The other day, we firmly established that Syracuse -- with just eight non-conference opponents secured between 2016 and 2019 -- was behind the eight-ball a bit when it came to finalizing future schedules. In particular, we've been concerned about what happens to that vacant 2016 non-conference road game. I came up with MANY obvious choices, all of which would have been ideal for the Orange from a recruiting and ease-of-win standpoint. And one thing I made sure to hammer home in those articles: Don't schedule UConn because there's absolutely no value in doing so.
Syracuse, UConn finalizing home/home football series (2016 at UC, 2018 at SU), source told @ESPN
— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) April 24, 2015
wut.
Now, I won't necessarily jump off the deep end here. After all, Syracuse finally listened to the repeated calls from this corner of the internet to get its scheduling house in order and start securing winnable future games. These two games have done that, as the Huskies are a tire fire for the time being (though who knows how long that lasts). But at the same time:
THIS DOESN'T DO ANYTHING FOR US OTHER THAN FILLING SPACE ON THE SCHEDULE.
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The issue, as has been harped on numerous times, is that Connecticut is not a hotbed for football talent, and we do a nice job of grabbing players from the state as it is WITHOUT playing the Huskies. Like most of the American Athletic Conference squads, UConn presents a no-win situation for the Orange -- lose and you're a disappointment. Win, and you were supposed to. The other candidates we mentioned for potential non-conference dates -- teams like Georgia State, FAU and Old Dominion -- are just as (if not more) winnable, and provide us with ample opportunities to get in front of higher quality recruits. So again, WHY ARE WE SCHEDULING UCONN?!
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I'm already anticipating the trolling from Husky fans, who will (rightfully) point out that SU is 1-5 vs. UConn in their last six games in the series. But those were different times, as indicated by the 40-10 drubbing the last time they met in 2012. Since a nonsensical Fiesta Bowl bid in 2010, UConn's gone 15-33 with nine conference wins.
You should be annoyed, but not mad here. With luck, we beat the Huskies into the turf and no harm, no foul on an easy win in both 2016 and 2018. For those who forgot, 2016's non-conference slate is now complete and looks like so:
September 3: Colgate
September 17: USF
October 1: Notre Dame (MetLife Stadium)
September 10/24: Connecticut
Beggars can't be choosers. So "hooray!"
UPDATE:
So apparently this is coming off as angry? As I said above, don't be angry. And I won't be either. My main ask has been easier opponents, and we seem to have secured just that with UConn. The secondary ask was schools that help recruiting, which... this could, but probably won't boost us any further than where we're already at.
Nice job by SU getting us three fairly winnable games on the 2016 slate, and this is certainly better than scheduling another power conference school or another FCS program. I'm annoyed by the choice of UConn over other options, but that's just my opinion. Enjoy/decry this (and myself) at your leisure below.