With the West Virginia Mountaineers leaving the Big East Conference, the football schedule for 2012 took a little longer to be released. But the long wait is over as the Big East and UConn released their 2012 football schedule.

Here’s the press release from UConn:

STORRS, Conn. — The 2012 University of Connecticut football schedule will feature games against seven teams that played in bowl games last year and a non-conference schedule with two games against teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference. The complete schedule was announced on Tuesday by the BIG EAST Conference.

Game times and television coverage for most games are still to be announced.

“We have a very exciting and competitive football schedule for the 2012 season,” said UConn Director of Athletics Warde Manuel. “Our six home games combine three great BIG EAST Conference contests with three non-conference opponents that will be a tremendous opportunity for our team and fans. We look forward to seeing excited crowds at Rentschler Field this season to support our Huskies.”

Season tickets for the 2012 campaign are currently on sale at UConnHuskies.com

“Our entire team is really looking forward to this 2012 football schedule,” says second-year head coach Paul Pasqualoni. “Our coaches and players look forward to playing a tough non-conference schedule and then get into the grind of the BIG EAST Conference, which is as competitive league as any in the country.”

UConn opens the 2012 campaign with a pair of home games as the tenth season of Rentschler Field beings. The Huskies open with Massachusetts on Thurs., August 30 as the two teams renew a rivalry that dates back to 1897 with 71 games. The two teams have not played since 1999 and UMass is entering its first year as a member of the Mid-American Conference.

The Huskies then face North Carolina State of the ACC on September 8 in a return game from a meeting in Raleigh in 2003. The Wolf Pack won last year’s Belk Bowl.

UConn hits the road in 2012 for the first time on September 15 when it takes on Maryland of the ACC for just the second time in school history. Maryland won a previous meeting with the Huskies in 1942 and will return this game in 2013 at Rentschler Field (September 14).

The non-conference portion of the season concludes with a pair of games against teams from the Mid-American Conference – at Western Michigan on September 22 and home against Buffalo on September 29. Western Michigan played in last year’s Little Caesar Bowl.

UConn kicks off its ninth season as a football member of the BIG EAST Conference on October 6 as it visits Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights won the New Era Pinstripe Bowl last season.

The Huskies take on BIG EAST newcomer Temple on October 13 for both the conference home opener and UConn’s Homecoming game. The Owls won last year’s Gildan New Mexico Bowl.

A trip to Syracuse (Fri., October 19) for a primetime game on ESPN at 8:00 p.m. is followed by a game at USF (November 3.) before the Huskies return home against Pittsburgh on Fri., November 9 for an 8:00 p.m. game on ESPN2. The Panthers played in last year’s BBVA Compass Bowl.

UConn plays at Louisville on November 24 as the Cardinals participated in the Belk Bowl last year. The regular season concludes on December 1 at Cincinnati with a game that will be televised by ABC, ESPN or ESPN2. The Bearcats were the champions of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl last year.

2012 UConn Football Schedule

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IF there was a power struggle between Boston Red Sox GM Ben Cherington and skipper Bobby Valentine, then score this one for Cherington.

One of the positions the Red Sox had a competition for during spring training was shortstop. The players involved were Mike Aviles, Jose Iglesias and Nick Punto.

While Punto hasn’t played shortstop this spring, the other two have gotten a good portion of the innings. Valentine has favored Iglesias at the position due to what he brings defensively. Aviles, on the other hand, doesn’t have the same glove as Iglesias but has the better bat.

But after the baseball operations staff and coaching staff met last night, the Red Sox announced that Iglesias had been optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket. They also optioned Lars Anderson to Pawtucket as well.

With Iglesias going down, Aviles will be the 2012 starting shortstop for the Red Sox while it seems Punto will be the utility infielder backing up Dustin Pedroia, Aviles and Kevin Youkilis.

Honestly, I can say I’m not surprised about this.

I thought that Aviles would “win” this competition mainly because of his bat. Jarrod Saltalamacchia isn’t exactly Babe Ruth so you had to wonder if the Red Sox were willing to sacrifice another spot in the batting order for defense.

Of course if Aviles doesn’t perform offensively or craps the bed defensively, it wouldn’t surprise me either if Iglesias was back up pretty quick.

So now we wait to see who the final two starters will be and how the bullpen shapes up for the 2012 Red Sox.

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Photo credit: AP Photo

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as some of the other sports. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team as they will take on the Kentucky Wildcats in Kingston Region final for the right to go to the Final Four. Tip is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and the game will be nationally broadcast on ESPN.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Mosqueda-Lewis Lighting Up Scoreboard [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

The Will To Succeed Is The Key [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Samarie Walker Tries To Clear The Air [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Walker Unfazed by Criticism After Transferring To Kentucky [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Huskies To Face “40 Minutes of Dread” Against Kentucky [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Huskies Face Tests On/Off The Court; Hayes, Smith Close Friends [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Huskies Stand One Win Away From Reaching The Final Four [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Stewart Dunks, Tuck Wins McDonald’s 3-Point Shooting Contest [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Hartley a finalist for Nancy Lieberman Award [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Former team up next for Samarie Walker [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Composure could be key tomorrow [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

UConn women stick together to reach Elite 8 [CT Post]

Ex-Husky Walker unfazed by criticism [CT Post]

UConn need someone to step up big time [CT Post]

UConn Women Know They Can’t Slip Now [Hartford Courant]

Samarie Walker Tries To Clear Air About Leaving UConn [Hartford Courant]

Huskies have shown there is life after Maya Moore [New Haven Register]

Samarie Walker doesn’t shy away from questions about leaving [New Haven Register]

Is Elite Eight hardest game to win for UConn? [The Day]

A reunion of sorts [The Hour]

Doty has been waiting for this [The Hour]

Kentucky Women Look to Match Men in Final Four [New York Times]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Dom answered a question in his mailbag [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Still Don’t Think Big East is the Best Conference? [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Lamb Named AP Honorable Mention All-America [UConnHuskies.com]

Jerome Dyson Hoping D-League Translates To NBA [Hartford Courant]

UConn Football links

Projecting Big East players in the draft [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Other UConn related links

Softball. Huskies Open Home Slate On Tuesday [UConnHuskies.com]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.