That’s One Hell of a 2020 UConn Football Schedule

Now These Are Teams We’d Pay To See

The Story: Ever since UConn made the decision to go independent in football beginning with the 2020 season, we’ve been curious to see what the schedule would be. Nine of the 12 opponents were unveiled yesterday as details began to trickle out.

WHAT A SURPRISE: We would have been hard pressed to put together a schedule as good as Dave Benedict and his staff engineered in recent months. Remember, most schools have their non-conference opponents locked down several years in advance, so UConn had to get crafty.

Do we get seven home games? Yes. Do we get appearances by regional opponents such as UMass and Army (as well as Maine of the FCS)? Yes. Do we get interesting games UConn would have never otherwise scheduled? Yes. Are any of games against Tulsa and ECU? Hell no.

HOW DOES IT BREAK DOWN? Take a look:

Sept. 3: UMass
Sept. 12: at Illinois
Sept. 19: at Virginia
Sept. 26: Indiana
Oct. 3: (Away game vs. ACC team)
Oct. 10: Maine
Oct. 17: (Expected bye week)
Oct. 24: at Ole Miss
Oct. 31: Liberty
Nov. 7: (Home game vs. team TBD)
Nov. 14: at San Jose State
Nov. 21: (Home game vs. team TBD)
Nov. 28: Army

HOW’D IT COME ABOUT? We have to give Benedict and his associates plenty of credit for their negotiations. With Indiana, Illinois, UMass and Maine already set for 2020, Benedict asked schools to break their contracts with each other and play the Huskies instead. San Jose State was supposed to play Army next season and Virginia had scheduled Liberty, but UConn stepped in, gave each school a game and got two in return.

As for Ole Miss, that one was slightly trickier, but the same principles were in play: The Rebels were supposed to play Middle Tennessee State, and MTSU told UConn it would break its agreement as long as it still got its $1.5 million guarantee from Ole Miss. UConn obliged, further stipulating that MTSU make an appearance at Rentschler Field at some point, and that could be as soon as one of those games in November.

MONEY IN THE BANK? Because UConn had to scramble to secure a full 12-game schedule, it wasn’t able to secure as strong a financial guarantee (or, in Ole Miss’ case, any at all) as it will be able to in the future. UConn will get just $400,000 for playing Virginia; a game against Ole Miss would have likely netted the athletic department more than $1 million. On the other end, the games against Liberty, Army and San Jose State will kick off home-and-home series against those schools.

BOTTOM LINE: As Benedict said on ESPN 97.9 FM last night, he would have looked like quite the fool if the Huskies began their time as an independent with only six games on their schedule. Instead of lining up games against Northern Illinois, Akron, Rice, New Mexico and South Alabama — essentially another AAC schedule — Benedict worked to put together a slate he believes fans will genuinely find intriguing. (He said he also frequently met with Randy Edsall during the schedule-making process in order to make sure the coach was on board with the choice of opponents.)

There could be more surprises in the future, too. Benedict said the Huskies, for competitive reasons, won’t look to secure more than two guarantee games a year and that he has also reached out to all regional schools, including Syracuse, Boston College and Rutgers, about making an appearance on the schedule. And he’s also apparently swinging for the fences, alluding to the idea that Notre Dame may be interested in a weekend package deal that includes a men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader at Madison Square Garden and a football game at Yankee Stadium.

Are we dreaming? Yes. But truthfully, it’s the best-case scenario as UConn begins life as an independent. Now the Huskies just have to start winning some games — oh, and lest we forget, they play UMass tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. on NESN.

Geno Locks Down Yet Another Top Recruit

The Story: The women’s basketball team picked up another commitment as part of its already loaded Class of 2020 as Aaliyah Edwards, the top-ranked player in Canada, said she’ll play at UConn beginning next year.

WHO IS EDWARDS? A 6-foot-2 guard who has already represented Canada internationally, Edwards was on campus for the Huskies’ First Night activities a week ago and told Geno Auriemma she’d accept his scholarship offer. She didn’t make the decision public until she hosted a ceremony at her high school yesterday afternoon, choosing UConn over offers from Baylor, Louisville and Notre Dame, among others. A Toronto native, she’s considered by ESPN to be the No. 26 player overall.

WHAT DID EDWARDS SAY? “It was a great feeling just to tell him. I actually just broke down because it’s been a lot going through the process: A lot of decisions that you really don’t think you need to make are necessary to make. Just for him to him to kind of give me that hug back and embrace me, and just say, ‘I got you and I’m glad that we got you, and we’re going to do magic together,’ I was just really grateful.”

LOOK OUT, WORLD: The Huskies may be entering a down year by their standards, but they’ll be vaulting right back into the spotlight a year from now with what will undoubtedly be the top recruiting class in the country. UConn will welcome No. 1 overall recruit Paige Bueckers, as well as Nika Muhl, Mir McLean and Piath Gabriel. The Huskies will have 11 players on scholarship next season, and it’s the first time the Huskies will have five players in one recruiting class in nearly a decade.

Morning Reads

WEEKEND UPDATE: The Huskies will play …

• Temple in men’s soccer tomorrow night in Philadelphia;
• No. 17-ranked Liberty in field hockey tomorrow afternoon in Virginia;
• Colgate tonight and either Minnesota-Duluth or Mercyhurst tomorrow in a women’s hockey tournament in Buffalo;
• Wichita State tonight and Tulsa on Sunday afternoon in women’s volleyball home games.

Everybody else wrote about the schedule or Edwards.