What’s your solution?

[8893]

I hear what you are saying but I also remember UConn playing those gimmicky press defenses and then developing into a national power. When we moved up to FBS a lot of fans on message boards told us it would take a generation to get established in football and yet there we were and we were a punchline more so because we didn't sell our allotment of tickets even though there were a lot bought on the secondary market.

Still, I might be dreaming and the reality is we are in our own little Vietnam right now.

Man, that's depressing.

You are correct about the ticket sales issue, which I forgot about; and now that you refreshed my memory about it, I think it's even sadder and more confirmation that we didn't belong.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

You are correct about the ticket sales issue, which I forgot about; and now that you refreshed my memory about it, I think it's even sadder and more confirmation that we didn't belong.

All revisionist history.

I post this whenever I see the Fiesta Bowl nonsense. I was there, the stadium had a big time UConn presence. The two games were played 2 days apart. Where was the narrative that Virginia Tech didn't belong and didn't sell tickets? Hell Oklahoma would have lost money due to not selling it's allotment if the Big 12 didn't bail them out. Attendance says the place was damn near full and my eyes told the same story.

2011 Fiesta Bowl - Jan 1, 2011
UConn 20 - Oklahoma 48
Attendance 67,232

2011 Orange Bowl - Jan 3, 2011
Virginia Tech 12 - Stanford 40
Attendance 65,453

 

[8893]

All revisionist history.

I post this whenever I see the Fiesta Bowl nonsense. I was there, the stadium had a big time UConn presence. The two games were played 2 days apart. Where was the narrative that Virginia Tech didn't belong and didn't sell tickets? Hell Oklahoma would have lost money due to not selling it's allotment if the Big 12 didn't bail them out. Attendance says the place was damn near full and my eyes told the same story.

2011 Fiesta Bowl - Jan 1, 2011
UConn 20 - Oklahoma 48
Attendance 67,232

2011 Orange Bowl - Jan 3, 2011
Virginia Tech 12 - Stanford 40
Attendance 65,453

Kudos for being there and for sharing your observations. What I'm talking about is what was being written and said about us nationally. Accurate or not, it was the perception, which, we have seen, is more important than reality.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Kudos for being there and for sharing your observations. What I'm talking about is what was being written and said about us nationally. Accurate or not, it was the perception, which, we have seen, is more important than reality.

Thank Dez Connor and the Courant for that. Everyone picked up on his hatchet job. Both have been dead to me since.

 

[buckley503]

Be a trendsetter. Be the first state flagship university to drop football and MBB. Keep the same AD budget (sorry students and your fees) and become the kings of hockey, lacrosse, northeast baseball, and soccer, oh yeah, and keep Geno alive forever. Get multiple national championships in some if not all and continue to improve our academic standing.

At least, I know my blood pressure and money in the curse jar would drop significantly

 

[superjohn]

Idc about any of these things ..!! I just wanna see uconn basketball .. just want to see the players shut up and play hard .. I believe we can win 20 games especially in the aac we should win 13 league games ..! I understand if you’re not winning you’re not gonna b happy ... but starting tomorrow could be the time we start streaking

20 games?!?? I had us at 15 wins early in the season and there is no way we get there.

 

[KodiacKemba]

20 games?!?? I had us at 15 wins early in the season and there is no way we get there.

Look I’m just tryna be positive lol

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Kudos for being there and for sharing your observations. What I'm talking about is what was being written and said about us nationally. Accurate or not, it was the perception, which, we have seen, is more important than reality.

I should have clarified, I didn't mean it as a shot at you. You're absolutely correct that we got killed by ESPN over our a) placement in the game and then b) not selling out the ticket allotment, while conveniently not mentioning the stadium was filled.

I think in retrospect it would have been far better to have not made the BCS that year, won a regular bowl game and then when the ACC expansion came about the Fiesta Bowl garbage wouldn't have been a black eye.

 

[upstater]

You are correct about the ticket sales issue, which I forgot about; and now that you refreshed my memory about it, I think it's even sadder and more confirmation that we didn't belong.

Does Syracuse belong? All these other local schools? It is not that hard to reproduce what they have done, and UConn proved that in short order by beating them repeatedly.

At one time it was a sin to say on this board that UConn would never become a perennial power, but most people thought it could do quite well to compete against teams like those formerly in the BE.

 

[superjohn]

Does Syracuse belong? All these other local schools? It is not that hard to reproduce what they have done, and UConn proved that in short order by beating them repeatedly.

At one time it was a sin to say on this board that UConn would never become a perennial power, but most people thought it could do quite well to compete against teams like those formerly in the BE.

