When Miami, VT, and BC left...

[UConnJim]

..and the BE brought in Louisville, Cincinnati, and USF as the replacements, I thought BE football, and UConn football were in serious trouble. WVU had been a mid tier BE program, Syracuse, Pitt, and Rutgers had been either mediocre or bad, Louisville seemed to be good and rising, but Cincinnati was mediocre and I knew nothing about USF.

Instead, the BE played exciting football with all of the programs, except Pitt and Syracuse, showing either great results or good promise. Sure, the New Big East did not have the name programs of the past, but the performance on the field was arguably a mid tier BCS conference and clearly better than the ACC. We have enjoyed some great and exciting wins over the past few years: ND, WVU, South Carolina, Baylor and RG 3, Pitt,... And, we played in a BCS bowl.

Fast forward to today. The loss of WVU was a body blow, but Pitt and Syracuse haven't been that relevant in over a decade. The newbies coming in have shown more on field performance than the newbies that came in after the first raid and most of them are hungry! The newbies have made recent large capital investments in football that are much bigger than the old BE schools. The BE conference is going to be a very tough football league and UConn will have to continue to improve to win the new conference.

We will learn about Boise St., Houston, SD St., SMU... And, I for one will enjoy the games and I expect new football powers to arise.The conference will be the underdog as usual, and I will be rooting for UConn.

 

[Uconnalliance]

Was the beginning of Uconn getting screwed?

 

[WestCoastHusky]

We are UCONN fans. We will cheer for our team no matter who we play. With the proper TV coverage, I believe the new BE will grow and hopefully improve. The new BE has a ton of potential. The question is whether programs will reach that potential.

 

[gopher2]

We are never going to get a whif of a national championship in FB no matter what conference we play in, so does it really matter that we remain in the BE? If we can schedule 1 or 2 quality OOC opponents most years I'll be happy. Sure, being in a major conference would be better but screw it - I'll watch and enjoy UConn football no matter who the opponent is, or isn't. But I don't want to play ND ever again. Let UConn be the only team the Dolden Gomers from South Bend played and never beat.

 

[Dann]

first off, you for that non dream
second, notre dame
thrid, go northwestern. nothing like a clean sweep for the wildcats of private skols from the northeast.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I agree with Dan, F Gopher and F Nutmeg for liking that post!

26 1/2 years ago the exact statement could have been said about our men's basketball team (save the ND part). It takes a seriously limited thought process to make the statement you made hours after what we experienced (and were able to reflect upon) yesterday.

 

[gopher2]

I agree with Dan, F Gopher and F Nutmeg for liking that post!

26 1/2 years ago the exact statement could have been said about our men's basketball team (save the ND part). It takes a seriously limited thought process to make the statement you made hours after what we experienced (and were able to reflect upon) yesterday.

May you're melt down claim your sanity if it hasn't already. And too.

 

[Adios]

It is possible for us to win a national championship in football. You never know. UMass did it at the next level below. Made it to the championship game three times.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

What meltdown?

It appears that you are the one about to jump off a cliff. Go ahead and look forward to being something that will almost be relevant in football. We can strive for far better than that with or without begging to join the ACC, B1G or anyone else.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I don't understand this sentiment a day removed from HOF Coach Jim Calhoun's retirement.

"The first step to being great, is to believe that you actually can be great." - HOF Coach Jim Calhoun

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Wow, folks are sure setting the bar low for UConn football. It is on the ropes right now and may need some luck, but there is no reason the program can't play at a major college level. A quick history lesson in men's basketball would provide some perspective.

We, as fans and alumni, should demand more, not settle for "whatever". May not get there over night but, no reason to place limits. Starts tomorrow, hopefully, with a sound whipping of an ACC team (can't bash that conference for being weak if we can't beat anybody from there).

 

[UConnDan97]

I don't understand this sentiment a day removed from HOF Coach Jim Calhoun's retirement.

"The first step to being great, is to believe that you actually can be great." - HOF Coach Jim Calhoun

This ^^^ x 1,000,000!

We worked hard to build a men's basketball team. We won multiple national championships.
We worked hard to build a women's basketball team. We won multiple national championships.
We worked hard to build a men's soccer team. We won multiple national championships.

Is everyone getting the point here? UConn has been, is, and will always be in pursuit of excellence. Hell, even our friggin' club polo team has multiple national championships! Get used to the idea, and keep believing that we are great...because we are...

 

[kingdobbs]

It is possible for us to win a national championship in football. You never know. UMass did it at the next level below. Made it to the championship game three times.

UMass made it into a championship game in a playoff format that had equitable access provisions based on a fully objective set of selection criteria.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

This ^^^ x 1,000,000!

