What impact will Maine game have on realignment? | The Boneyard

What impact will Maine game have on realignment?

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UConn managed to defeat Maine after a sloppy football game. Was it just on off night for the Huskies or is this a sign that UConn is not ready to be in a Power 5 conference -- at least in football? Should we wait for another game to draw conclusions, get rid of one or more coaches, or get used to being in the AAC for decades?
 
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One game shouldnt mean much overall. What it didnt do was create much excitement to encourage more fans to come to the next home games. Obviously 29K is not turning any heads down in Texas
 
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After last night's game, I think they need to get B12 expansion over in a hurry. I fear that they may require Susan Herbst to explain what happened in the Maine game during her presentation. So, while it won't make an impact, I do think the signs are there for big big trouble.
 

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It's cool. If we get passed over, at least HCBD got the message Susan tried to send a few weeks back.

From Jacobs' article:

"That was a lot of fun," UConn coach Bob Diaco said after Bobby Puyol gave UConn a 24-21 win with a 37-yard field goal with 11 seconds left. "Very exciting game. Hopefully everybody was wildly entertained."
 
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After last night's game, I think they need to get B12 expansion over in a hurry. I fear that they may require Susan Herbst to explain what happened in the Maine game during her presentation. So, while it won't make an impact, I do think the signs are there for big big trouble.
...you think they're going to ask the president of the school why we struggled in a specific football game? Should she bring game tape so she can break it down play by play?

Expansion needs to be done soon, but not because of that. We need to get past this insanity.
 

CTMike

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Here's the thing. If you look at UConn's overall athletic profile and say "what do we need to improve most to make sure that we get the call if there's another round of expansion?"... A lot of those answers lead back to football. Can we play at a high level? Can we increase attendance? Can we at least be competent?

Fair or unfair is irrelevant - Diaco plays a direct role in all this.

NOTHING about that game said P5 last night. Nothing. It was one of the most infuriating games to watch - completely devoid of any desire to score points. And all the folks that got their free taste of the action - that walked in feeling HOPE, which was encouraged by Diaco himself - left disappointed. What did the coaches do to sell these folks that coming to the Virginia game will be worth their time? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. He's going to talk and say "come to the Virginia game, it'll be great! Get in your seats early don't want to miss anything!"... And it's going to fall on deaf ears, because his actions speak louder than words, and the complete lifelessness of last night will keep fans away.

So, yeah - B12 gonna do their thing, maybe they will invite us, maybe they won't... If they don't, I'm absolutely looking at Diaco and lasts nights debacle as a reason. If your way isn't working... FIND A BETTER WAY.
 
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If the B12 invites us it'll be for 1 reason only - a NYC footprint. We could've won by 50 and it would not have moved the needle one inch.
 
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All this does is add more pressure to the Navy game....it won't change the outcome for expansion but it makes an uneasy UConn fan base even more uneasy.

Last night was a far from impressive performance but it was the 1st game of a new season and UConn did pull it out. If the UConn football ship gets righted next week fans and sportswriters will overlook a bad opening game appearance.

If UConn beats Navy at Annapolis the Maine game will be forgotten and everyone will be talking about how UConn is a "football program on the rise." But if UConn plays like they did yesterday and Navy puts the wood to them then the Maine game becomes the rule not the exception.

Bottom line is the potential ramification of every week's football game on conference realignment really does take a lot of the fun out of the season. There is a reason the Big12 spoke about wanting to have this decided before the football season kicked off...no surprise the Big12 could not get that accomplished but hopefully they will cut their list down to under 40 schools this week.

The Big12's ability to enact and execute a conference realignment plan looks a lot like UConn's ability to change their offensive play calls last night. To me UConn looked like a school playing not to lose last night. It is hard to play with passion when a team is playing scared. Hopefully we will see a UConn team that is playing to win in Annapolis.

There is enough pressure to win without making every football game the future of the entire athletic program at UConn....perhaps that explains part of the fear and the subsequent performance. I don't envy HCBD and company but they need to remember "sizzle" is more than just winning...
 
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Real effect? None, one would hope.

Among casual fans in Big 12 country and sports talk hosts in this area? Trust me, they are loud on their platforms today screaming about how UConn and Cincinnati are terrible G5-level programs who suck and don't draw well. Even Houston fans are feeling their oats, simply because they have a show case game in their home city against football royalty to open the season.

I had to remind them that last year, the best year in their entire modern history and in a brand-new stadium - they averaged a whopping 33,000 per game and that their season opener last year - with the benefit of being on a Saturday and not Thursday but facing FCS competition like UConn just did - they drew 30,000.
 
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My take is, UConn doesn't need to do anything differently regarding football to get an invite. UConn Athletics is what it is, one of the best athletic departments in the country. The football program at D-I is still in its infancy and has already been to a BCS game. A short term run of success or failure means squat. It is up to the powers that be to understand that the UConn Athletic Department takes every advantage of opportunities, unlike other current P5 programs that are content to wallow in mediocrity.

Of course winning a lot today helps, but this is a long term decision.
 
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The impact will be the Twitter nerds from other boards will say "see they can't play football" and post them here.
 
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UC played like crap against an FCS team as well. It has very little meaning. The score looks ok, but they were down 7-6 at half and scored a TD on a late pick six.
 
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UC played like crap against an FCS team as well. It has very little meaning. The score looks ok, but they were down 7-6 at half and scored a TD on a late pick six.
And we had a higher attendance, not by much but it was still higher
 
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