Two programs ACC football should waste no time inviting

Team No. 2: UConn Huskies

UConn is quite an interesting selection for this topic, as it is the exact opposite of virtually everything I just gave App State credit for. However, it is clear that the Huskies can still bring a ton to the table when gauging their own Power Five worthiness.

Just like we did when analyzing the Mountaineers, let’s take a look at the positives first. With the state of Connecticut also bordering the Atlantic Ocean, UConn, too, is a perfect fit for the ACC from a geographical standpoint. As for its athletic appeal, the school ought as well have been given to us by the basketball gods themselves.

The UConn men won the 2023 NCAA March Madness Tournament early last month, giving them their fifth title all time. When it comes to the women, they are admired as the greatest women’s basketball squad to ever exist, having a record 11 tourney titles of their own.

But despite how dominant the gals are known for being, there are a couple of recent factors that could be hinting at an upcoming downfall.

UConn has some splotches on its résumé as well

In last year’s tournament, the women made the national championship before losing convincingly to South Carolina. While it is very impressive to make the title game, that was the first time they had ever made one and lost — but this year’s conclusion was much worse.

Their 2022-23 path ended in the Sweet Sixteen to a harshly lower-seeded Ohio State by double digits. It was UConn WBB’s first time missing the Final Four since 2007.

Seeing a pair of events that strange in back-to-back seasons certainly illustrates a visible decline, and it begs the question of just how much further down the iconic program could tumble over the next few years. Yet with that said, I do not feel that it is the end of the world.

By UConn’s historical standards, those endings are undoubtedly alarming, but by just about any other standards? Nobody cares — and that likely includes the ACC.

Sure, the Atlantic Coast doesn’t want to bring in a team that’s on the verge of collapsing, but the UConn women are managing to remain both relevant and competitive on a national scale. Especially when considering all that they’ve done leading up to this point, I don’t think their recent struggles are enough to break any deals. In fact, if anything were to do that, it’d be UConn football.

Unlike App State, recent memory has seen the Huskies as one of college football’s most troubled teams. Seven of UConn’s last nine seasons have seen three wins or less, and it hasn’t finished with a winning record since its 2010-11 run.

A misfortune that relentless would leave many feeling hopeless for the future, but in actuality, the program’s current circumstances could be far uglier. This is thanks to the Huskies pulling off quite the turnaround in 2022, one that saw them make their first bowl game since 2015.

Was it what many would call a “meaningless” bowl game? Yes. Did UConn lose? Yes. Did the defeat extend the streak of losing records? Yes. But, the point of the Huskies officially being a postseason squad that just saw its best season in years still stands, and the run could be foreshadowing the rise of its football ceiling. It may not look like much, but it only adds to the university’s list of green flags.

As I said at the beginning, moving up to Power Five status is hardly a smooth transition, so it could be difficult for new members to adjust right away. However, if the ACC were to give App State and UConn an adequate chance to do so, I guarantee that the move would pay off (at least eventually) in both football and basketball. When a conference needs that kind of boost like the ACC does now, how could it say no?