Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 112. UConn
#1 in our hearts, and by our hearts, I mean college basketball
And now we’ve reached the lowest ranked program to make a BCS/NY6 bowl. UConn managed to win the Big East in 2010 and play in the Fiesta Bowl, one of the Husky teams we’ll be looking at. While the Huskies have been arguably the #1 college basketball team since 1999, they’ve only been the #112 football team, and there’s significantly less FBS college football teams than there are D1 college basketball teams.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+-------------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+-------------+------+--------------+--------+
| 30 | Connecticut | 2007 | 12.943 | 9-4 |
| 35 | Connecticut | 2009 | 11.194 | 8-5 |
| 40 | Connecticut | 2003 | 8.496 | 9-3 |
| 40 | Connecticut | 2008 | 5.389 | 8-5 |
| 39 | Connecticut | 2010 | 5.055 | 8-5 |
| 36 | Connecticut | 2004 | 4.312 | 8-4 |
| 67 | Connecticut | 2002 | -13.284 | 6-6 |
| 76 | Connecticut | 2011 | -13.815 | 5-7 |
| 77 | Connecticut | 2005 | -17.155 | 5-6 |
| 77 | Connecticut | 2015 | -17.603 | 6-7 |
| 90 | Connecticut | 2022 | -20.932 | 6-7 |
| 81 | Connecticut | 2012 | -21.111 | 5-7 |
| 77 | Connecticut | 2006 | -22.594 | 4-8 |
| 101 | Connecticut | 2013 | -40.264 | 3-9 |
| 112 | Connecticut | 2017 | -44.729 | 3-9 |
| 104 | Connecticut | 2000 | -47.372 | 3-8 |
| 123 | Connecticut | 2016 | -49.172 | 3-9 |
| 121 | Connecticut | 2014 | -52.757 | 2-10 |
| 110 | Connecticut | 2001 | -55.481 | 2-9 |
| 126 | Connecticut | 2019 | -59.857 | 2-10 |
| 128 | Connecticut | 2021 | -64.746 | 1-11 |
| 130 | Connecticut | 2018 | -70.083 | 1-11 |
+------+-------------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: -17 (112th)107-160 record
2 conference titles
3-4 bowl record
0 consensus All-Americans
29 NFL players drafted
UConn’s still kind of a new team, having rejoined the FBS in 2000. Randy Edsall built this program. The top 7 UConn teams on this list were all coached by Edsall, who manned the head role from 1999-2010 and again from 2017-21. His first stint was much more successful than the second, going 70-63 compared to just 6-32. UConn has been one of the worst teams in the nation since he first left in 2010, as they’ve put up a 37-97 record since 2011.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 2018 (1-11 overall, 0-8 American)
Let’s go over the usual for this section. They lost 17-56 to #21 UCF and 7-62 to #20 Boise State to start the year. After beating Rhode Island 56-49, they’d lose the rest of their games, mostly by double digits, some by 30+. Their worst loss was either 19-49 to Tulsa or 21-55 to East Carolina, both of whom went 3-9 on the year. The defense was astoundingly bad, ranking last in the nation with 50.4 PPG allowed. They gave up 49+ points 10 times! And had just 11 sacks and 5 INTs as a team. The rushing offense was respectable—QB David Pindell and RB Kevin Mensah both ran for 1000+ yards, and Pindell added 19 TD 13 INT through the air. The 6’7 OT Matt Peart started 12 games and would be drafted a year later in the 3rd round by the New York Giants.
5. 2010 (8-5 overall, 5-2 Big East)
Coming into the season, the Big East was wide open. All 3 of the top contenders (Pitt, West Virginia, Cincinnati) were starting new QBs, and UConn was picked 4th and even received 1 vote to finish 1st by the media. After 5 weeks of non-conference play, UConn was 3-2, and nobody knew what to make of their season. While they had lost to Temple and Michigan, Temple was coming off a 9-4 season and Michigan was 5-0 at the time. Blowout wins over Buffalo and Vanderbilt suggested UConn had some firepower in them. They’d lose a close game at Rutgers, then an embarrassing 0-26 loss to Louisville had them at 3-4 and 0-2 in-conference with just 5 games to play. Fans were calling for Edsall’s head. Facing Big East favorites West Virginia, who UConn had never beaten in their 115 year history, UConn grinded out a 16-13 OT win to survive another week. A 222 yard rushing performance by RB Jordan Todman would help UConn upset Pitt 30-28, and they’d keep grinding out these wins for the rest of the year, finishing 8-4 and winning the Big East in a tiebreaker. They’d face a high-powered Oklahoma offense in the Fiesta Bowl and lose 20-48. Todman was the Big East POTY and Edsall was the Big East COTY. An astounding 10 starters from this team were drafted into the NFL over the next 3 years, including Todman, LB Sio Moore, FB Anthony Sherman, and TE Ryan Griffin.
