UMass No. 1 football team in New England?

[HuskyNan]

The comment was directed at BC, not UConn, but still...(article)

The University of Massachusetts will spend its first season in the NCAA’s big leagues next year as a part of the Mid-American Conference, and they’re ready to make waves. It all started with the hiring of Charley Molnar, the Notre Dame offensive coordinator, who said the following in his press conference yesterday:

Charley Molnar: "There's no reason we can't be the No. 1 Division I college football program in New England."

Thu, 12/8/11 11:24 am via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

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@jeffphowe
Jeff Howe​

 

[weyuo]

I hope they do good and improve quickly. It would be nice to have a border war/rivalry with another New England team.

 

[SAMCRO]

They can be the #1 D1 team in MA pretty quickly if Flipper and Tom Sellecks mustash remain at BC for a couple more years.

 

[HuskyNan]

They can be the #1 D1 team in MA pretty quickly if Flipper and Tom Sellecks mustash remain at BC for a couple more years.

One thing DeFilippo did right this season was make it clear that Spaziani would remain as coach. He said it early and he said it late. No doubts, no regrets.

Go 4-8 next season, and it’s a different ballgame. Spaziani knows this as much as anyone.

Greater heights expected at BC, Boston Globe

 

[Dann]

everyone in MA knows that this fall the best team was clearly WNEU in the state, Harvard was 2nd.

if umass really gets there stuff together, combined with our program rising at this level, this could be the death of BC. what would we call the rival game? the border war isn't good enough.
pioneer valley/ct river should somehow be the basis for the name of the rival game. it fits perfect with the 2 schools/land border...also the appalachian trail has alot of the border in it? have a walking stick as the trophy or something. the 2 schools should clreay come up with something cool and new that could be something that draws huge crowds in the future. it can be like the wvu-marshall bros of coal thing. umass vs uconn "we are NE, fuuck bcu" lol.

 

[Sean]

#SHOTSFIRED

 

[Dann]

yup the tea party and rwar would be good ways to help build the event.

 

[TRest]

One thing DeFilippo did right this season was make it clear that Spaziani would remain as coach. He said it early and he said it late. No doubts, no regrets.

Go 4-8 next season, and it’s a different ballgame. Spaziani knows this as much as anyone.

Greater heights expected at BC, Boston Globe

BC schedules to ensure 4-8 can never happen, so what happens when he goes 6-6?

 

[Waquoit]

This entire topic exists because Masholes don't consider CT as part of NE.

 

[Hoophound]

This entire topic exists because Masholes don't consider CT as part of NE.

So true, but who really cares anyway? Is being part of New England really that important? I tend to like people from CT, VT and Western Mass much more than people from elsewhere in New England. They seem to be much kinder and softer spoken on average. I know this is generalizing but I have lived all over New England and that conviction only gets stronger the more New Englanders I meet. There are great people all over New England but plenty of awful folks too. If CT not being considered part of New England means that I will be better differentiated from people from Eastern Mass and Southern New Hampshire in the eyes of the rest of the country, that's fine by me.

 

[HuskyNan]

BC schedules to ensure 4-8 can never happen, so what happens when he goes 6-6?

2012 opponents:

Maine
Northwestern
Army
Notre Dame
Maryland
Wake Forest
Clemson
NC State
Miami
Florida State
Virginia Tech
Georgia Tech

 

[CAPS]

Would like uconn to one day play BC again cuz lord knows we will kick Umass' ass next aug

 

[TRest]

2012 opponents:

Maine
Northwestern
Army
Notre Dame
Maryland
Wake Forest
Clemson
NC State
Miami
Florida State
Virginia Tech
Georgia Tech

looks like 6-6 to me.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

3-9

 

[weyuo]

To be quite honest I am hoping that a decade from now UConn/UMass, UConn/BC games carry more interest than just being New England rivalry games. The South has dominated college football forever and the only thing stopping North East schools from playing a bigger role is getting the right personnel up here to compete in the recruiting wars. I don't buy into New England not being able to hold a spot or two in the top 25. We just haven't been at it as long. I remember when they said UConn could never compete for a national championship in basketball. Well football is the same. You just have to put in the time and it will happen.Randy Edsall did a good job getting this Div 1 thing off the ground. He built a nice foundation with the stadium and practice facility. Now Coach Pasqualoni will help build up the tradition by beating some of the bigger boys than us (like Penn St, Michigan, ect). 2013 could really be a turning point/corner stone year for UConn football. I'm hoping that it is and that we can light the way for other North East schools.

