With UConn's latest rejection from the ACC, how will the university handle the hit it's taken to it's image towards possible recruits?

By Mike Corasaniti

The University of Connecticut was once again left out of the Atlantic Coast Conference expansion last week, causing concern throughout the community regarding the school’s athletic reputation and outlook for future recruits and students.

The ACC, after losing the University of Maryland to the Big 10 Conference earlier last month, invited the University of Louisville over UConn to replace Maryland for the conference’s final spot. The ACC cited, among other factors, the overall strength of the Louisville athletic program, the quality of the university’s athletic facilities and the overall support from the Louisville fan base.

 For current athletes, the failure to acquire an invitation from the ACC is discouraging for the outlook of the program in terms of both the caliber of competition as well as the school’s perception to any potential talent pools.

“It’s really a shame because so many of the competitive schools have left, and high levels of competition are what equates to more money and better recruits,” said a sophomore middle distance runner for the UConn men’s track and field team.

The track and field team has consistently contended for the Big East title over the past decade, falling just short in the outdoor season to the University of Notre Dame. But with Notre Dame, as well as fellow track powers Syracuse and Pittsburgh, leaving the Big East for the ACC, the diminishing prowess of conference competition has become an issue.

“It’s bad for potential talent, especially with the publicity of the choice [the ACC made] of Louisville over UConn. It says that we’re a lesser choice than all of the other teams we used to compete against,” said the runner.

The failure to acquire an invitation from the ACC has created some concern among UConn athletes, especially regarding UConn’s image and reputation to the rest of the country.

“The news about UConn staying in the Big East was a bit of shock because it was surprising to think that such a big name in sports such as UConn would be rejected by the ACC,” said a sophomore high jumper for the UConn men’s track and field team. 

Other factions of the UConn athletic community share these concerns, especially considering the success of UConn’s athletics across the board over the past decade.

“It’s frustrating because we’ve won multiple championships in men’s and women’s basketball, made strides in some of the smaller market sports such as baseball, played in a BCS bowl two years ago and are one of the top teams in the country in soccer,” said Kyle Burns, a former infielder for the UConn baseball team. “Athletically, I think we’ve proven ourselves worthy of a bid.”

One of the main reasons for UConn’s failure to acquire an ACC invitation lies with the strength of the university’s football program, which, compared to Louisville’s, is young and inconsistent. UConn athletic director Warde Manuel countered these notions though, citing UConn’s quick growth from an FBS football program to BCS bowl contender in just a decade.

“The UConn football team has made incredible strides since it moved to the FBS in 2002,” Manuel said in a statement following the announcement. “The Huskies have won two Big East Championships, played in five bowl games – including four over the past five seasons – and became the fastest program to rise from FBS inception to an appearance in a BCS game in history.”

Moving forward, it will largely be on Manuel to present UConn in an appealing enough manner to acquire an invitation from the ACC as conference realignment continues.

“We have and will continue to monitor the situation regarding conference realignment and work to ensure that UConn is in the best position for the continued success of our athletic programs,” Manuel said.

Regarding football, one of the main complaints from the UConn community has been against UConn football head coach Paul Pasqualoni, who has put together two losing seasons in his first two years with the program.

“The sad part is, we had momentum coming off of a BCS bowl game, and we didn’t go after a big name coach,” said Drew Vandemore, a former walk-on for the UConn football team. “Now we have to try to build that momentum up as a program again. Hopefully, sooner rather than later, we can prove ourselves worthy of a conference upgrade and become attractive to new talent again.”

One of the more frustrating factors involving the situation for the UConn community has been the seemingly lack of importance weighed on the success of UConn’s academics. UConn has recently been ranked among Top 20 public schools in the country, whereas Louisville is currently ranked the No. 87 public university by U.S. News and World Report.

In a statement after the announcement, UConn president Susan Herbst urged the UConn community to stay focused on the university’s success in academics as the athletic program continues to build as well.

 “I know this may seem like a tough moment for our fans, but we need to focus on the fundamentals of academic success across the university and in our athletic program as well,” Herbst said.

Note: Some involved with UConn athletics interviewed for this story asked to not to be named

By Mike Corasaniti

Waking up to my 8 a.m. alarm this past Saturday morning for UConn’s match-up with Buffalo reminded me of a certain passion many colleagues and I share about UConn football: I hate Rentschler Field.

I hate taking a bus or driving more than a half hour off-campus to see a UConn football home game. I hate losing sleep just to wake up early enough to be on time for a new game. And I hate the fact that this school’s “home” stadium feels nothing like home.

If you take a look at every other FBS school in the country, you would see that we are in the very small minority. Only 25 schools (about 20 percent) have off-campus football stadiums. If you break down those 25 off-campus stadiums, you would see that only five of them – including UCLA, Miami (FL) and UConn – are more than 15 miles off-campus. And while it seems nice to be grouped together with the strong football histories of Miami and UCLA, this is without a doubt a grouping of schools that UConn needs to remove itself from as soon as possible.

There are a lot of different ways this problem could be solved, in my opinion. But I do have one specific idea that I think could solve every problem with the Rentschler Field situation. That idea lies in the acres of cow fields to the left of Route 195 on the way into Storrs: a football stadium on Horsebarn Hill.

Think about the factors that make the Rentschler Field situation such an annoying one. My short list includes the distance, student attendance and the absence of tradition. Considering these factors, a Horsebarn Hill stadium just makes perfect sense. There’s more than enough room for multiple stadiums, it would be an awesome presence for anyone entering campus to see and, most importantly, it’s on-campus.

The distance and attendance problem would be solved automatically, as on-campus students would not have to walk more than fifteen minutes to get to a football game. Now, between waiting for and taking buses, and/or driving and parking in East Hartford, the time spent going to Rentschler is a forty-five minute process at the very least. But more importantly, the absence of tradition through Rentschler Field would be gone with an on-campus stadium.

In a broad sense of the idea, tradition starts when people enjoy what they are doing. In the specific UConn sense of the idea, students would enjoy going to the games more if they were convenient to go to and were packed with excitement (which they would be if students went, which they would be more inclined to do if it were convenient).

And going further with tradition, can we please get a stadium with a nickname better than “The Rent?” A field on Horsebarn Hill arena could be anything from “The Barn,” to “The Hill,” to “Anything that does not make it sound like we are borrowing a stadium.” Granted, opposing players seeing “The Barn” on their upcoming schedule might not be too intimidated, but at least it would be something familiar and in accordance with UConn’s tradition as an agricultural college.

This issue is not a new one, and it is also doubtfully one that could be remedied soon. It is simply one that should be considered. A home football stadium is a place that should feel like home for the students, players and neighboring community. And while a manure-filled cow pasture may not be the perfect answer, it’s a start that would make waking up at 8 a.m. on Saturdays a little easier.