Surveying The Wreckage of UConn’s 2023 Football Season

If you want to know about the weight of expectations, look no further than UConn’s 2023 football team.

The UConn football program had been in a tailspin for a decade before Jim Mora returned to the sidelines from the commentary booth and led UConn to its first bowl game in years. The 2022 UConn football season was one of the most rewarding as a fan because the season started with no expectations and ended with nothing but positive vibes for the future.

The summer of 2023 might, unfortunately, have been the peak of UConn football since Randy Edsall deserted the program in January 2011. Not only was UConn coming off a successful season, but rumors abounded that UConn’s new football success made the possibility of a Power Five invite — either from the Big 12 or ACC — seem reasonable.

The fun wouldn’t last through August. Early that month, the Pac-12 imploded and the Big 12 added four schools, essentially ending any hope UConn would be extended an invite. The ACC closed ranks, for now, and UConn’s season started with the realization that a Power Five — err Power Four — invite wasn’t coming any time soon.

“That doesn’t matter!” I said to no one in particular. “We’re going to win our way in!” That one I said to my Dad, a long-time UConn football season ticket holder.