![]() ![]() Then, NCAA trouble that began under then-basketball coach Jim Calhoun. But the source indicated opposition to UConn soon emerged: First from Boston College, which did not want to share the New England region. Initially, a Syracuse-UConn addition to the ACC was thought to be extremely beneficial on the basketball side - not only boosting hoops inside that conference but destabilizing the powerful Big East basketball brand. Shortly thereafter, the ACC started showing interest in multiple Big East teams.Īccording to one source involved in the discussions, one of those teams was UConn. But some in the room felt the league could gain more in the open market. With a lucrative television deal on the table from ESPN, the conference had a chance to solidify its future. The Big East had its own unique circumstances, as a conference that not only originated with basketball but had schools that did not field FBS football teams.Īs football increasingly drove the financial train, the Big East faced a precarious situation in 2011. In 2011, conference realignment was at its height, as schools and conferences across the country evaluated themselves and their long-term prospects. It turns out, that was not the first time the ACC chose another Big East school over UConn. From that point forward, every day in recruiting was just trying to explain where we were going moving forward. "Losing out on the opportunity to go to the ACC and everything that meant, the football part of it and the financial part of it, just was overwhelming. "To say it was a tough day would be putting it very mildly," Pasqualoni said in a recent phone conversation. He describes the news as a "giant punch in the stomach." ![]() I'm shocked that that they are in this situation."įORMER UCONN COACH Paul Pasqualoni still remembers the morning the ACC made its final realignment announcement, in 2012: It would take Louisville over UConn to replace Maryland. "As meteoric a rise as it was, it has been just as quick a falloff," Orlovsky said. Poor coaching hires, mounting financial woes and a push-pull with its more high-profile basketball programs about the best path forward have contributed to where UConn stands.Įven still, the fall has been much starker than anyone could have imagined. To be sure, realignment is not the only factor at play. Since the Big East ceased being a football-playing conference in 2013, UConn football is 21-73, including 1-8 headed into its game at Clemson on Saturday. In the fallout, one could make the argument that no program has been hurt worse than UConn. Edsall left after that season, but that was only the start of trouble for the UConn football program.Ĭonference realignment soon wreaked havoc on the collegiate landscape, affecting the Big East in a catastrophic way. "And when we left there, we did see the benefits."Įdsall captained the program as it transitioned from FCS to FBS to the Big East, and the success soon followed - with the pinnacle a Fiesta Bowl appearance as Big East champions in 2010. "We were building something that could be special," Fincher said. So did former linebacker Alfred Fincher, who played with Orlovsky from 2001 to '04. He remembers then-coach Randy Edsall selling the vision that UConn belonged among the bigger programs. Inside the lobby of the UConn football facility, bowl trophies shimmer inside their perfectly maintained glass cases, an ever-present reminder that there once was a time when the Huskies were not the butt of football jokes, nor the focus of endless speculation about their FBS future.Īs former UConn quarterback and current ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky explains it, "You had this program that was on a rocket ship." Orlovsky chose to play for the Huskies because he saw that upward trajectory, and he wanted to help lay the foundation for sustained success on the FBS level, specifically as new football members in the Big East. The school that realignment left behind: Inside UConn football's collapse ![]() You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser ![]()
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