The UConn football team is off to their best season in 10 years with time left to go. Not only this, but they will have a chance to snag two more wins in the regular season. They will also have an opportunity to steal a third, as for the second time in three seasons, the Huskies are bowl eligible. Their last bowl game, two years back, the Huskies fell to the Marshall Thundering Herd in the Myrtle Beach bowl by a score of 28-14. Following the bowl defeat, Connecticut had an abysmal campaign last season and what looks like the start of another this season following a blowout loss at Maryland. Since then, the Huskies have flipped a switch as they have only lost two games since, one of which was a nail-biter with Duke of the ACC. This is a new look for UConn football, and a quality bowl and potential bowl win could do a lot for this program. We will now preview some bowl matchups that the Huskies could face.
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl
This would be a great bowl game for the Huskies to jump into this year. This game would be played in Tampa and should draw a Power Five team to play the Huskies. The Gasparilla Bowl has mid-level prestige and is watched by a fair share of fans. The Huskies will most likely play a power five team here, but Virginia Tech would be a good starting point for who they might play. The game will be played at Raymond James just outside Tampa on Dec. 20.
Boca Raton Bowl
The Boca Raton Bowl has been a bowl game that has been on the lower end of games, but it still has showcased its fair share of notable teams over the years. However, this bowl is a newer one, so it comes with less prestige for the teams that play in it. If UConn were to be slated in Boca, you could see them playing a team like Miami Ohio or the Thundering Herd from last year. Don’t be overshadowed by its low level of prestige. A bowl win here could kick-start the program for years to come. The game will be played at FAU stadium, on Dec. 18.
New Mexico Bowl
The next bowl, the New Mexico Bowl, could be a very interesting game that UConn could play in. The bowl is on the later side this year, playing on Dec. 28, so the Huskies would have more than enough time to prepare for their opponent. The place where it gets wild is who they could be playing, as there would be a good shot that UConn would face off with a former foe from the regular season. This team is the Maryland Terrapins, who blew the Huskies out earlier this year. If UConn could secure victory, this would be giant for the program after failing to beat Maryland earlier this year.