Your Top 5 Teams to Schedule OOC post-2013?

[huskypantz]

Looking at the conferences as they stand now, what are the top 5 schools you want to see the Huskies "regularly" schedule for OOC games beginning in 2014? We're assuming these would be 1 for 1 contracts, and these would be schools you'd want to play regularly in the next decade or two.
My 5:

1. Syracuse - yes, I know it's a basketball not a football rivalry. Post-upgrade, we've played them more than any school save Rutgers (Cuse tied with WVU and Pitt). UConn fans know the school, they'll show up to see them play football. Honestly, I think the smartest thing we can do is stay friendly with a few of these "new ACC" schools.
2. Pitt - Same argument here.
3. Notre Dame - guaranteed televised game and we get extra respect for beating them, regardless of how good they really are. It's a pipe dream, but that's okay.
4. Penn State - They're the crown jewel of the northeast. The best way to compete with them for recruits is to beat them on the field. This game would be the highest attendance in the Rent's history, and the return game would be a popular road trip for UConn fans.
5. Boston College - The closest BCS school to UConn. A "friendly" game or two could go a long way toward getting us on the right track toward an ACC invite. The game would be well-traveled by UConn fans.

 

[uconNYC]

Local rivals - RU, BC, SU, UMass (instead of Buffalo, WMU and the other MAC schools we regularly play)

After that any BCS team willing to travel to the Rent. The higher ranked the better. Rather not have schools we've played recently like ISU, UNC, UVA, etc.

Really don't care for Pitt or WVU as playing away at Pitt stinks and we've never really had a rivalry with WVU.

 

[Dann]

i would like to play umass every year. get that rival back up and ignore bc until we can't. as a warm up fcs game i would like to see one of unh/maine every year. no fordham/buff or others. umass being in the mac gives us a nice rival game that isn't a schedule killer considering our option in the northeast. easy sellout for us and can lead to bball/hockey/other sports as well...from there it really depends on where we land. if we end up in the b10 then we are noe above(conf wise) the acc. then i wouldn't want to play pitt or bc ever, f them. i would be open to a cuse game in that case becuase of the bball history. they would be a good game every year and help keep our bball programs on top. if we were to end up in the acc then the b10 would still be above us but the only team near would be psu. i wouldn't want to play them because that would give them a look in new england and at that point ny/nj/ne is acc land. keeping them away would help keep them out recruiting wise, same with iowa...

for other ooc games i would really like uconn to play other schools that have the same vision/qualities as uconn. teams that we could not only schedule fball with but a mens a wmens bball game with, same with soccer, a baseball series and so on down the line. If we don't end up in the same conf as these schools then this is who i would love to target. unc/md/uva/tenn/usce/fl/uk/wvu/ind/mich/ala. yea some of those are pipe dreams in fball to play. but this school can aim high and continue to build its brand. i bet we could get some great schools to visit the rent just like we have md/mich/ncst/tenn all coming soon. imagine calling up unc and agreeing to this:
2020- @ unc for fball, home for m/w bball, @baseball series, home for m/w soccer etc...building some type of relationship with this type of school would be great for uconn in the future.
21-flip it 22-flip it 23-flip it etc...4 year agreements like this could build long standing relationships, small rivals and great competition and a strong following by the fanbase.

 

[huskypantz]

My guess would be that we go to an 8-game conference schedule. We are going to need 2 BCS OOC games per year. We'll always have one local FCS opponent. I think we'll continue to have one MAC opponent, and that can rotate among UMass, Buffalo etc. The UMass game is a double bonus - the road game will be at Gillette and UConn should be offered a large number of tickets. That's a game we can easily bring 10k, more if it's included as a neutral site option in the season ticket packages. Of the 2 BCS games, I'd like to see us play Cuse or Pitt almost every year, and then sprinkle in ND/PSU/BC, followed by Maryland/Michigan/Tenn/UNC/NC State/Wake/UVA etc.

 

[weyuo]

Penn St, UMass, any SEC team and a ranked team from west of the Mid West so that we could introduce UConn football to high school kids on the left side of the country. Buffalo is getting old every year but the Buffalos(U of Colo) would be nice for a change but........ if it needs to be five then:

Penn ST, Colorado, Kentucky(B-ball & football) and UMass one year, BC the next on a rotation so that we play one of them at home every year, one away.

 

[SubbaBub]

1. BC
2. Penn State
3. Any current AQ team that isn't a perennial bottom feeder like Duke, Northwestern, Ole Miss, Vandy, Washington, Virginia, Kansas)
4. Pitt (we beat them quite often)
5. yeah, and ND because you know they don't want to play at the Rent.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

Texas
BC
Penn St
ND
Tenn

 

[Husky68]

LSU
USC (the real one)
Oklahoma
Ohio State
Miami

You want to be a big boy, beat the big boys. Recruit like that is who you want to beat, not BCU or Maryland!

 

[TRest]

Playing in a conference with SU and Pitt proved oddly unsatisfying. If we could schedule some actually relevant programs, that is the way to go. I wouldn't mind playing WV still, throw in PSU, an ACC team, and even BC would have more juice than Pitt or SU.

 

[huskyblooz]

I believe the Big East will go to 8 conference games (4home/4 away)
1. Boston College University
2. any top 10 program, anywhere anytime
3. Army
4. former Yankee Conference northeast school ie, UNH, Maine, URI etc.

if 5 I'd like to see a BCS school

 

[Jimdish255]

UMass, PSU, Colorado, TCU, Florida State. Iowa State has a history with us so I wouldn't mind keeping that going occasionally. I saw plenty of Yankee Conference football in the 80's, so lets settle on UMass as a rivalry game.

 

[coachcap]

Five dream schools to play on a "regular" rotation?
1.L.S.U. (brother went to grad school post UConn)
2. Oklahoma (team I followed in the 70's)
3. Michigan (see reason #2)
4. Arkansas
5. Arizona State (loved Tempe & greater Phoenix when I went to the Fiesta Bowl)

 

[rw005]

1. Northwestern (they seem to play everyone in the BE, so why not?)
2. Army (I love playing them in any sport)
3. Ohio State (would be awesome to have a home-away series with them)
4. Georgia (another one of those teams that would be awesome to have a home-away series with)
5. A team like Fordham, Rhode Island, UMass, Maine, New Hampshire, etc.

Considering as well: Southern Cal, Alabama, BC, Navy (assuming they don't bother coming into the BE)

and lastly Penn State, very hard to believe we've never played them in football OR men's basketball.

 

[jdb50]

USC/UCLA make a basketball matchup the same year in men's and women's as part of the deal
Kentucky see above
UMass or UNH local recruiting
Iowa ST
TCU

 

[uconnbill]

BC just would fit as the naturally rivalry
Virgina, Maryland or VA Tech to keep the foot in the door in a good recruiting area
MAC school not names Buffalo
Old Yankee conference team like Maine or New Hampshire

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Penn State
Boston College
Syracuse

Those are by far my top 3. Then any of the following would cool with me as well:
Pitt
WVU
VT
Maryland
UVA
UNC

 

[Blue Loyalist]

BYU
Michigan
Penn State
Ohio State
Syracuse

Just deamin'

 

[ZooCougar]

Trinity
Amherst
Williams
Dartmouth
University of San Diego

 

[SubbaBub]

What's with the thread necrophilia, lately?