UCF puts it to Georgia Tech

[weyuo]

OK AAC haters chime in but.... the AAC is a lot better than any of you are willing to admit. Should the Huskies have stayed? UConn's men's basketball and football play was so poor that the school had no bargaining power to demand a bigger slice of the pie. UConn women's basketball deserved a lot better than what was offered. The independent football schedule(pre-Covid) was much better than the fans anticipated it would be so no, UConn should not have stayed. But what a shame. AAC football is going places and sooner than later they'll have a team in the 4(or future 8) team playoffs. UConn's shot at that coveted goal took a huge step backwards going independent. Cie la vie. Still, it's always nice to see anyone, even the AAC put it to the, "Never UConn", over rated ACC.
Final: UCF 49 GT 21

 

[huskymedic]

 

[storrsroars]

Two of the P5 aren't even playing, so "3rd or 4th best" seems a bit hollow, no?

 

[huskymedic]

Two of the P5 aren't even playing, so "3rd or 4th best" seems a bit hollow, no?

 

[Exit 4]

Long season - let’s see come December

 

[CL82]

Should the Huskies have stayed?

No.

Thank you for your interest in UConn Athletics.

 

[huskyblooz]

they were the 6th best conference. and are still the 6th best. Anyone see USF today?

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Are there even 4 leagues playing?

 

[Hoophound]

We absolutely had to leave. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad football league. It just isn’t a fit for us.

 

[uconnbaseball]

It’s a damn good football league. I wish them all the best.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

The 4th best SEC team still gets in over best AAC

 

[NEforceUConn]

We absolutely had to leave. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad football league. It just isn’t a fit for us.

South Florida gets waxed by ND!

Glad we are an independent, we had our chance in the AAC, but too many negatives surrounded us at the time.
UConn FB has the chance, if cards fall correctly, to be a top 30 program in 2 years. GO HUSKIES!!

I say this because I believe in RE, I believe fans will come if we win games, and I believe TV coverage will give us independent exposure as a solid fb school, coupled with our National overall brand will lead to FB success.

To the recruits and players that are buying in I wish you huge success! I'm in!

ps fkcu the P 5.

 

[Adios]

I'll probably never go to another game again but going to a home game against Rhode Island felt more natural than a game against Tulsa.

USF felt fine, Cincy never felt fine since we'd barely win against them, with the 20 year surge the program has been on. The football teams that are benefiting most from the AAC are UCF, Houston, Memphis and Cincy. And maybe Temple.

 

[NEforceUConn]

I'll probably never go to another game again but going to a home game against Rhode Island felt more natural than a game against Tulsa.

USF felt fine, Cincy never felt fine since we'd barely win against them, with the 20 year surge the program has been on. The football teams that are benefiting most from the AAC are UCF, Houston, Memphis and Cincy. And maybe Temple.

In a slim glace of time perhaps. Cincy has been solid for a number of years and has been as screwed as bad as Uconn, if not worse. One can make the case that Cincy is as good a fb school as WVU and WVU is a top half Big 12 school.

 

[Adios]

In a slim glace of time perhaps. Cincy has been solid for a number of years and has been as screwed as bad as Uconn, if not worse. One can make the case that Cincy is as good a fb school as WVU and WVU is a top half Big 12 school.

WVU is the winningest program to never win a title. That is not Cincinnati Bearcat football, though the school and locale are far superior. Also have one of the oldest stadiums in the country.

UConn was screwed over the worst. We actually win titles. Louisville seems to be the LSU of the ACC when it comes to focus on academics.

 

[BlueDogs]

It’s best not dwell on things that can’t be changed. The school wanted to resurrect basketball more than it wanted to compete in football or it would have stayed. They are achieving what they intended as their priority. Had they wanted to leverage the football program they would be out there competing and would have picked up some great national TV coverage and $$ over the past few weeks.

 

[Hoophound]

It’s best not dwell on things that can’t be changed. The school wanted to resurrect basketball more than it wanted to compete in football or it would have stayed. They are achieving what they intended as their priority. Had they wanted to leverage the football program they would be out there competing and would have picked up some great national TV coverage and $$ over the past few weeks.

I think the coaches recognized that the testing would be a hassle, the team needed to build size and strength, the schedule would suck and that the season likely wouldn’t get to the end without Covid flare ups anyway.

I wish we played, but I understand it. I agree that we could have waited longer and let things evolve. That may have changed the decision.

My biggest concern is our young players missing out on game experience while everyone elsewhere plays and keeps the year of eligibility. Also, losing more experienced players to transfer that probably would have stayed if we were playing hurts too.

 

[BugsyCT]

We moved to protect our basketball brand. It made sense on that side. For football it seemed like a death blow but they've done a solid job with indy scheduling in a short amount of time, so there's hope there.

Look, we weren't getting better in the AAC. It was the security of being in a football conference but that's it. We were getting destroyed every game and couldn't recruit against a bunch of southern & midwestern teams. The Rent was a ghost town. We did everything wrong that there was to do wrong.

We left. What's done is done.

