Team preview: Connecticut

Blue Ribbon Illustrated previews the 2004-05 college football season, exclusively on Insider.

Originally Published: July 28, 2004
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COACH AND PROGRAM

Never has there been a better time for Connecticut to make its move from being a I-A independent to joining the Big East. While the folks in Storrs don't like to acknowledge the fact that the exodus of Miami and Virginia Tech leaves the conference wide open this year – as it might diminish anything the Huskies accomplish – UConn couldn't ask for a better opportunity to succeed immediately, especially with 17 returning starters in tow.

UConn does like to boast about how its nine wins last season were the most of any current or future Big East conference member besides departing Miami (which won 11 games). The Huskies equaled Louisville (which joins in 2005) and topped West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Boston College (eight wins apiece). If you look past the smoke screen, you'll see that two of the Huskies' three losses were to Big East members last year (Boston College, 24-14, and Virginia Tech, 47-13). The Huskies did sneak past Rutgers, 38-31, and, were it not for a heartbreaking 31-24 loss at North Carolina State, UConn would have won the final seven games of the 2003 season and would likely have earned itself a bowl bid.


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