This year, UConn football’s home slate admittedly leaves a bit to be desired. After a home opener against CCSU, the next home game is three weeks away, against Ball State. Then, after a road trip to Buffalo, the Huskies host FIU before a bye week. Jim Mora’s squad returns from the bye to two more road games before a three-game home stand against UAB, Duke, and Air Force.
So there isn’t a whole lot of meat to chew on aside from the fact that most of these games are winnable, which is a good thing.
Next year’s home slate is a lot more interesting, if slightly more challenging: Lafayette, Maryland, North Carolina, Syracuse, UMass, and James Madison.
This year, the road slate offers a lot of exciting, fun opportunities to catch a good contest and maybe even a Husky victory. As we’ve done in years past, here is a ranking of road games by how interesting they are to potentially attend. The factors considered loosely are: rivalry, journey, the destination city, and the stadium.
Boston College, October 18th
This is probably the game where we can expect to see the largest Husky fan presence. Hating Boston College is a time-honored tradition, and for most, the trip to outer Boston shouldn’t be too difficult to make. BC’s tailgating scene leaves a lot to be desired, but the prospect of getting the program’s second win over the Eagles should be worth the trip. After the game, you can head into Boston proper for festivities.
Syracuse, September 6th
The Carrier Dome, or whatever it’s called now, is a historic venue, especially when you consider that the last time Syracuse was relevant in football or basketball was a few presidential terms ago. It’s another regional foe that left its rivalry with UConn for the greener pastures of the ACC, and the one we like to hate the most. Syracuse, New York is not exactly an attractive destination, but you can make a trip out of this by hitting up some of the region’s lakes and state parks before or after the game.
Delaware, September 13th
We’ve been pumping this one up for a while. Delaware is a former FCS power and a former Yankee Conference rival that just moved up to the FBS ranks. The school is a 20-minute drive from the Wilmington, DE Amtrak station and less than an hour from Philadelphia.
Storrs Central recently published a retrospective of the rivalry (Spoiler Alert: It’s been dominated by the Fightin’ Hens) ahead of this matchup that has not been played since 1998. UConn doesn’t have a ton of history with most of its opponents, so this is a refreshing series to have in the mix!
Buffalo, September 27th
We’re starting to get into the dicey ones, as making it to Buffalo probably is not so easy for 99% of Husky fans. But still, this is another matchup with a lot of history. UConn and the Bulls have met 22 times in a series that started in 1939. They took a long break after 1961, but started playing each other regularly beginning in 1995.
The Huskies have won 17 matchups overall, including 14 of the 16 meetings since 1995 and last year’s 47-3 trouncing at Rentschler Field. This year, the Bulls are expected to be decent (though they just lost their opener in unimpressive fashion) and they’ll be led by a familiar face on offense in former UConn QB Ta’quan Roberson. It should be a closer matchup, even though it still is likely to be a UConn win.
Florida Atlantic, November 22nd
There may not be a ton of UConn fans at this one, as basketball season will have started by the time the football season finale rolls around, and this is an opponent of little merit or interest.
But still, it’s a chance to visit Boca Raton, Florida, in November. The Huskies may be going for a big win with respect to their season total, and they dominated this team last year. FAU has a new coach and could be better than it was last year, but this is still a game UConn should win.
Rice, October 25th
If you go to this game, you are the tip of the spear and in the running for Husky Football Fan of the Decade. Also, you’d have the chance to visit the site of multiple men’s basketball national championships, but yeah, not a ton of juice around this road matchup. At least we have three to four other strong ones!