4. 2008 (8-5 overall, 3-4 Big East)
The 2008 UConn Huskies are a marvel of science. 2008 wasn’t the dark ages of passing, mind you, but their QBs combined for just 5 TD and 17 INT! The offense was solely carried (pun intended) by RB Donald Brown, who ran the ball 367 times for 2083 yards and 18 TD. I should clarify—there were actually a few very good players on this team. Brown, DB Darius Butler, OT Will Beatty, and LB Cody Brown were all taken in the first 2 rounds of the 2009 NFL Draft, they 2nd most by any school in the first 2 rounds that year. After starting the year 5-0 and ranked #24, UConn finished 2-5 and 5th in the 8-team Big East, before beating MAC champions Buffalo 38-20 in the bowl.
3. 2003 (9-3 overall, Independent)
UConn was Independent at the time, and played a rag-tag group of teams across the country. They started 4-3, beating Power 6 team Indiana while losing to Boston College, #5 Virginia Tech, and NC State. An easier back half saw them beat 3 MAC teams in a row before beating 4-4 Rutgers 38-31 and 5-5 Wake Forest 51-17 to finish 9-3 on the year, and #40 in my rankings. QB Dan Orlovsky, the school’s all time leading passer, threw for 3485 yards 33 TD 14 INT in his junior season, while the running game was RB-by-committee with 3 rushers running for 643, 607, and 589 yards. Orlovsky and LB Alfred Fincher became the first UConn players drafted since 1994 when they were taken in the 5th and 3rd rounds, respectively, in the 2005 NFL Draft.
2. 2009 (8-5 overall, 3-4 Big East)
This was subtly one of the more underrated teams in the country, and in hindsight, it makes sense why they won the Big East title in 2010. All 5 of their losses came by 4 or less points, their average loss being by just 3 points. A 4-5 start was highlighted by wins over eventual MAC championship finalist Ohio and an RGIII-led Baylor. After a 45-47 loss to #4 Cincinnati on national TV to fall to 4-5, it was make or break time for the Huskies. They marched into South Bend and got one of the biggest wins in school history, beating Notre Dame 33-30 in 2OT, a very exciting game that provided the kiss of death for Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis. More importantly, the game ball was given to the family of the late Jasper Howard, who passed away during the season. UConn won the rest of their games and even stymied South Carolina 20-7 in the PapaJohns.com bowl. RBs Andre Dixon and Jordan Todman each ran for 1000+ yards and 14+ TD on the year, and both are considered 2 of the best players in school history.
1. 2007 (9-4 overall, 5-2 Big East)
For a very brief moment in 2007, UConn was contending on a national stage. There was even an avenue for them to make the national title game with just a few weeks left to play in this wacky 2007 season. UConn was coming off a last place finish in the Big East, so a bowl game would’ve sufficed expectations-wise. They started winning games early against a cupcake non-conference schedule, and quickly got out to a 5-0 start with the biggest win being 34-14 over Pitt. A surprising marquee matchup saw 5-1 Virginia beat 5-0 UConn 17-16 on a late FG. A 10-point 4th quarter comeback against Louisville next week would show that they were legit Big East contenders, knocking off the defending champs 21-17. They took it 10 steps further the next week, shocking #10 USF 22-15 to improve to 7-1. After a win against Rutgers, UConn was 8-1 and ranked #13 in the nation. With games against Cincinnati and #4 West Virginia remaining, they had an outside shot at the national title. They’d be blown out 3-27 to Cincinnati and 21-66 to West Virginia, but finished the regular season 9-3 and shared the Big East title with WVU. A 10-24 loss to Wake Forest in the bowl left a sour taste to end the season, but they had a conference title, a top 10 win, and a #13 ranking at one point.
5th Quarter
Can Jim Mora Jr. bring the UConn program back to relevance? It’s a good athletic program, and it seems as though the administration is starting to pump more money into football.
Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years - Main Hub
