Cuse/UConn Football Series

[gmoney44]

Yuck. There isn't enough talent there to warrant playing UConn every year. Playing BC plus rotating Army, UConn, UMass (Gillette), Temple and also rotating Rutgers gives those kids plenty of drivable games.

How many times did we play in CT when Coach P was here? Yet that seemed to work out fine.

If we played 10 games a year against Florida teams our recruiting would still be subpar. Let’s play teams that make sense. UConn makes sense geographically and the two schools have history. We hate them and they hate us.

 

[Scooch]

Does playing OOC road games really matter when it comes to recruiting?

I get it when it comes to in conference. You want to tell the HS kids from VA, the Carolinas, GA and FL that their families will be able to see them "locally" a couple times in their college career.

But playing the occasional game in NJ or PA wouldn't seem to move the needle much. As I always say, the majority of our schedule is always going to take place in CNY.

 

[Scooch]

And if we're going to be in an essentially southern conference, we should throw northeast corridor alums a bone and schedule some convenient OOC games.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

I agree...I'm not hard over on Yukon 4-6 times a decade but it is a close opponent...only UB is closer. Army is comparable in distance to Yukon.

How about this over 10 years?

Army/Yukon 6 games total between them
Temple, UMass and UB 4 games total between them

As an aside a team I'd offer a 2 for 1 right now is James Madison. Upgrading from FCS...and 6 hrs from Syracuse and much less from NJ to DC.

We will be in VA at a minimum every other year. I don't think adding JMU is needed.

If we are going to prioritize recruiting OOC then we should try to schedule Ohio MAC teams, and FL/GA G5s as one of our G5 OOC games.

If we are going based off of recruiting in the Northeast then we should play RU and MD often as our P5. I would like more variety but we could do a rotation of RU, @RU, ND, MD, @MD, @ND. Those are winnable games and help in Eastern PA, NJ, and MD. We would be in NJ and MD once every 6 years.

UB won't help any in recruiting. If we can't get a 2 for 1 then they really don't add much value. Temple probably helps the most in recruiting. I would prioritize that matchup. UMass helps the least. I would only play them if it is 2 for 1 with the one being at Gillette. Ideally we get 2 for 1 with UConn too. I would rank these teams as 1. Temple, 2. UConn (if 2-1), 3. Army, 4. UConn (if 1-1), 5. UMass (if 2-1), 6. UB (if 2-1).

We should be playing Temple, UConn, Army at least 2x a decade each. I am fine rotating just those three schools. Which means a game in CT once every 6 years. I think we should play @Temple once every 6 years. UConn and Army don't need to be as often. They can be once a decade.

 

[TexanMark]

And if we're going to be in an essentially southern conference, we should throw northeast corridor alums a bone and schedule some convenient OOC games.

Several of us think we should play one G5 Northeast based (MA to DC) every year.

 

[MikeSU02]

UConn was a fun tailgate, but the venue/game experience wasn't great for me (nothing like what others are noting, though, that sounds awful).

Rutgers was solid.

Would love to see a gamy against Army. Beautiful ride up from the city. Area is amazing.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

And if we're going to be in an essentially southern conference, we should throw northeast corridor alums a bone and schedule some convenient OOC games.

I think we would get better home crowds for well known Northeast OOC opponents vs randoms. On top of that you provide close road trips for most of your player's families and your alumni. Playing Army, Maryland, Navy (if they went Indy), Rutgers, Temple, UConn, UMass often IMO is good for the program.

You mentioned before having 6-7 games a year at the Dome provides Northeast games but wouldn't it be nicer to have 9 Northeast games every year? And that isn't counting VA which is an easy trip too.

6-7 Dome games
1 BC or Pitt road game
1-2 Army, MD, Navy, RU, Temple, UConn, UMass road games
3 ACC road games (every other year this includes VA, every year there will be a game in NC which isn't far either)
0-1 G5 road games
1 ND road game every 6 years

Edit

We might be in a Southern conference but we could schedule it so we only have 1-2 non drivable road games a year. It is possible that we only play once a year South of NC. And once every 3 years West of PA.

 

[CousCuse]

We will be in VA at a minimum every other year. I don't think adding JMU is needed.

If we are going to prioritize recruiting OOC then we should try to schedule Ohio MAC teams, and FL/GA G5s as one of our G5 OOC games.

If we are going based off of recruiting in the Northeast then we should play RU and MD often as our P5. I would like more variety but we could do a rotation of RU, @RU, ND, MD, @MD, @ND. Those are winnable games and help in Eastern PA, NJ, and MD. We would be in NJ and MD once every 6 years.

