The next step for the program

[ZooCougar]

We are top 12 among G5 in home attendance.

In tickets distributed you mean.

 

[nycscooby]

MAC! Take it. We offer them a few men's and women's hoops games a year and they take us for football. They are close geographically, they have good TV coverage, they have one other flagship university (Buffalo), and we will stand out in a good way regarding facilities and investment. If we finish each year near or at the top of the MAC, we will be in a better position than we are as an Indy.

Just wait until we finish in the bottom half of the MAC each year. Weren’t we going to dominate the AAC? I have zero faith that we can finish near the top of any FCS conference!

 

[Uconnalliance]

How bout the shoreline conference with North Branford lol

 

[Vowelguy]

The next step for the program is to WIN GAMES.

Whatever friggin conference or non conference UConn is in won’t matter in the slightest if the team continues to stink.

How bout worrying about how this team is going to get better?

 

[Vowelguy]

I may be wrong but I believe it's an NCAA rule.

There is one counter example : Fairfield doesn’t play M lacrosse in the MAAC.

Perhaps because the MAAC started
sponsoring the sport after Fairfield had had a team for years?

 

[businesslawyer]

We might be able to get the Big East to let us do it. It’s not looks our baseball program is making the Big East money.

Not up to the Big East. NCAA rules.

 

[shizzle787]

In tickets distributed you mean.

Every school cooks the books. We were 10th before the USF game btw. I just guessed we may be 12th but we may still be top 10.

 

[NE Football]

With our national brand, I’m surprised that we have not been able to secure our own TV contract from Apple or the CW. I guess we have overstated our national appeal. That said, we need to play 10 P4 games to be a legit program and to attract an Apple or CW to broadcast our home games.

 

[shizzle787]

With our national brand, I’m surprised that we have not been able to secure our own TV contract from Apple or the CW. I guess we have overstated our national appeal. That said, we need to play 10 P4 games to be a legit program and to attract an Apple or CW to broadcast our home games.

Though I would like that very much, it is not realistic. However, CBS Sports network is a national network in over 50 million homes.

I'm fine with a schedule like this:

1 P4 H/H
2 P4 H/H
3 P4 H/H
4 P4 H/H
5 P4 H/H
6 G5 H/H
7 G5 H/H
8 G5 H/H
9 G5 H/H
10 P4 H/H
11 UMass H/H
12 FCS H

 

[Jimdish255]

Since no one is bothering to say it: What if we join the MAC and still go 3-9 or 2-10? We aren’t going to be good in any conference without major staffing changes. At least now we have a good schedule.

I would absolutely not join MAC or CUSA until we’ve tried being Indy with a good OC and DC and competent special teams. I can pretty much guarantee you that if we had a Rhett Lashlee level OC right now, we wouldn’t be having any of these discussions today.

Bottom line. If we don't win games does it really matter who we play? Fix it then we can talk about all of our great options.

 

[ZooCougar]

With our national brand, I’m surprised that we have not been able to secure our own TV contract from Apple or the CW. I guess we have overstated our national appeal. That said, we need to play 10 P4 games to be a legit program and to attract an Apple or CW to broadcast our home games.

Our football has no brand.

 

[giddyup]

Our football has no brand.

It’s hard to have a brand built on a decade of consistent losing. We make this game so friggin hard. You almost have to try to be this bad. By sheer statistical variation we should fall into a few great players and catch a few good seasons. But no.

 

[CL82]

With our national brand, I’m surprised that we have not been able to secure our own TV contract from Apple or the CW. I guess we have overstated our national appeal. That said, we need to play 10 P4 games to be a legit program and to attract an Apple or CW to broadcast our home games.

"We"?

 

[Palatine]

The MAC is made up of second and third tier state colleges. We are a first rank state flagship university. We are a better school academically and athletically than most of the ACC, heck, we ahead than most of the B10.

We do not belong in the MAC.

 

[Kembafan]

Bottom line. If we don't win games does it really matter who we play? Fix it then we can talk about all of our great options.

Exactly. The AD should be spending all his energy raising money for NIL (however that works) and getting top notch oc / dc / st coaches. Nothing else matters if we can’t win and we need the players and coaches to do that. Just a few million a year for two or three years and it’ll pay for itself and then some. I know, easier said than done but that’s what it will take and it’s very possible.

 

[RSTuthill]

I like those Mountain West teams. Dunno why. Maybe it's their fans. But I would prefer that UConn stay independent and schedule 2 games with them each year.

 

[ktuck911]

Sun Belt would definitely be great for football and basketball... demographics similar to AAC but more warm weather teams....

@huskymedic - kindly do me a solid and change "basketball" to "baseball" .... I really did not mean to write that above

 

[superjohn]

We’re about to go 2-10 as an Indy and nobody is coming to games.

Students are non existent. The band even skipped a game.

The fans will surely show up if we're in the MAC!

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Tuesday nights against Northern Illinois

 

[Kolumbo]

I'd be all for UConn blazing its own trail and staying independent if it would work. If we knew that UConn would eventually join Cuse, Pitt, etc. Maybe try it another year or two. But it seems it would not be sustainable. UConn may not even have a say at this point. The fact that Army caved and is shacking up with the AAC is very concerning.

