When you look at all of the big name opponents that the UConn Huskies football team has played outside of the Big East at Rentschler Field, only Boston College (2003) and North Carolina (2009) come to mind. Of course that Boston College game came when the Huskies were still an independent team and the Eagles were still in the Big East.
Now we’ve seen all of the Big East teams come in since Rentschler Field opened in 2003 and obviously the West Virginia Mountaineers are probably the best of the Big East to come through. But in 2012 when the TCU Horned Frogs come to Rentschler Field, we’ll see something like we’ve never seen before there, a football juggernaut.
If you saw the Huskies play in the Fiesta Bowl in January, you could see the difference between the Huskies and the Oklahoma Sooners in terms of size and skill. And before you get on me, the Huskies were pretty good last year, Oklahoma was just way more better.
The Horned Frogs join the Big East next season from the Mountain West Conference where they’ve been the dominant team. They’ve also been ranked nationally and finished the 2010 season as the No. 2 team in the land after beating Wisconsin in the 2011 Rose Bowl.
They are expected to be among the top 10 teams this season and more than likely probably will come in and dominate the Big East for a while starting next year.
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The reason why UConn gets TCU at home in 2012 is because the Huskies are scheduled for just three Big East home games next year (West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati). They also have five non-conference games on the schedule in UMass, NC State, Buffalo, Maryland and Western Michigan. The first three of the aformentioned games are at the Rent while the final two are on the road.
With eight games in the Big East regular season and the five non-conference games, the Huskies will have to eliminate one of the non-conference games. Chip Malafronte of the New Haven Register asked on Twitter which of the five do you think goes from the schedule.
My answer to him was Maryland.
Now do we really think Randy Edsall wants to play the school right away where he coached for so many years. Probably not. Honestly, I really thought Edsall would have already eliminated that game from the schedule. With UConn having the need to eliminate a game, it should make it all the more easier for Edsall to get rid of it.
I really don’t see UConn eliminating any of the non-conference home games because two of them are probably wins while the N.C. State game is winnable. New head coach Paul Pasqualoni probably won’t want to give up the Western Michigan game on the road since that should be a win too.
With all of that said, Maryland is the logical answer.
Still while we still have this season to be played, Big East conference home games against West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and TCU along with UMass, NC State and Buffalo, there will definitely some great football played at the Rent in 2012.
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