UB won't help any in recruiting. If we can't get a 2 for 1 then they really don't add much value. Temple probably helps the most in recruiting. I would prioritize that matchup. UMass helps the least. I would only play them if it is 2 for 1 with the one being at Gillette. Ideally we get 2 for 1 with UConn too. I would rank these teams as 1. Temple, 2. UConn (if 2-1), 3. Army, 4. UConn (if 1-1), 5. UMass (if 2-1), 6. UB (if 2-1).

We should be playing Temple, UConn, Army at least 2x a decade each. I am fine rotating just those three schools. Which means a game in CT once every 6 years. I think we should play @Temple once every 6 years. UConn and Army don't need to be as often. They can be once a decade.

Western New York has a significant amount of quality recruits, Need to play UB more. Every other P5 team plays their instate G5 teams on a regular basis. It makes Syracuse look like chickens. From Rochester west there are almost 3 million people there.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

You could add West Virginia to the P5 mix as well. Winnable game. Easy trip for families and fans (although very hostile). Easy trip for Ohio, Western PA, Maryland, Virginia recruits.

You could plan to cycle it like the below. So once every 9 years we are in NJ, in MD, and in WV.

ND
@RU
RU
@ND
MD
@MD
ND
@WV
WV

I rather be in NJ and MD more often though. So maybe it is better to do the below. That gives you a game once every 6 years.

ND
@RU
RU
@ND
MD
@MD

If all the conferences go to 10 P5 games that would help. That would give us games in NJ and MD once in 4 years, if you include WV too.

 

[Scooch]

Several of us think we should play one G5 Northeast based (MA to DC) every year.

I'm good with that. I suppose the tricky thing is that there aren't a ton of those programs, which might make scheduling a challenge sometimes.

*edit* Actually, there are only six, right? UConn, UMass, Buffalo, Army, Navy and Temple?

If we're sticking to an OOC scheduling approach of 1 P5, 1 FCS, and 2 G5s, then I suppose it can work some years.

 

[Eric15]

Would love to see a gamy against Army. Beautiful ride up from the city. Area is amazing.

They have river cruises that will take you from Manhattan to West Point and back for Army games. I would love to do this when we play them. Sounds amazing on an October day.

West Point Football Ferry | Army Football Ferry

Go to an Army Football game at West Point by ferry from Atlantic Highlands, NJ or Pier 11/Wall Street, NYC. Buy ferry tickets or game + ferry combo tickets through Seastreak ferries.

seastreak.com

 

[TexanMark]

Western New York has a significant amount of quality recruits, Need to play UB more. Every other P5 team plays their instate G5 teams on a regular basis. It makes Syracuse look like chickens. From Rochester west there are almost 3 million people there.

Additionally SU politically can score points by supporting games vs UB, Albany and Stony Brook.

 

[TexanMark]

They have river cruises that will take you from Manhattan to West Point and back for Army games. I would love to do this when we play them. Sounds amazing on an October day.

West Point Football Ferry | Army Football Ferry

Go to an Army Football game at West Point by ferry from Atlantic Highlands, NJ or Pier 11/Wall Street, NYC. Buy ferry tickets or game + ferry combo tickets through Seastreak ferries.

seastreak.com

Already in the plan...

I did that once when my son was a cadet at West Point. Lots of fun...with enough early support we could sell out a boat.

 

[JimBoston]

Yuck. There isn't enough talent there to warrant playing UConn every year. Playing BC plus rotating Army, UConn, UMass (Gillette), Temple and also rotating Rutgers gives those kids plenty of drivable games.

How many times did we play in CT when Coach P was here? Yet that seemed to work out fine.

Have you looked at the prep school talent in Connecticut? There is more football talent at the prep schools within a 1 hour drive of UConn's football stadium than there is in the state of NY. What has changed about the Connecticut prep schools since PP was at Syracuse is that more prep schools are focused on football and they are now attracting kids from all over, not just the Northeast. The schools: Cheshire Academy, Suffield Academy, Choate Rosemary Hall, Kingswood-Oxford, Avon Old Farms, Taft, St. Thomas More, Salisbury School, Loomis Chaffee, Kent School. The #1 recruit in CT for 2023 (4* #128 overall recruit) is from Finland (Alabama lean), but attends Loomis Chaffee which is 10 miles from Rentschler Field.

The homes of the past 6 top rated prep school recruit in CT:

Finland (2023), Illinois (2022), Massachusetts (2021), Connecticut (2020), Connecticut (2019), Florida (2018)

Here are the commits from CT prep schools only:

2019: Michigan 2, Clemson, Penn State, BC 2, Syracuse, Rutgers, Arizona, NIU, UMass 2, Notre Dame, UConn, Arkansas St.