 

[Milo65]

Is BC better in the ACC? PITT? Cuse? No, they only stay because of the the TV money. The American TV contract (12years) is a joke. No reason to stay. We were such a regional outlier that it killed our recruiting in both Basketball and Football.

 

[UConnJim]

We moved to protect our basketball brand. It made sense on that side. For football it seemed like a death blow but they've done a solid job with indy scheduling in a short amount of time, so there's hope there.

Look, we weren't getting better in the AAC. It was the security of being in a football conference but that's it. We were getting destroyed every game and couldn't recruit against a bunch of southern & midwestern teams. The Rent was a ghost town. We did everything wrong that there was to do wrong.

We left. What's done is done.

Clearly, the AAC was hurting basketball (although Kevin Ollie wasn't helping), but I disagree about being competitive in football in the AAC. If Temple can turn around their football program and compete, UConn can. The difference between UConn and Temple? Coaching hires. Temple hired Al Golden (next gig Miami), Steve Addazio (mistake, but only 2 years then on to BC), Matt Rhule (next stop Baylor), Geoff Collins (next stop Georgia Tech), and Rod Carey. Temple coaches have moved up after their stint at Temple. What happened to PP and Diaco after getting fired as UConn coach? Downward jobs.

As for attendance at the Rent, when UConn starts winning, fans will come back. Almost every program in America would suffer severe attendance declines if their team became a consistent loser even if they played big name schools. Look at these Kansas game attendance #s:

2016: Texas 25.6k
2017: Oklahoma 22.8k
2018: Texas 15.2k

When Kansas had some winning seasons:

2008: Texas 51.9k
2009: Oklahoma 51.1k

 

[Watchdog]

Clearly, the AAC was hurting basketball (although Kevin Ollie wasn't helping), but I disagree about being competitive in football in the AAC. If Temple can turn around their football program and compete, UConn can. The difference between UConn and Temple? Coaching hires. Temple hired Al Golden (next gig Miami), Steve Addazio (mistake, but only 2 years then on to BC), Matt Rhule (next stop Baylor), Geoff Collins (next stop Georgia Tech), and Rod Carey. Temple coaches have moved up after their stint at Temple. What happened to PP and Diaco after getting fired as UConn coach? Downward jobs.

As for attendance at the Rent, when UConn starts winning, fans will come back. Almost every program in America would suffer severe attendance declines if their team became a consistent loser even if they played big name schools. Look at these Kansas game attendance #s:

2016: Texas 25.6k
2017: Oklahoma 22.8k
2018: Texas 15.2k

When Kansas had some winning seasons:

2008: Texas 51.9k
2009: Oklahoma 51.1k

I haven't watched much sports since February but did watch a few minutes of Kansas/Coastal Carolina and wondered what the AD and fans are thinking right about now. Miles has been a great coach before but it must be hard to swallow getting beaten down at home by the Chanticleers.

 

[uconnbill]

AAC is a solid football league, but a terrible basketball league. The lack of money from the last contract is why UConn left AAC plus the travel cost.

 

[Ldandy]

Clearly, the AAC was hurting basketball (although Kevin Ollie wasn't helping), but I disagree about being competitive in football in the AAC. If Temple can turn around their football program and compete, UConn can. The difference between UConn and Temple? Coaching hires. Temple hired Al Golden (next gig Miami), Steve Addazio (mistake, but only 2 years then on to BC), Matt Rhule (next stop Baylor), Geoff Collins (next stop Georgia Tech), and Rod Carey. Temple coaches have moved up after their stint at Temple. What happened to PP and Diaco after getting fired as UConn coach? Downward jobs.

As for attendance at the Rent, when UConn starts winning, fans will come back. Almost every program in America would suffer severe attendance declines if their team became a consistent loser even if they played big name schools. Look at these Kansas game attendance #s:

2016: Texas 25.6k
2017: Oklahoma 22.8k
2018: Texas 15.2k

When Kansas had some winning seasons:

2008: Texas 51.9k
2009: Oklahoma 51.1k

Kansas is an excellent parallel for UConn. They're a basketball first, second, and third school with a small but loyal football fan base. When the program puts something credible on the field the attendance typically follows suit. If Kansas had lost out in the realignment sweepstakes and ended up say in The MWC, you'd have basically the same scenario. Their football team getting its clocks cleaned by schools the majority of their fans felt were beneath them, while a cadre of uninteresting opponents fill their basketball gyms. A large segment of their fans would be advocating going to The Big East to fill out the western wing of the conference while football tried going independent. Privately their fans would all be praying for a B1G, Big 12, or Pac 12 invite w/o much hope.

 

[Adios]

We did win a dual championship in bball while in the AAC. Ollie fell apart. Geno must have hated the fact no team in the AAC could beat his squad. Is there any program in the country that spent it's time in a conference completely undefeated for that long?

 

[DoctorWho85]

AAC is a solid football league, but a terrible basketball league. The lack of money from the last contract is why UConn left AAC plus the travel cost.

I wouldn't say a terrible basketball conference. Not great, but definitely much worse