Stadium and let the state build Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. Construction broke ground on October 21, 2000 and the stadium opened on August 30, 2003. Even if UConn did have the benefit of ACC money, we can't be sure UConn would have invested enough into improving the football program.

Assuming the earliest UConn could have joined the ACC was in 2005 (in lieu of BC), UConn's investment options would have been limited. It would be stuck with continuing to play games at Rentschler Field. The space where Memorial Stadium once stood was used for the new basketball practice facility, so new facilities for the football program couldn't be built there. Given that it has been reported that UConn has a "space issue," it is likely that UConn doesn't have enough available land to build too many new facilities for the football program or even another on campus stadium that is at least the size of the stadium at Rentschler Field (current capacity = 40,642). Yes, I know the campus has undeveloped land, but we can't assume that undeveloped land is available to be developed by the athletic department. It is possible most or all of that undeveloped land is reserved for either academics or some other purpose (i.e. nature preserve).

If UConn was truly serious about making football a top priority, then its window of opportunity was probably in the 90s. Unfortunately, UConn didn't do enough and probably couldn't do much given its financial restrictions at the time. I found this interesting op-ed piece regarding the potential future of the program. What I found most interesting is this sentence, "Many Connecticut taxpayers prefer the final option and would pull the plug on the entire program." That sentence is kinda leading me to believe that most people in CT may not have cared about UConn football enough to justify the decision to switch from the DI-FCS to DI-FBS in the late 90s.