Biggest winners, losers five years after realignment

[Water Pony]

Reasonably good summary of the Winners and Losers

Five years ago this week, college athletics lost its mind. Or at least it seemed that way in the moment.

http://www.foxsports.com/college-footba ... aos-061115

[SoCal_Pony]

#1 Loser (tied) UConn

1) Cincinnati and Connecticut. Two schools that enjoyed unprecedented football success in the decade pre-realignment.

Cincinnati, maybe....UConn, Get Real.

[Pony147]

UCONN did go to the Fiesta Bowl in 2010. I guess that was unprecedented for them

[blackoutpony]

UCONN did go to the Fiesta Bowl in 2010. I guess that was unprecedented for them

They were 8-4 going into that game..... And some wonder why the big east crumbled.

[MustangStealth]

#1 Loser (tied) UConn

1) Cincinnati and Connecticut. Two schools that enjoyed unprecedented football success in the decade pre-realignment.

Cincinnati, maybe....UConn, Get Real.

Considering they were I-AA until 1999, yes a trip to a BCS bowl was definitely unprecedented.

[SoCal_Pony]

Let's look at this in the bigger context.

Article says 'Biggest Losers' as if somehow UConn was deserving of P5 consideration due to their recent unprecedented FB success. Fiesta Bowl was 1 season, just like last year was 1 season. I think any objective follower of college FB would tell you last year was more the norm for the Huskies than their Fiesta year.

So I call BS on that one. Now if you're arguing that any Big East holdovers are losers, I'll buy that argument more.

CT, the hotbed of college football....NOT!

BTW, since their Fiesta blowout, UConn is 15-33, and this in a watered-down conference.

[Digetydog]

Let's look at this in the bigger context.

Article says 'Biggest Losers' as if somehow UConn was deserving of P5 consideration due to their recent unprecedented FB success. Fiesta Bowl was 1 season, just like last year was 1 season. I think any objective follower of college FB would tell you last year was more the norm for the Huskies than their Fiesta year.

So I call BS on that one. Now if you're arguing that any Big East holdovers are losers, I'll buy that argument more.

CT, the hotbed of college football....NOT!

BTW, since their Fiesta blowout, UConn is 15-33, and this in a watered-down conference.

As long as Uconn stayed in a conference with (or at the same level as) Syracuse, BC and Pitt, they had a real chance to stay competitive at the P5 level. If we were in the Big12, could we compete? Yes..

Now, they are in deep trouble and will likely struggle to compete in the AAC.

1) they used to be able to compete with BC, Syracuse, and Rutgers for local talent. Now, they get the leftovers from a shallow pool of talent.

2) they aren't playing anyone (except Temple) that local people care about (Navy would have been a good get).

3) when they try to recruit from outside the Northeast, they don't have the weather, the tradition, or a fun location (Storrs is in the sticks). In terms of academics, Uconn is a good school (and improving) but it is not an elite public school. Basically, they get ACC and AAC leftovers.

4) unlike SMU/UH, they don't (didn't) have a local option (CUSA, Sunbelt) to fall back on. With the exception of Umass (which is flailing), there isn't a non-P5 school within 200 miles (Temple) or 300 miles (Navy).

If the AAC fails, they will probably need to join the Big East.