UConn football in the Fiesta Bowl?

No really, I'm serious, and so are others.  By winning out vs. Cincinnati and South Florida (and with a little help from West Virginia by beating Pitt in the Backyard Brawl) UConn can win the Big East and automatically qualify for a BCS bowl.  Namely, the Fiesta Bowl against the Big 12 champ.

The key is that WestVa vs. Pitt matchup.  Pitt currently sits atop the Big East standings, followed by UConn and then WestVa.  UConn owns the tiebreaker over both schools (two huge home wins, by the way).  So if WestVa knocks off Pitt and UConn wins out, UConn takes the cheese.  And a moderately raucous fan base erupts in East Hartford.

This is totally possible, by the way.  As Ty Duffy said, file Dave Wannstedt in a big game under things I don't trust.  And UConn has a winnable game vs. Cincinnati at home (the Bearcats have given up the most points --by far -- of any Big East team this season, and UConn is 5-0 at Rentschler Field), plus a decent matchup against middle-of-the-road South Florida in balmy Tampa on Dec. 4.


Do I like the Huskies' chances of beating current Big 12 leader and unstoppable offensive force, Oklahoma State, under the national spotlight in the Fiesta Bowl?  Not particularly.  I think that could be a very ugly matchup even for defensive-minded UConn...or any Big East team, really.  But the Big East's loss would be Connecticut's gain, both in terms of recruiting exposure and a (possible but not probable) financial windfall.  So here's hoping Connecticut can erase an ugly chapter of this season's history (choking away the Rutgers game and getting completely embarrassed at Louisville) by finishing off these last two games to end the season on a 5-0 winning streak!

And just in case any of you are wondering how, exactly, this author's coverage of UConn sports falls within this publication's claimed coverage of "New York sports" please see here and read all about the 300 hours of Huskies programming that New Yorkers can watch on SNY this year, including 120 hours of basketball and football game coverage!