 

[uconndogs]

His first game out the gate is at the Rent, and he thinks that is a good quote? Really stupid!

Coach P better not let UMASS off the mat. There should by no experimentation in that game. If there is a chance to win by 40, do it.

With conference realignment what it is, UCONN must do everything in it's power to establish regional dominance. Relegating UMASS and BC to second tier status is a must.

 

[Third and one]

So true, but who really cares anyway? Is being part of New England really that important? I tend to like people from CT, VT and Western Mass much more than people from elsewhere in New England. They seem to be much kinder and softer spoken on average. I know this is generalizing but I have lived all over New England and that conviction only gets stronger the more New Englanders I meet. There are great people all over New England but plenty of awful folks too. If CT not being considered part of New England means that I will be better differentiated from people from Eastern Mass and Southern New Hampshire in the eyes of the rest of the country, that's fine by me.

Hey watch it. We have two Southern NH players on this team! LOL

Oh, and I am from Southern NH. Are we that bad?

 

[Yonick]

This entire topic exists because Masholes don't consider CT as part of NE.

I've always considered Connecticut as more of a part of the tri state (NY, NJ, CT) area than part of New England. Let's face it, CT has more in common with Northern NJ, Westchester Co., Suburban L.I. than VT, NH, & ME.
Also, if the BE expands to 12 (as expected) UConn will play 11 conference games plus 1 game vs a D-1AA school for the annual easy win. We won't have room to play UMass. If the NCAA allows a 13th game. I would much prefer continuing with the likes of Tenn., Mich., MD, VA, AND OTHER ACC teams.

 

[Excalibur]

Easy as the schedule is, I still don't see more than 5 wins for BC next year.

 

[Hoophound]

I've always considered Connecticut as more of a part of the tri state (NY, NJ, CT) area than part of New England. Let's face it, CT has more in common with Northern NJ, Westchester Co., Suburban L.I. than VT, NH, & ME.
Also, if the BE expands to 12 (as expected) UConn will play 11 conference games plus 1 game vs a D-1AA school for the annual easy win. We won't have room to play UMass. If the NCAA allows a 13th game. I would much prefer continuing with the likes of Tenn., Mich., MD, VA, AND OTHER ACC teams.

You must be from southern CT, northern CT is definately more New England than NY/NJ.

 

[Yonick]

You must be from southern CT, northern CT is definately more New England than NY/NJ.

Yeah, I am, but Fairfield & NH counties plus western Litchfield Co are more NY while most of Hartford Co, plus Tolland, Windham & NL counties are NE oriented, sportswise. But, even those counties are more in tune with tri state (not sports though) than New England.

 

[Jarhead_1775]

Why would anyone even spend time debating whether or not we are new England.... Do I get a nickel for being a new englander? My level of I give a duck for whether or not a new englander is very low.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Regardless of what individual fans believe, the most intelligent thing for the school to do is market itself to all of New England and New York (from Albany to NYC and all points east).

 

[Doggie Style]

His first game out the gate is at the Rent, and he thinks that is a good quote? Really stupid!

Coach P better not let UMASS off the mat. There should by no experimentation in that game. If there is a chance to win by 40, do it.

With conference realignment what it is, UCONN must do everything in it's power to establish regional dominance. Relegating UMASS and BC to second tier status is a must.

 

[Doggie Style]

There's no doubt that Uconn needs to squash Umass right away and set the tone. That being said, we need to continue to grow and Umass needs to take off right away to get to legitimacy. If they can, we can develop that rivalry quick and isolate BC like an island in the middle of the ocean. The ACC hates BC according to a few friends frm Maryland and UNC. They broke up some of the small rivalries when they joined cuz they need to rotate schedules to play BC.