Monday, November 5, 2007
Kevin: New Year's Plans
I'm not a big New Year's guy. After Christmas and the Holiday's I like to shut it down and actually often volunteer to work on New Year's eve. This year I may have no choice. If the UConn Football team keeps winning they may be playing in a major bowl game on New Year's eve, day, or soon thereafter.
I knew that this day would eventually come. A day when UConn was in the mix for a major bowl game. I just figured my three year old daughter would be heading into the 8th or 9th grade when it happened. I really thought this type of big time success was years away. After all, the Huskies lost to teams from the old Yankee Conference as recently as 2001. At best, I thought this young team was a year away from a winning season.
But here they are at 8-1, (4-0 in the Big East) and in control of their own destiny. A win at Cincinnati Saturday and a win in the their final home game with Syracuse coupled with a West Virginia loss and the Huskies WIN, YES WIN, THE BIG EAST! That is still a lot of ifs, but the fact that it is even a conversation is incredible.
Nearly every player on this team was recruited to UConn before the new on campus 50 million dollar football facility was complete. Imagine the type of rectuits Randy Edsall can land now. But that's where I stop myself. UConn may eventually attract more talented players. But it's hard to imagine a group of kids with more character who buy into the "team first" philosophy that has overtaken the '07 Huskies.
There is truly something magical about this group of players. On paper, I am not sure they should be the 16th ranked team in the country. But through discipline, hard work and yes, some talent, the Huskies are on the verge of becoming THE Cinderella story of the college football season.
Undefeated Kansas certainly belongs in the upstart category as well. But let us not forget that a program like Kansas has been at the D-1 football game for decades. UConn just got into big time football in the last 6 years. And they only joined the Big East in 2004. On top of that, UConn was picked 6th in the Big East this fall. Yet with one break in their only loss at Virginia, they could be 6th in the country right now.
At that leads me back to New Year's. If the Huskies finish second in the Big East, which a win at Cincinnati almost assures, they will probably head to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas where they could face USC on December 31st! I can't make this stuff up. And if somehow the Huskies win the league, then they are BCS bound and could play, for example, Boston College in the Orange Bowl.
Now is the time to speculate. Now is the time to enjoy the ride. I do not where the Huskies journey will end or when. But the '07 Huskies could make an impact on your New Year's plans.
I knew that this day would eventually come. A day when UConn was in the mix for a major bowl game. I just figured my three year old daughter would be heading into the 8th or 9th grade when it happened. I really thought this type of big time success was years away. After all, the Huskies lost to teams from the old Yankee Conference as recently as 2001. At best, I thought this young team was a year away from a winning season.
But here they are at 8-1, (4-0 in the Big East) and in control of their own destiny. A win at Cincinnati Saturday and a win in the their final home game with Syracuse coupled with a West Virginia loss and the Huskies WIN, YES WIN, THE BIG EAST! That is still a lot of ifs, but the fact that it is even a conversation is incredible.
Nearly every player on this team was recruited to UConn before the new on campus 50 million dollar football facility was complete. Imagine the type of rectuits Randy Edsall can land now. But that's where I stop myself. UConn may eventually attract more talented players. But it's hard to imagine a group of kids with more character who buy into the "team first" philosophy that has overtaken the '07 Huskies.
There is truly something magical about this group of players. On paper, I am not sure they should be the 16th ranked team in the country. But through discipline, hard work and yes, some talent, the Huskies are on the verge of becoming THE Cinderella story of the college football season.
Undefeated Kansas certainly belongs in the upstart category as well. But let us not forget that a program like Kansas has been at the D-1 football game for decades. UConn just got into big time football in the last 6 years. And they only joined the Big East in 2004. On top of that, UConn was picked 6th in the Big East this fall. Yet with one break in their only loss at Virginia, they could be 6th in the country right now.
At that leads me back to New Year's. If the Huskies finish second in the Big East, which a win at Cincinnati almost assures, they will probably head to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas where they could face USC on December 31st! I can't make this stuff up. And if somehow the Huskies win the league, then they are BCS bound and could play, for example, Boston College in the Orange Bowl.
Now is the time to speculate. Now is the time to enjoy the ride. I do not where the Huskies journey will end or when. But the '07 Huskies could make an impact on your New Year's plans.
Posted at 5:45 PM by kevin
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