Less than 20 days after the Ohio State Buckeyes won the national championship, the UConn football team revealed their schedule for next year. Ohio State was supposed to host the Huskies at the Shoe this season, but both programs mutually canceled that game last July.

2025 will be Connecticut’s most anticipated season since 2023, but the circumstances are much higher than they were two years ago.

In 2024, the Huskies went 9-4, posted their best record since 2010 and won their first bowl game since 2009. Under head coach Jim Mora, now in his fourth year in East Hartford, UConn’s next goal is to build off of that successful campaign.

From the “mystery team” to the renewed rivalries, it is time to extensively analyze the Huskies’ 12-game regular season slate.

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For the fourth time in the last five years, an FCS program is Connecticut’s first opponent at Pratt and Whitney Stadium. Mora’s first win as the Huskies’ head coach came against these Blue Devils.

Central Connecticut State should be a much tougher challenge than they were three seasons ago, however. In 2024, the Blue Devils went 5-1 in the Northeast Conference, won the league and made their third FCS playoff appearance. Most of CCSU’s offense, specifically on the ground, returns. Because of that, this could be the closest of Connecticut’s games against an FCS institution over the past four years.

This is by far the best game on the Huskies’ schedule right now. Why? It will likely be UConn’s first contest against a ranked opponent since they took on the Tennessee Volunteers. The Orange, coincidentally, take on Tennessee one week earlier.

LeQuint Allen, Oronde Gadsden II and Kyle McCord all departed, but Syracuse returns most of their wide receivers. Regardless of who starts the 2025 campaign under center, the Orange will still boast a lethal aerial assault.

Syracuse took the lead in the all-time FBS-era series in 2024; Connecticut aims to knot it at seven at the JMA Wireless Dome.

Rather than just an owl onslaught, the Huskies take on a bird brigade (with five of those six games coming on the road). Two new teams join the FBS ranks through Conference USA in 2025; Connecticut faces the one who had a better record.

Delaware went 9-2 (6-2 in the Coastal Athletic Association) last season with a notable victory over the league-champion Rhode Island Rams. Despite missing the FCS playoffs, the Fighting Blue Hens went undefeated at Delaware Stadium in 2024.

If UConn wins each of their first three contests next fall, they could receive votes from the Associated Press.

The Cardinals are the first of four programs the Huskies face that will have a new head coach next season. Former Butler coach Mike Uremovich replaces Mike Neu as Ball State’s head honcho. Uremovich went 23-11 in three seasons with the Bulldogs and led them to their first national ranking last season.

Despite his primary FCS experience on offense, the former Northern Illinois graduate assistant’s teams possess an all-around style. Butler possessed one of the FCS’ top offenses, but they supported it with the subdivision’s fourth-fewest points allowed. The best way Mora can outcoach Uremovich is with a well-balanced approach.

UConn, quite literally, buried the Bulls in last season’s meeting in East Hartford. The Huskies put up over 500 total yards of offense and Skyler Bell scored three touchdowns in their 47-3 beating of Buffalo.

Pete Lembo’s Bulls had three other games where they allowed 45+ points; they went 1-2 in those contests. Linebacker Shaun Dolac, who earned All-American honors, declared for the NFL Draft following the season.

Despite their personnel losses, Buffalo should be defending UB Stadium when the Huskies come to Amherst, New York. It could result in one of the toughest battles yet in the all-time series.

UConn Nation will have to wait two more years before seeing their program visit the renowned Pitbull Stadium. Yes, I know, the Huskies have already been there once, but that was when it was known as Riccardo Silva Stadium.

When the Panthers last entered East Hartford, Connecticut allowed three second-quarter touchdowns and could not complete a comeback in a 24-17 defeat. Since then, Florida International has gone 5-15 (4-11 in Conference USA) and Willie Simmons has become the head coach. Simmons has a track record of building powerhouses, which could make for two exciting games over the next three seasons.

For the fifth straight season, the Huskies will play at least one game in the state of Massachusetts. The Eagles unofficially replace the UMass-Amherst Minutemen, who are now members of the Mid-American Conference, on UConn’s schedule.

Rising redshirt junior Cam Edwards takes over when the Huskies visit an Atlantic Coast Conference program. In all three road games against the league over the past two years, Edwards picked up at least 80 rushing yards and one touchdown.

Whether that streak carries over into Chestnut Hill or not, Connecticut’s leading rusher will again need to be a pivotal back at Alumni Stadium.

When Ball State hired Uremovich in December, he became the second coach during the offseason to leave the Pioneer Football League. Scott Abell did it first, resigning from Davidson eight days earlier to take over the Owls.

Abell’s hiring marked the end of a coaching search that began following Mike Bloomgren’s dismissal after Rice’s latest loss to the Huskies. Despite losing star running back rusher Dean Connors to crosstown rival Houston, the Owls will still stick around with UConn.

Both of the Huskies’ previous two wins over Rice came by exactly seven points. Expect another seven-point contest at Rice Stadium.

The last time they faced the Blazers, Connecticut rallied down 20-3 at Protective Stadium to secure their first winning season since 2010. Although they completed the comeback, this is a game the Huskies should not take lightly.

Sure, UAB’s star running back, Lee Beebe Jr., transferred to Indiana and their two leading receivers departed. With redshirt senior Jalen Kitna under center and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Trent Dilfer back as head coach, however, the Blazers remain dangerous through the air.

Neither program will tolerate complacency, so playing aggressively right from the game’s first snap will be vital in this second-ever battle.

Do I hear Friday Night Lights? The Huskies will face their third different Blue Devils quarterback in as many seasons. Rising redshirt junior Henry Belin IV will most likely replace Maalik Murphy, who transferred to Oregon State, under center. In four games, Belin IV had 243 passing yards and two touchdowns.

This could be another ranked contest for the Huskies depending on how the Blue Devils fare. Duke travels to Syracuse and Clemson but also hosts Georgia Tech and Illinois before Week 9. Ranked game or not, downing the Blue Devils at home could propel UConn into the Top 25.

If I had any control over Rentschler Field’s promotion schedule, this would be both the Huskies’ Senior Night and their military appreciation game. The Falcons are coming off their first losing campaign since 2018, when they also went 5-7. Before then, Air Force had a three-year stretch where they won at least nine games every season.

Coach Troy Calhoun’s Falcons sport a defense as tough as their entire military fleet. Taking down Air Force at the Rent will require Connecticut to have a relentless offense that stays in motion.

The Huskies trek to Colorado Springs, Colorado, on October 31, 2026.

UConn’s regular season ends with the first program that they faced in their six-game homestand last season. Running backs Durrell Robinson and Mel Brown provided almost 75% of the Huskies’ rushing offense as they ran over the Owls 48-14.

Zach Kittley replaces Tom Herman as Florida Atlantic’s head coach. The former Texas Tech offensive coordinator brought in former Mississippi State safeties coach Brett Dewhurst as his defensive coordinator a month later.

These two coaching hires primarily benefit the Owls’ passing game. Even if FAU’s rushing strategy improves, the aerial approach should help yield a much closer battle in Boca Raton.

Just four of Connecticut’s 12 opponents went bowling last season. With that in mind, eight wins should be the ideal floor for the Huskies. As things currently stand, the game against CCSU and most of the Group of Five contests are winnable. The three ACC clashes, meanwhile, should be as competitive as the four (Fenway Bowl included) that UConn played last season.

2022 was the “Husky Revolution.” 2023 became known as “the reload.” In 2025, the objective is “Huskies over everyone.” With this schedule, the Huskies can move one step closer to becoming a nationally recognized powerhouse in the FBS.

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