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Post by purplehaze on Oct 8, 2018 9:57:27 GMT -5
It is just amazing how poor the state universities' teams are this year ! Umass might (?) be the best of the bunch when you compare them with Uconn and Rutgers, both of whom are absolutely getting embarrassed every Saturday
Yes, BC, Syracuse and Army are all playing pretty well, but my point is the flagship state schools are abysmal with fan bases abandoning their teams
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Post by rf1 on Oct 8, 2018 10:48:23 GMT -5
The northeast is just not a big college football area. UConn and UMass are likely never to be consistently good. Their moves to FBS will probably always be open to debate given the cost versus fan interest and success on the field.
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Post by timholycross on Oct 8, 2018 18:09:59 GMT -5
I thought it said something (bad) about Umass football when they drew 7,500 on Saturday against South Florida, a pretty good team in a league that Umass would love to be in.
Compare that with 6,500 for HC/UNH, a FCS game where the teams went into the game at a collective 1-8.
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Post by HC92 on Oct 8, 2018 18:15:11 GMT -5
AAC football absolutely killing the UConn brand. It’s even affecting women’s hoops which hasn’t won a national title since 2016!!!
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Post by rgs318 on Oct 8, 2018 18:17:15 GMT -5
AAC football absolutely killing the UConn brand. It’s even affecting women’s hoops which hasn’t won a national title since 2016!!! That long?!  |
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Post by A Clock Tower Purple on Oct 8, 2018 19:01:43 GMT -5
AAC football absolutely killing the UConn brand. It’s even affecting women’s hoops which hasn’t won a national title since 2016!!! Conference affiliation isn't the reason UConnvict has one of the worst programs in D1 (do fans still think they deserve a P5 conference bid- lol), and no conference isn't the reason UMess is just as atrocious. Loser of the game between these two in a couple weeks should just shut it down. |
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Post by thecrossisback on Oct 8, 2018 20:12:16 GMT -5
They both should go back to FCS. Would have similar crowds and could start FCS rivalries. Nobody wants to play FBS at UMass or Uconn. Then both teams can play in front of large crowds at Fitton.
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Post by sader1970 on Oct 8, 2018 20:52:30 GMT -5
All the New England state universities have relatively small enrollments. The state of New York has a very large state university enrollment but made the decision years ago to de-centralize to multiple campuses. UMass and UConn are vainly trying to be more like Penn State, Ohio State or Texas but just don't have the critical mass to make that happen. Combine that with professional sports in Boston and New York, college football in the northeast will never make a go of it at the D-IA level and while BC will try, I don't think they will ever be a top tier at that level. Having lived in the Syracuse area, they can be more successful because they really don't have a professional team siphoning off their product and last I looked they have 20,000+ students. Essentially, they're the only game in town.
UConn and UMass probably made mistakes moving to D-IA and made investments that they don't want to back out of but, in time, will probably have to move back to D-IAA where they could be successful (i.e. win a lot more and lose less money).
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Post by rgs318 on Oct 8, 2018 20:56:58 GMT -5
I hope they agree!
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Post by gks on Oct 9, 2018 6:32:55 GMT -5
Couple of my thoughts on this topic...which I think is a good one.
1) UMass and UConn should be FBS. They are too big to be in FCS in my opinion. UNH should join them.
2) The success of the Patriots does play some factor when it comes to coverage. Thirty years ago, as us locals know, the Pats were buried when it came to coverage. They now dominate.
3) I think this is changing but for a long time we have looked down at public, state colleges in the Northeast.
4) League realignment and de-regionalization of college football hurt, especially in the provincial Northeast.
5) I think the overall poo-pooing of 'big time athletics' in New England is a large factor. I truly believe you don't have to sell your soul to be a success in college sports. Northeast colleges sometimes seem to go over the top (see Patriot League) when it comes to not promoting college athletics. Don't want too much of a good thing. Maybe it's a hold over of Puritan guilt!
It's too bad...BC has one of the best college RBs in the country (as HC fans know) and nobody cares or knows about it.
It was fun when Flutie was at BC...there were big-time games in New England every weekend. I miss it.
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Post by alum on Oct 9, 2018 6:53:57 GMT -5
UCONN drew fans to the Rent for the first decade in BCS football. Unfortunately, the collapse of BE football, the departure of Edsall, the back to back bad head coaches (Pasqualoni and Diacco,) the decline of student attendance at all college sports, the decision to join a league which includes a bunch of schools nobody in Connecticut knows anything about, the decision to play games at inconvenient times to satisfy television contracts, the constantly rising time demands of non local youth sports, the loss of interest in business entertainment at sporting events, and the declining readership of the Hartford Courant have created a massive loss of enthusiasm.
I miss BE hoops.
(Honestly, I know a couple of Temple grads and a Tulane grad. Other than those people, I don't know anyone who went to or is a fan of any other AAC team.)
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Post by matunuck on Oct 9, 2018 9:24:55 GMT -5
For schools like Army and BC, I don't believe ginning up local interest is the primary reason they play a national football schedule. They have zero interest in a schedule composed chiefly of northeast schools even it meant more sellouts at home.
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Post by rf1 on Oct 12, 2018 8:47:37 GMT -5
All the New England state universities have relatively small enrollments. The state of New York has a very large state university enrollment but made the decision years ago to de-centralize to multiple campuses. UMass and UConn are vainly trying to be more like Penn State, Ohio State or Texas but just don't have the critical mass to make that happen. Combine that with professional sports in Boston and New York, college football in the northeast will never make a go of it at the D-IA level and while BC will try, I don't think they will ever be a top tier at that level. Having lived in the Syracuse area, they can be more successful because they really don't have a professional team siphoning off their product and last I looked they have 20,000+ students. Essentially, they're the only game in town. UConn and UMass probably made mistakes moving to D-IA and made investments that they don't want to back out of but, in time, will probably have to move back to D-IAA where they could be successful (i.e. win a lot more and lose less money).
UMass and UConn, unlike the other New England flagship state universities, have fairly large enrollments. They are nearly double the size of most of the others (URI is next largest at 18,072 Total Students/15,092 Undergraduate/3,033 Postgraduate) which makes sense given they are in the most populated (by multiples) NE states:
UMass Students 30,340
Undergraduates 23,388
Postgraduates 6,952
UConn Students 26,152 – main campus
Undergraduates 19,324
Postgraduates 6,828
The size of a school however is not the only factor for success as an FBS member. As mentioned above, conference affiliation, location, past success, college sports environment, etc.....also all matter.
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