.

Emo

 

[Adios]

Emo

I am almost dead, you ass. So, the lameness of UConn athletics now makes it easier for me to disappear and focus on more meaningful stuff. Enjoy the stupid drama.

Maybe smart to consider context insinuated elsewhere. You live on this message board, right?

 

[whaler11]

I am almost dead, you ass. So, the lameness of UConn athletics now makes it easier for me to disappear and focus on more meaningful stuff. Enjoy the stupid drama.

Maybe smart to consider context insinuated elsewhere. You live on this message board, right?

Yeah UConn’s athletics are way more lame than last Friday.

 

[Adios]

Yeah UConn’s athletics are way more lame than last Friday.

Not of interest to me anymore. I am sure the school will do fine one day. I got better things to do.

 

[ZooCougar]

After having thought about the news from the last 24 hours, I've come to the conclusion that so long as certain caveats are met, this move could be a positive thing not just for all the olympic sports but for football as well. Here's the thought process around the news:

1) We got paid 25 million dollars to use the name of a conference that we will re-enter anyways, and a name that most people in the country assumed we had always belonged to during our AAC stay. I hope you all get a little chuckle out of that, because I did!

2) If this move strengthens the men's basketball team, which it undoubtedly will, we can leverage the scheduling of our men's program to assist in OOC scheduling for football. (And yes.....I'm aware that all games for an Independent team are "OOC"...)

3) If we are able to schedule or continue to schedule our regional rivals (Rutgers, BC, Syracuse, UMass, Temple) then we will actually maintain or even increase our interest in our football team. Of course, we have to start to do things like win games, but that was always the assumption if you want to keep football.

4) FOX as a new partner may have a vested interest in helping out in scheduling with some of their other member schools (i.e., Big12), assuming they can get a further piece of the UConn Tier 3 pie there when the games are at The Rent, etc.

5) SNY almost certainly re-enters the fold, and I'm guessing that they will also have a vested interest in televising some of our football games as they have in years past.

I was always a believer in the "don't go Independent" philosophy, and I'm not much different today because of the inherent scheduling difficulties, but we cannot ignore that the most recent AAC contract really hurt us six ways to Sunday. There's no way around that fact. We had to get out of it. I hope there is already a plan in place for football that isn't yet being discussed, but I'm also hopeful that there may be a fruitful path going forward. And if we start winning again, some of the scheduling will take care of itself.

Pride. Heart. UConn.

The bright side for me is the school taking a proactive approach for once.

 

[whaler11]

Not of interest to me anymore. I am sure the school will do fine one day. I got better things to do.

Yeah you told us. Sacred Heart hockey or Trinity football...

 

[Adios]

Yeah you told us. Sacred Heart hockey or Trinity football...

Sports in general lost it's luster. Was a fun hobby when involved. The Patriots' dominance even got boring. And that's me saying that as a "fan" of the team since Super Bowl XX.

I don't think I'll be able to handle many games or whatever in the near future. Put down the Butch bottle.

 

[Ottomatic]

The only bright side I'm seeing in all of this is how much money I'll save every year on my season tickets.

 

[Chia Pet]

Not of interest to me anymore. I am sure the school will do fine one day. I got better things to do.

Have fun. We’ll welcome you back when you’re ready.

 

[UCFBfan]

Why would any of these P5 programs schedule us anymore? We don't count as a P5 win like we did when we were in the AAC

I think a lot of you are living a pipe dream of you think our schedule will include Syracuse, Rutgers, Temple, or BC.....there's no reason any of them should play us.

Going Independent means we're looking at pay to play away game beat downs, one FCS team, and Liberty, UMass, and Army sprinkled in.

look at Umass's schedule. 2 P5s (RU, Northwestern), one FCS, 3 Indy, a Mac, and whatever Coastal Carolina, FIU, and La Tech is in. 7 home games with BYu being best.

 

[ZooCougar]

Why would any of these P5 programs schedule us anymore? We don't count as a P5 win like we did when we were in the AAC

I think a lot of you are living a pipe dream of you think our schedule will include Syracuse, Rutgers, Temple, or BC.....there's no reason any of them should play us.

Going Independent means we're looking at pay to play away game beat downs, one FCS team, and Liberty, UMass, and Army sprinkled in.

look at Umass's schedule. 2 P5s (RU, Northwestern),

New Mexico State here we come.

 

[UCFBfan]

New Mexico State here we come.

Forgot them! Did Idaho decide to drop down?

 

[ZooCougar]

Forgot them! Did Idaho decide to drop down?

Idaho is Big Sky now. ND, BYU, Army, UMass, Liberty and NMSU are the Indys I am tracking.

Just looking at FBSschedules dot com. Lots of these teams are booked up or close to it through 21/22. Hopefully Benedict is all over this.

 

[John]

What has the administration done in the last twenty years that has shown that they have any clue? Other than destroying an athletic department?

that's the big problem here - including this latest shortsighted decision.