Why are Memphis, Navy and Cincinnati in the top 21 in preseason rankings and UConn is 125?

[BlueDogs]

Let me think, why! Hmmmm. I'll start in 2003 with Hathaway. HCRE1.0 to HCREDreamJob1.0 in the still of the night. Ms. Suzy must be in here as a major player. The Twins. Donut Man. Red Pants. HCRE2.0.

My buddy Occam thinks its very simple, crappy leaders turn stuff into crap.

100% accurate. Bad leaders create bad outcomes. We’ve had a string on incompetent leaders. When you lose for a decade it’s not by chance. It’s the sum total of many terrible decisions made repeatedly over time.

 

[DoctorWho85]

Simple answer is UCONN hasn't had a winning season in 9 years. Would have had the worst defense in NCAA history had UMASS not turned out to be even worse than us. Until UCONN can win 4-6 wins consistently they're not sniffing any ranking hire than the 110's.

 

[Woof 101]

@LoyalFanCT I'll use the final 2019 CFN poll to explain this for you.

College Football News Rankings 1-130: 2019 Final

The College Football News 2019 final rankings, based on opinion and what happened on the field. Unlike the CFN Final Season Rankings – coming in a few days, based solely on head-to-head wins…

collegefootballnews.com

You will see Navy was ranked 105 preseason & finished @ 29. OA 9 & 5
Cincy preseason rank was 64 & finished @ 24. OA 11 & 3
Memphis preseason rank was 66 & finished @ 20. OA OA 12 & 2
UConn preseason rank was 106 & finished @ 105. OA 2 & 10
There is no rocket science needed to figure out why we are not ranked higher and other teams are. Nobody knows who our QB will be yet, same goes for the quality of the lines and D backfield. On top of that a few players left early that would have started / contributed. Where would you rank us to start the season?

The polls mean nothing to most until they mean something (end of season). To get respect in them UConn will have to win the games they should and upset a few. 5 / 7 or 6 / 6 will get us out of the dreaded triple digit rankings.

 

[huskysupporter]

Do you think UConn should consider installing the triple option?

that made me chuckle, you are persistent.

 

[huskysupporter]

The team was atrocious last year and is worse on paper this year. The Offensive Line is littered with question marks aside from Van Denmark, and the defense would have to significantly improve just to become awful. That’s why they are ranked where they are.

the good news is preseason rankings don’t matter and maybe someone can post it in the locker room to light a fire.

 

[Stainmaster]

Why are y’all feeding the troll?

 

[NTXCoog]

What history. Navy went 15 years without a winning record, then went 5-6 years before Johnson came. Johnson Actually scheduled much like we are now, lesser D1 opponents with a handful of major programs. Much like Army is doing now too. Those schools have different problems with recruiting but found coaches who can use the use the talent they get very effectively.

They do have a national championship, multiple top 10 finishes, and 2 Heisman winners. It may be ancient history, but it is history.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

It's threads like this where I miss whaler.

 

[Skiblets]

I’m optimistic and think we can be top100 in a few years or so.

 

[BugsyCT]

We went from giving up a historically bad 50 pts/game in 2018 to 40.5 pts/game in 2019. So there's that.

Can't believe it's even a question why we're still ranked near the bottom. Other than some brief stints of competency last year (Illinois, Houston, UMass, ECU), we're still ridiculously awful. That perception won't change until we finally prove otherwise on the field.

 

[gtcam]

I am convinced UConn will be in the top 100 if they play this fall
The talent, size and speed is much better - that will give them at least 2-4 more wins

 

[billybud]

Why worry about it?

It doesn't affect basketball and UConn is a basketball school....I doubt that Duke worried much about going 2-9, 1-10, 0-12, and 1-11 in four successive seasons.

 

[Diehard Fan]

Wait, what? We're not last? In my book that's a WIN! Movin' on up!

 

[UConnDan97]

Why are y’all feeding the troll?

I was thinking the same exact thing. He even tricked Bizlaw into a response.

Don't feed the trolls, folks...

 

[Husky25]

I just looked at the FB preseason rankings published by our new partner CBS Sports Network. Our former conference teams, Memphis, Navy and Cincinnati are ranked among the highest FBS teams. We are five from the absolute bottom. Excuses aside, why are we so low? These other teams have had ups and downs over the years, just like UConn. If an opening comes up in the ACC or B10 are we going to be pushed aside again? What will we be doing different so we are in the top 21 too within a few years?

College Football Rankings 2025-26 - CBS Sports Rankings

Get the latest College Football rankings for the 2025-26 season. Find out where your favorite team is ranked in the AP Top 25, Coaches Poll, CBS Sports Rankings, or Playoff Rankings polls and rankings.

www.cbssports.com

Did UConn win games in the offseason that I don't know about?

