UConn to BE Rumors

[rocky_warrior]

It would look very weak if Southern Connecticut and Central Connecticut can play the sport but the flagship university cannot.

49.5% of America yawns in apathy.  Another 49.5% say "UConn still has football?"

[The Sultan]

I disagree.  UCONN  as a FBS school is a stronger BE member.  That said, I'm not a Conneticut resident or alum. Perhaps some of you are and have a dog in the fight. This is a non issue to 99% of BE fans not from UCONN.

Yeah I don't think having a crappy FBS team helps the BE at all.

[Coleman]

UConn needs to play football. 48 of the 50 flagship state schools in the US play football, Alaska and Vermont excepted. It would look very weak if Southern Connecticut and Central Connecticut can play the sport but the flagship university cannot.

On a secondary issue, I would like to see UConn schedule the other three Big East football schools in its non-conference rotation. There are issues which would limit this, of course, but it's worth considering.

You are giving wayyyy too much importance to "playing football." It is FBS or bust. Literally no one cares about FCS football. The difference between having a FCS team and not having football is basically zero.

[Mr. Nielsen]

Yes.  It's options are very limited in a Covid world. UConn does have a bit of a window in the post-vaccine world, but it's a very narrow window.

UConn's future schedule is pretty good. Some good payday games at power schools in Clemson, Michigan, Tennessee, NC State and Ohio State. Some home and homes with Purdue, Syracuse, Boston College, UMass and Duke.

[Goatherder]

You are giving wayyyy too much importance to "playing football." It is FBS or bust. Literally no one cares about FCS football. The difference between having a FCS team and not having football is basically zero.

I hear it's pretty popular in Montana.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

UConn's future schedule is pretty good. Some good payday games at power schools in Clemson, Michigan, Tennessee, NC State and Ohio State. Some home and homes with Purdue, Syracuse, Boston College, UMass and Duke.

They've had no problem filling the future schedule.  And they have a multiyear TV deal with CBS Sports Network.
The state has invested too much in the program and they will not drop to FCS or outright alltogether.

[GooooMarquette]

They've had no problem filling the future schedule.  And they have a multiyear TV deal with CBS Sports Network.
The state has invested too much in the program and they will not drop to FCS or outright alltogether.

True...but you have to wonder how many schedules and TV deals will be renegotiated in light of Covid. And how much increasingly thin state budgets can afford to invest in sports programs, especially a football program that has entered the near-impossible world of FBS independents.

I don't profess to understand the local politics of this nearly as well as you do, but it just seems like a dead-end proposition.

[Coleman]

I hear it's pretty popular in Montana.

That kind of proves my point.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

True...but you have to wonder how many schedules and TV deals will be renegotiated in light of Covid. And how much increasingly thin state budgets can afford to invest in sports programs, especially a football program that has entered the near-impossible world of FBS independents.

I don't profess to understand the local politics of this nearly as well as you do, but it just seems like a dead-end proposition.

FWIW the football TV deal with CBS Sports was made in the middle of Coronavirus.

[GooooMarquette]

FWIW the football TV deal with CBS Sports was made in the middle of Coronavirus.

Yes, but that was back in early May - those sanguine days when many thought the worst was almost behind us, governors would patiently reopen their states according to the CDC guidelines, and we would see sports in the fall. The announcement on UConn's website even mentioned - quite optimistically - that the deal called for 4 nationally televised games in 2020.

https://uconnhuskies.com/news/2020/5/11/uconn-and-cbs-sports-agree-to-multi-year-television-deal-for-home-football-games.aspx

Ironically, Connecticut was one of the few states that actually was patient and logical in its reopening, yet UConn was one of the first FBS schools to postpone its season.

I'm not saying CBSSN drops them like a hot rock, but with schools and networks strapped for cash, the renegotiated deal might not be so sweet.