2020: Miami, Notre Dame, Penn St., Florida, UCLA, Cal, Ole Miss, Iowa, Syracuse, Arizona, Arkansas

2021: Stanford, Michigan (2), Penn St., Boise St., Wisconsin, Wake Forest, Coastal Carolina, BC, UConn 2, Rice, Navy

2022: Iowa, Michigan, Northwestern, BC 2, West Virginia, UConn 2, Western Michigan

In my opinion, Syracuse has an opportunity to become more involved with the CT prep schools and playing games near their schools will help.

 

[sutomcat]

Already in the plan...

I did that once when my son was a cadet at West Point. Lots of fun...with enough early support we could sell out a boat.

I would be in. Sounds very cool.

 

[Madbiker]

UConn became a serious recruiting rival when they stepped up to D1 and could potentially be again if they get rescued by another conference. Why help keep them on life support?

 

[TexanMark]

UConn became a serious recruiting rival when they stepped up to D1 and could potentially be again if they get rescued by another conference. Why help keep them on life support?

Beating them by 35 will keep the boot on their throat. If a recruit thinks SU and Yukon are equals he definitely doesn't have good analytical skills and he can play on the CT brownfield for the Huskies.

 

[All4SU]

BC, Pitt. Army, Temple, Buttgers…. Then two games a decade against UCon or Buffalo.

 

[OrangeDW]

The past is gone regarding Eastern football, the failure to create an Eastern football conference sealed its fate years ago. UB, UCONN and UMASS are becoming relevant regionally and Syracuse should embrace this new reality and play those teams on a semi-regular basis. The demographics have changed and there are many athletes across NY/NE to recruit and develop.

Yes! I love this bit.

 

[kcsu]

Rutgers Uconn Army Navy UB Villanova Temple

 

[TexanMark]

Rutgers Uconn Army Navy UB Villanova Temple

Nova is a FCS team. Are you saying we need to do a home and home or 2 for 1 with them?

 

[kcsu]

Nova is a FCS team. Are you saying we need to do a home and home or 2 for 1 with them?

UB, Villanova, 2-1. Temple 3-2.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

We used to play in NJ or Eastern PA every year. That makes a difference in recruiting both areas. We haven't played in either since joining the ACC.

We have ND already 2x over 6 years. We absolutely should play Rutgers 2 of those other 4 years. IMO I wouldn't want it to be all 4. So we would be in NJ 1 in 6 years. Let those other 2 years be Maryland, another place we rarely play anymore. We used to play both MD and Navy, plus Temple nearby. If it is ever required to play 10 P5 games then we can get both to 2x over 4 years, or 1 game in NJ in 4 years.

I would schedule Temple 2x over a 4 year span. That way we get to play in EPA and close to SNJ once in 4 years. I would do the same with Army, which gives us a close game to NNJ, NYC, and lower Hudson kids.

Additionally I would play an Ohio MAC team 2x over 4 years, which gives us 1 game in OH plus 2 games in WPA, and 1 game (hopefully not 2) in KY. That should help us recruit OH.

I think UConn 2x over 6 years is plenty for recruiting that state. Plus the BC and Army games are not far either.


P5 rotation- ND, RU, RU, ND, MD, MD
G5 rotation 1- Temple, Temple, Army, Army
G5 rotation 2- Ohio MAC, Ohio MAC, UConn, UConn,
Ohio MAC, Ohio MAC, Open, Open,
Ohio MAC, Ohio MAC, Open, Open


Those opens we can use anywhere. IMO that pool should be GA Southern, GA State, Northern Illinois, Tulane, UB, UMass, UNLV.

If we have to schedule 2 OOC P5s then that becomes...

P5 1- RU, RU, MD, MD
P5 2- ND, Open, Open, ND, Open, Open

For the Open I would play from a pool of Cincinnati, Northwestern, Penn State, Stanford, UCLA, WV.

 

[TexanMark]

UB, Villanova, 2-1. Temple 3-2.

Temple probably would be a 2-2 unless Temple wants some cash for an extra away game.

Nova would always be a guarantee game in Cuse as long as they are FCS.

UB might be a 3-2 or a 2-1...however, we are doing Ohio 1-1 so UB might push for a 1-1.

 

[Otto2000]

I agree...I'm not hard over on Yukon 4-6 times a decade but it is a close opponent...only UB is closer. Army is comparable in distance to Yukon.

How about this over 10 years?

Army/Yukon 6 games total between them
Temple, UMass and UB 4 games total between them

As an aside a team I'd offer a 2 for 1 right now is James Madison. Upgrading from FCS...and 6 hrs from Syracuse and much less from NJ to DC.

Harrisonburg is beautiful as is their stadium, and right off I-81