What attendance would constitute a good showing on Saturday?

[CCSU97]

UHartford has 81,000 living alumni. 30,000 of them live in Connecticut. It's a big ask to even fill their field house.

CCSU has over 100,000 living alumni with around 70,000 of them in Connecticut. That local population is a solid base to draw fans.

UConn has just under 300,000 living alumni with just over half residing in Connecticut. UConn's big advantage is they have largely been adopted by the state and many fans are not alum, they just identify with the team.

Agreed. UConn is the without a doubt the State flagship and especially since the 1990s has really done well to draw non-alumni fans from inside Connecticut. I'd suggest most of that is still basketball-focused, but it bleeds into football and maybe hockey to an extent. UConn's biggest problem in-state is that historically the goal was never to go to "State U" in a region dominated by Ivy League, Catholic and high-caliber private colleges and universities and college football just isn't big in the Northeast - its NFL. But UConn Law and Medical School and D-I athletics put it above the many smaller academic-elite schools and gives it big clout in the General Assembly.

Central's biggest issue (aside from lack of public funding/political support) is that our loyal alumni are almost entirely blue collar, working class. Most of our alumni are first-generation college graduates. We graduate teachers, nurses, accountants, cops, firemen, and the middle-mangers and small business types. We have very few corporate executives or high net-worth individuals that can afford to give back in large, amounts to make a huge impact. I'd wager that many UConn grads from the 1970s and on had a parent that graduated from a CSU school. We are not a legacy school and so our alumni kids or grandkids don't really go to Central, they are attending other "higher rated" schools. So even through CCSU probably has the 2nd (or third) largest alumni group inside the state, we don't have the power or influence of UConn, the Ivy class, or even high-wealth doners at Wesleyan, Trinity, Fairfield, Quinnipiac, etc.

Also, both CCSU and UConn don't do as well in Fairfield County and that's where they state has grown the most and is the most wealthy. Obviously UConn has made leaps and bounds in the area (and they Stamford campus helps), and are much better than CCSU, but I know back in the 1980s, your high-academic FCIAC school kids were going out of state. CCSU draws well across the state, except in Fairfield County. When the State's 2nd largest city Stamford is sending maybe 10 kids a year to Central, we have a problem. I doubt there are more than 50 kids at Central from Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, and New Cannan, Norwalk, Wilton, and Westport combined.

 

[drayenob]

I doubt there are more than 50 kids at Central from Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, and New Cannan, Norwalk, Wilton, and Westport combined.

132 for the fall of 2024

https://docs.ccsu.edu/oira/institutionalData/factbook/enrollments/headcount/Fall_Enrollment_By_CT_Towns.pdf

 

[WrenchFan69]

I would foster a mutually beneficial player development relationship w/ CCSU. New times/new strategies.

I'd like to see it in (pretty much) all sports. Play CCSU annually (assuming Yale won't come every year) in football. Play them at XL every year in MBB. If we're paying an opponent money to come play us, it might as well be one that can contribute to a few ticket sales, and even better if the money stays within the state budget. Helps CCSU for recruiting as well. "Sure we can't pay you as much this year, but you'll get a shot to show your skills against UConn every year you're here." Heck I'm not even opposed to a CCSU student section at the Rent if we're not going to sell the game out naturally.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[freescooter]

UHartford has 81,000 living alumni. 30,000 of them live in Connecticut. It's a big ask to even fill their field house.

CCSU has over 100,000 living alumni with around 70,000 of them in Connecticut. That local population is a solid base to draw fans.

UConn has just under 300,000 living alumni with just over half residing in Connecticut. UConn's big advantage is they have largely been adopted by the state and many fans are not alum, they just identify with the team.

Yes but much of that is the difference between a flagship university and a state university. UConn is a different animal. Closer to being a quasi-state entity. Central Connecticut is more like the primary campus of the State University system. They have different functions too. UConn is a research entity offering PhD’s in a range of fields, has a medical and law schools while CCSU is more teaching and “applied research” oriented. These are not meant to demean CCSU. Just to indicate they are a different animal. Most states have similar systems. Massachusetts for example, has UMass system and the state university system with Worcester State, Framingham, Bridgewater and some others. Often though not always the State universities originated as teachers colleges, sometimes they were agricultural schools, The influence/ power of these varies among states.

 

[freescooter]

I only saw 1 report suggesting there was “closer to 25,000”. That was Dom Amore. And he will likely push that narrative again if he gets a chance. My view is Dom is not a UConn football fan. And he was ticked he had to go to Rentschler Field rather than Yankee Stadium. He makes a point of downgrading the program when he gets the chance. Not in big ways but this is typical.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Baylor always gave us respect when we swept the home and home. I reminder one TX reporter writing something like “People think UConn is a basketball school? Look at the size of the OL and tell me that’s a basketball school.”

I believe they were a yes for a B12 invite.

 

[HCCForever]

Yes but much of that is the difference between a flagship university and a state university. UConn is a different animal. Closer to being a quasi-state entity. Central Connecticut is more like the primary campus of the State University system. They have different functions too. UConn is a research entity offering PhD’s in a range of fields, has a medical and law schools while CCSU is more teaching and “applied research” oriented. These are not meant to demean CCSU. Just to indicate they are a different animal. Most states have similar systems. Massachusetts for example, has UMass system and the state university system with Worcester State, Framingham, Bridgewater and some others. Often though not always the State universities originated as teachers colleges, sometimes they were agricultural schools, The influence/ power of these varies among states.

I have degrees from both CCSU and UConn. When I dropped out of UConn in my junior year, CCSU was a great choice for my Computer Science degree since I was working full time and they had many evening classes unlike UConn. I was then able to earn my MBA at UConn Hartford at night. Of course this was over 30 years ago before online classes.

 

[freescooter]

I have degrees from both CCSU and UConn. When I dropped out of UConn in my junior year, CCSU was a great choice for my Computer Science degree since I was working full time and they had many evening classes unlike UConn. I was then able to earn my MBA at UConn Hartford at night. Of course this was over 30 years ago before online classes.

That actually is Central’s role. Fits perfectly. Lots of part time students. I’m not knocking it in the least. I have taken classes there. It is just a different role. Not better. Not worse.

 

[HCCForever]

That actually is Central’s role. Fits perfectly. Lots of part time students. I’m not knocking it in the least. I have taken classes there. It is just a different role. Not better. Not worse.

It worked for me. An added benefit was that most of my classes were reimbursed by my employer.

 

[Hamms30]

I have degrees from both CCSU and UConn. When I dropped out of UConn in my junior year, CCSU was a great choice for my Computer Science degree since I was working full time and they had many evening classes unlike UConn. I was then able to earn my MBA at UConn Hartford at night. Of course this was over 30 years ago before online classes.

Did the same with Westconn. And saved a bit of coin at a time where I didn't know which direction to go with school and what to study.