 

[Palatine]

Why worry about it?

It doesn't affect basketball and UConn is a basketball school....I doubt that Duke worried much about going 2-9, 1-10, 0-12, and 1-11 in four successive seasons.

Duke didn't put together a losing streak in basketball to accompany their poor football.

Duke is now making more money from football than from basketball which enhances their entire athletic department.

 

[billybud]

The answer is always...RECRUITING.

Using Rivals Team Ranking..

2015...last in AAC
2016...last in AAC
2017...10th in AAC
2018...11th in AAC
2019...last in AAC
2020...best class in years....7th in AAC...#79 nationally

 

[billybud]

Duke didn't put together a losing streak in basketball to accompany their poor football.

Duke is now making more money from football than from basketball which enhances their entire athletic department.

Yeah..I wasn't thinking of the basketball performance since, I think, there will be a return to the basketball elite. And it won't take long.

 

[HuskyBandDad]

Hey CBS Sports thinks we have some value. What other 125 ranked team would get a TV deal.

 

[thatguyed]

Go Zips!

 

[freescooter]

I get a little tired about reading how we are not in a talent rich area. So what? If you could only recruit within 50 miles of your campus that matters. Otherwise it is an excuse not a reason. We had pretty consistent top 35ish teams in the early 2000s and went to multiple bowls. Memphis was awful. Did they suddenly move to a better recruiting area and we went to a worse one? Navy had Occasionally mediocre and mostly awful teams for 25 years. Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State not Hardly in high school hotbeds. As for location, I think some people have never been to some of these places. And haven’t heard of the internal combustion engine.

 

[billybud]

Iowa State has 10 Florida kids on the roster...Georgia kids, Wisconsin kids, etc.

Recruiting is national...you just have to pull in decent athletes. You have to pull them...sell them on your program. It is more difficult to go to a far region...but Iowa State does it.

FSU sits in a prime area...yet their 2020 class had 13 signees from out of Florida...Alabama, Louisianna, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, and Mississippi.

 

[huskysupporter]

I saw Kansas State mentioned - that program used a ton of jucos to build the program something UCONN is unable or unwilling to do.

There are certainly a ton of factors working against the program right now - lack of administrative support, no conference, lack of fertile recruiting area nearby to name a few.

But despite those there is no reason UCONN cant be a top 50-60 program.

How to solve:
- relax admission requirements for 20 % of roster spots.
- hit JUCO circuit hard
- hire young, dynamic coach who runs a 21st century offense. Administration has thrown the program in the dumpster so salary pool will never be high. Find a head coach in lower ranks who has had success.

 

[billybud]

One scholarly paper actually featured Randy Edsall...:

College applicants who are granted admission to the University of
Connecticut had, on average, high school grade point averages of B+ or better, scored an average 1221 points on the SAT,and ranked in the top 15 percent of their high school class.

Despite this selective admission. profile, no football player recruited by Edsall had ever been denied admission to the school. 173

Additionally, Edsall frequently met with the school’s vice president of enrollment management and planning to discuss
admitting all the football recruits. 174

One would not encounter much trouble inferring from these reports that Edsall probably rallied to admit many student-athletes who were inadequately prepared to succeed at the University of Connecticut.

https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=sjsj

 

[hardcorehusky]

One scholarly paper actually featured Randy Edsall...:

College applicants who are granted admission to the University of
Connecticut had, on average, high school grade point averages of B+ or better, scored an average 1221 points on the SAT,and ranked in the top 15 percent of their high school class.

Despite this selective admission. profile, no football player recruited by Edsall had ever been denied admission to the school. 173

Additionally, Edsall frequently met with the school’s vice president of enrollment management and planning to discuss
admitting all the football recruits. 174

One would not encounter much trouble inferring from these reports that Edsall probably rallied to admit many student-athletes who were inadequately prepared to succeed at the University of Connecticut.

https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=sjsj

The flip side to this is that RE knows who he can get in and who he can't. If it is down to a 4* with questionable grades and a 3* with better grades, he goes with the 3* because admissions won't bend. That is not his fault, that is the line Susan drew in the sand years ago. Kids who fit the mold of can't get in went to Temple and other schools. I know this as a fact.

IF the new President were serious about a winning football program, he would give RE discretion on bringing in 4 kids a class that might not have the grades/ACT/SAT scores, but can make a difference on the field.

Remember, ND sucked for years until Kelly made it a point for admissions to help the football program, not hurt it. Since the relaxation, look at the job he was able to do.