We worked hard to build a men's basketball team. We won multiple national championships.
We worked hard to build a women's basketball team. We won multiple national championships.
We worked hard to build a men's soccer team. We won multiple national championships.

Is everyone getting the point here? UConn has been, is, and will always be in pursuit of excellence. Hell, even our friggin' club polo team has multiple national championships! Get used to the idea, and keep believing that we are great...because we are...

Let's be fair about one thing though.....it will be MUCH tougher to accomplish in football what we accomplished on the hardwood. Much, much tougher.

But, if you don't believe you can do it, you never will.

 

[mattp]

I don't understand all the chicken little attitudes going on around here. UConn is a good school, with good athletic programs, and that won't change regardless of what conference we're in. I don't remember hearing TCU or Boise State crying about conference affiliation over the last ten years, they just went out and played their games, and their fans rooted for them to win.

The situation we're in now is a lot better than TCU's situation when the SWC dissolved leaving them as a mid major, and what did they do? They went out and won their games and now they're in their dream conference. If all you're going to do is cry about what you're not, why even bother?

 

[UConnDan97]

Let's be fair about one thing though.....it will be MUCH tougher to accomplish in football what we accomplished on the hardwood. Much, much tougher.

But, if you don't believe you can do it, you never will.

Be fair? ! That's for sissies!!

 

[IMind]

UMass made it into a championship game in a playoff format that had equitable access provisions based on a fully objective set of selection criteria.

So what? Cincinnati was a Texas loss in the Big 12 title game away from the national championship game in the current BCS system... which is hardly objective or with equitable access provisions... 5 years removed from being in friggin Conference USA.

It can happen.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

So what? Cincinnati was a Texas loss in the Big 12 title game away from the national championship game in the current BCS system... which is hardly objective or with equitable access provisions... 5 years removed from being in friggin Conference USA.

It can happen.

Good point. And what about West Virginia in '07 needing only to win they're final game to go to the NC match up? That'll teach them to score so many TD's the week before. They tired themselves out in that rout.

 

[kingdobbs]

So what? Cincinnati was a Texas loss in the Big 12 title game away from the national championship game in the current BCS system... which is hardly objective or with equitable access provisions... 5 years removed from being in friggin Conference USA.

It can happen.

The point was not that it could happen. The point was that the comparison didn't work. And since you brought up Cincinnati, that is a *much* better point of comparison to establish "Hey it could happen", than UMass's tenure in FCS.

 

[IMind]

The point was not that it could happen. The point was that the comparison didn't work. And since you brought up Cincinnati, that is a *much* better point of comparison to establish "Hey it could happen", than UMass's tenure in FCS.

I get your point. I'm responding more to those that think it could never happen. Cincinnati was right there with arguably bigger issues than UConn.

 

[Adios]

The point was not that it could happen. The point was that the comparison didn't work. And since you brought up Cincinnati, that is a *much* better point of comparison to establish "Hey it could happen", than UMass's tenure in FCS.

I was using UMass for geographical comparison. No need to get so touchy.

 

[sdhusky]

Let's be fair about one thing though.....it will be MUCH tougher to accomplish in football what we accomplished on the hardwood. Much, much tougher.

But, if you don't believe you can do it, you never will.

No. I completely disagree with this. It was NOT easy in basketball. We got lucky. We got Calhoun and he stayed.

If we are lucky enough to hire the best football coach of his generation and he stays for 20+ years, it won't be tough at all.

The tough part is hiring the best coach of his generation. After that, its much easier.

 

[mattp]

No. I completely disagree with this. It was NOT easy in basketball. We got lucky. We got Calhoun and he stayed.

If we are lucky enough to hire the best football coach of his generation and he stays for 20+ years, it won't be tough at all.

The tough part is hiring the best coach of his generation. After that, its much easier.

oh, is that all we have to do?

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

No. I completely disagree with this. It was NOT easy in basketball. We got lucky. We got Calhoun and he stayed.

If we are lucky enough to hire the best football coach of his generation and he stays for 20+ years, it won't be tough at all.

The tough part is hiring the best coach of his generation. After that, its much easier.

12 scholarships vs. 85 scholarships. And I'm not even mentioning the fact that this area is much more fertile recruiting grounds in hoops than football.

But yeah, after we find the next Nick Saban, yeah.....piece of cake.

 

[sdhusky]

12 scholarships vs. 85 scholarships. And I'm not even mentioning the fact that this area is much more fertile recruiting grounds in hoops than football.

But yeah, after we find the next Nick Saban, yeah.....piece of cake.

Calhoun is better than Saban. But you are going in the right direction.

If we hired the equivalent of Calhoun, we would win NC's. Period.