Does Syracuse belong in a BCS bowl? No, they absolutely suck at football.

 

[whaler11]

UConn’s problem in the Fiesta Bowl is they were at best the second worst team to play in a BCS game.

They were 3 plays away from not being bowl ELIGIBLE nevermind in the BCS.

They went off as the biggest point spread dog in a BCS game and promptly lived up to that.

 

[whaler11]

The first sentence is correct at least. The AAC is literally the Big East with a new name. You may think it's more like Conference USA than the old Big East but it is 100% the Big East with a new name.

It’s more like Conference USA because... it’s made up of all the same programs that were in CUSA together.

 

[noeynox]

UConn’s problem in the Fiesta Bowl is they were at best the second worst team to play in a BCS game.

They were 3 plays away from not being bowl ELIGIBLE nevermind in the BCS.

They went off as the biggest point spread dog in a BCS game and promptly lived up to that.

They also could have won road games at Temple and Rutgers and gone into the game 10-2. Bad coaching prevented that. The narrative at 10-2, would have been different than at 8-4.

 

[whaler11]

They also could have won road games at Temple and Rutgers and gone into the game 10-2. Bad coaching prevented that. The narrative at 10-2, would have been different than at 8-4.

They could have beaten Michigan too and 10-2 would have muted the criticism for sure.

I don’t think it would be possible to find a BCS team that was 3 plays from not being bowl eligible though.

 

[noeynox]

They could have beaten Michigan too and 10-2 would have muted the criticism for sure.

I don’t think it would be possible to find a BCS team that was 3 plays from not being bowl eligible though.

I don't disagree. Read an article today about P5 coordinators getting 2 million dollar contracts. We can't compete in that environment. For comparisons sake when he hired Diaco he was making slightly less Dabo at Clemson. The P5 money has been so good they're now paying coordinators more than most of the American pay their head coaches. Like I said, you want to focus on basketball, fine just don't humor is with MAC and Independent talk. The better solution is stop hiring total duds and paying them millions.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The rationale for upgrading is gone. Perkins thought that there would be a split between the football schools and everyone else, and he wanted UConn on the side of the football schools. We upgraded, the split happened, and we were still left on the outside. We are not getting in a P5 conference. Now what?

Are we going to stay in a Southern mid-major conference and run the hoops program down until there is nothing left?

 

[Stainmaster]

The rationale for upgrading is gone. Perkins thought that there would be a split between the football schools and everyone else, and he wanted UConn on the side of the football schools. We upgraded, the split happened, and we were still left on the outside. We are not getting in a P5 conference. Now what?

Are we going to stay in a Southern mid-major conference and run the hoops program down until there is nothing left?

The Big East is on the wrong side of the split too. Their current status is fool's good.

 

[metsfan2323]

St John's playing Georgetown right now and no one gives a darn because both teams stink. Hooray C7 league! Lets cut football so we can be just like St John's and Providence forever because those teams know how to win big. True visionaries on this board.

 

[Alum86]

I don’t like your assumptions, Whaler, you started the thread with the premise we could not stay in the AAC for FB only. I would, with Cincy, tell the AAC we want to be like Navy. I think they would blink first.
But if we’re following the premise, best thing is stay AAC for all sports.
I’m with Jimmy, no MAC

 

[upstater]

They could have beaten Michigan too and 10-2 would have muted the criticism for sure.

I don’t think it would be possible to find a BCS team that was 3 plays from not being bowl eligible though.

Not too sure what you mean by "play." Do you mean "final play"? Do you mean the outcome was decided on the final play, or if you remove one play from the game and replace it with nothing, the result changes?

Some other dubious 8 win BCS teams:

2012 Wisconsin: 6 losses that year, beat Utah State by 2, FCS No. Iowa by 5. But otherwise won 6 games handily. So, they don't count.

2008 Va. Tech: beat Nebraska by 5 when Nebraska fumbled on the last play of the game in VT territory; beat Ga. Tech by 3, Ga. Tech threw incomplete hail mary on final play from the VT 45; beat UNC by 3, intercepted UNC with 1:17 left to put the game away; lost to East Carolina. 2 of the games were on final play, 3 won in the last 2 minutes.

2005 FSU: beat Miami by 3 when Miami got to the FSU 2 yard line with 2 minutes to play, then fumbled the ball; beat Maryland by a TD when Maryland's QB was sacked on 4th down at the FSU 40 with 50 seconds to go, Maryland had a 24-14 lead in the 3rd; beat VT by 5, VT had a failed onside kick at 1:44 left in the game. All 3 games were won in final 2 minutes, none on the last play.