 

[gioff2323]

We can't play baseball in the Sunbelt. We can only play outside the Big East in sports the Big East doesn't offer.

That’s your problem right there. Someone asks a screwball question, the clown car pulls up and everyone jumps out to answer and then you bring a frigging factual argument to the party!

 

[Austin316]

let’s sweet talk Nova, Georgetown, and Butler to jump to FBS by 2030 to pave way to BigEast football via Independent. Next,ACC dies. Big East steals Cuse, Pitt, BC, & Puke. Throws invite to ECU, Temple, and Memphis.

FB members:
UConn
Nova
Georgetown
Butler
Cuse
Pitt
BC
Puke
ECU
Temple
Memphis

This will never happen. I suppose a guy can dream…

 

[RSTuthill]

Tuesday nights against Northern Illinois

Be still my heart!!

 

[UCan3]

Our football has no brand.

That is Inaccurate - I mean were you there at the beginning of the season with over 30K in attendance?

I wonder about some people that post here that make it sound like were at the lowest level of football in D 1. From a performance standpoint, maybe… But from fan interest and brand, we are anything but.


What most don’t want to talk about here is underperforming coaches, underperforming players.

We win, people’s show up. That isn’t true for many D 1 program because their fans really don’t care.

Mora made some promises and they have not come through. He has a year to make something happen but if not, we may want to look to re-start as the Paul Pasqualoni experiment may be over.

It is the zest and commitment to win that eludes our team. You see it in the 4th quarter over and over again, somethings missing. It might be the talent we lost from transfers, maybe coaching, maybe players but something has got to change.

I hope this year is distant memory next year but people that want to lump us in with no brand - don’t agree. We have brand - lots of it. What we need is the worst way is winning. And whether it’s the players, the coaches. Something will have to change in 1 year time if this ship doesn’t turnaround. Forget re-load as a complete re-start / turnover may be coming…

 

[Patman]

With our national brand, I’m surprised that we have not been able to secure our own TV contract from Apple or the CW. I guess we have overstated our national appeal. That said, we need to play 10 P4 games to be a legit program and to attract an Apple or CW to broadcast our home games.

You say we are nothing and then everything every other week. Uconn doesn't nearly as much pull as people want to believe

 

[UCan3]

That is Inaccurate - I mean were you there at the beginning of the season with over 30K in attendance?

I wonder about some people that post here that make it sound like were at the lowest level of football in D 1. From a performance standpoint, maybe… But from fan interest and brand, we are anything but.


What most don’t want to talk about here is underperforming coaches, underperforming players.

We win, people’s show up. That isn’t true for many D 1 program because their fans really don’t care.

Mora made some promises and they have not come through. He has a year to make something happen but if not, we may want to look to re-start as the Paul Pasqualoni experiment may be over.

It is the zest and commitment to win that eludes our team. You see it in the 4th quarter over and over again, somethings missing. It might be the talent we lost from transfers, maybe coaching, maybe players but something has got to change.

I hope this year is distant memory next year but people that want to lump us in with no brand - don’t agree. We have brand - lots of it. What we need is the worst way is winning. And whether it’s the players, the coaches. Something will have to change in 1 year time if this ship doesn’t turnaround. Forget re-load as a complete re-start / turnover may be coming…

There is something called a brand equity pyramid that helps any company understand where they are the brand building process.

Every one knows we play Div 1 football.
Every one knows we have had sporadic success but many traditional football schools don’t respect us - part of it is basketball envy. We are the most dominant men’s womens BB team this century and other schools are probably sick of it.

Our football team in the lightening rod as it is so far removed from our success in other sports.

But the brand? UConn Football? Heck we’ve got all kinds of brand and this is just about changing minds…. How do you do that?

W I N

My complaint with Mora is that he is little Edsall like in terms of comments about players - “Rosa our 3rd string right now“ when he’s on an award recognition list. Nice motivator Randy, sorry I mean Jim.

I do wonder if some of the players that we lost to the portal could have been convinced to stay. They could be the difference between one win and 4 wins right now.

But circling back, UConn just hasn’t show consistently in winning which makes our attendance numbers dip but after watching the Rice game, we’re not the worst in that category either.

We just have to W I N

 

[uconnyankee]

We’re about to go 2-10 as an Indy and nobody is coming to games.

Students are non existent. The band even skipped a game.

Show me any 2-10 team selling out their stadium. Or one where students are enthusiastically attending.

Winning is the best cure for attendance. Next to that is the potential for upsetting a team in national conversation. When those happen, people will come.

 

[UCONNRPh]

The MAC is made up of second and third tier state colleges. We are a first rank state flagship university. We are a better school academically and athletically than most of the ACC, heck, we ahead than most of the B10.

We do not belong in the MAC.

First Rank in many ways but definitely not in football

 

[billybud]

UConn, if in the ACC next year, would be ranked as the #12 ACC team on USNWR National University Rankings.

Would start the season as the #2 ranked BB team...(based on current preseason AP)

Football...could be ahead of Virginia (currently 2-6)

 

[RSTuthill]

Every school cooks the books. We were 10th before the USF game btw. I just guessed we may be 12th but we may still be top 10.

So UConn should do it too? Like saying 36K when the real number is 25K?