2004 Pitt: lost to UConn 29-17; beat FCS Furman 41-38 with a FG at the end of 1st OT; beat BC 20-17 in OT, game ended with a BC fumble at Pitt's 18; beat Temple by 5, onside kick recovered by Pitt on last series; beat ND by 3 points on FG with 6 seconds left; beat WV by 3, Pitt TD with 4 minutes left, WV drive dies on 4th down incomplete pass at the Pitt 32 with 55 seconds to go. Pitt won 2 games on the last play of the game that year, and they won the ND game on a FG with 6 seconds left. All 5 games were won w/ under 2 minutes left. This should qualify as being 3 plays away from bowl ineligibility.

Other teams that might qualify but I didn't check because ESPN play-by-play records don't go back that far: 2002 FSU, 2000 Purdue, 1999 Stanford, 1998 Syracuse.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Also, if we're going to drop football, why not just attempt to get into the ACC as team 16?

I'm for staying in the AAC until the next round of deals and if nothing changes, then seeing if we could be hoop only ACC. Maybe with an ACC hoop share with increased attendance we could play a MAC football schedule. Not dropping to the MAC for Big East hoops only though.

 

[whaler11]

Not too sure what you mean by "play." Do you mean "final play"? Do you mean the outcome was decided on the final play, or if you remove one play from the game and replace it with nothing, the result changes?

Some other dubious 8 win BCS teams:

2012 Wisconsin: 6 losses that year, beat Utah State by 2, FCS No. Iowa by 5. But otherwise won 6 games handily. So, they don't count.

2008 Va. Tech: beat Nebraska by 5 when Nebraska fumbled on the last play of the game in VT territory; beat Ga. Tech by 3, Ga. Tech threw incomplete hail mary on final play from the VT 45; beat UNC by 3, intercepted UNC with 1:17 left to put the game away; lost to East Carolina. 2 of the games were on final play, 3 won in the last 2 minutes.

2005 FSU: beat Miami by 3 when Miami got to the FSU 2 yard line with 2 minutes to play, then fumbled the ball; beat Maryland by a TD when Maryland's QB was sacked on 4th down at the FSU 40 with 50 seconds to go, Maryland had a 24-14 lead in the 3rd; beat VT by 5, VT had a failed onside kick at 1:44 left in the game. All 3 games were won in final 2 minutes, none on the last play.

2004 Pitt: lost to UConn 29-17; beat FCS Furman 41-38 with a FG at the end of 1st OT; beat BC 20-17 in OT, game ended with a BC fumble at Pitt's 18; beat Temple by 5, onside kick recovered by Pitt on last series; beat ND by 3 points on FG with 6 seconds left; beat WV by 3, Pitt TD with 4 minutes left, WV drive dies on 4th down incomplete pass at the Pitt 32 with 55 seconds to go. Pitt won 2 games on the last play of the game that year, and they won the ND game on a FG with 6 seconds left. All 5 games were won w/ under 2 minutes left. This should qualify as being 3 plays away from bowl ineligibility.

Other teams that might qualify but I didn't check because ESPN play-by-play records don't go back that far: 2002 FSU, 2000 Purdue, 1999 Stanford, 1998 Syracuse.

2004 Pitt being the other team in the argument for worst BCS team ever.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I don’t like your assumptions, Whaler, you started the thread with the premise we could not stay in the AAC for FB only. I would, with Cincy, tell the AAC we want to be like Navy. I think they would blink first.
But if we’re following the premise, best thing is stay AAC for all sports.
I’m with Jimmy, no MAC

He makes that assumption because the AAC would never bother allowing us to be in for football only. Our marginal value comes from basketball only, which by the way is itself waning by the month with KO in charge. We don’t get to pick like “I would stay”. We don’t have that leverage. It’s all or nothing in the AAC for us.

 

[Waquoit]

They also could have won road games at Temple and Rutgers and gone into the game 10-2. Bad coaching prevented that. The narrative at 10-2, would have been different than at 8-4.

That's not valid. Temple beat the snot out of UConn that year. Wasn't even close.

 

[noeynox]

That's not valid. Temple beat the snot out of UConn that year. Wasn't even close.

What? That's the game we led until Toddman landed on his head and hyper extended his elbow.

Came back in and we kept force feeding him the ball despite him protecting the injured arm and eventually a Temple LB stripped him of the ball from the injured arm and scored off the strip.

The wheels came off after that because as we were wont to do in those days we rode the star running back exclusively.