Preview and Open Thread: UConn Football (2-8) at Memphis (8-3), 4pm, ESPNews

Gametime/TV: 4pm on ESPNews

Location: Liberty Bowl Memorial, Memphis, TN

Radio: WTIC-AM - Joe D'Ambrosio, Wayne Norman, Kevin Nathan

Vegas Line: Memphis -21

Forecast: mid-60's and windy

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What a difference a year makes.

Last year Memphis visited a UConn team with just two wins to their name and lost 45-10. Today UConn is visiting the Tigers as 21-point underdogs to the 8-3 (what the hell?) Memphis Tigers. College football analysts around the country have been praising the job Justin Fuentes has done at Memphis is a full-on rebuild that is looking well ahead of schedule.

On the other side of the coin, the Huskies are coming off one of the worst losses in program history-- some may say its worst. Last Saturday the Huskies were shutout at home for the first time since the late-70's in a 41-0 loss to Cincinnati. Sophomore quarterback Tim Boyle got the start but the Huskies, as the zero points on the scoreboard might indicate, were unable to get anything going offensively. Boyle will be getting the start again today, hopefully he can show some improvement.

After being eliminated from bowl contention, it seems the Huskies have lost some of their bite. We'll be seeing a lot of freshmen and sophomores on the field and while the results on the field today might be ugly but the plan is for us to be better for it in subsequent years.

Honestly, I have no idea what to expect today. We're on the road against a team having their best season in recent memory and looking to improve on that. I doubt this inexperienced Husky team, who SNY's John Silver noted has 61 scholarship players, can be expected to do much more than compete and play with pride.

Despite last week's embarrassing loss, this is a team which plays with pride. Hopefully they can come out of the tunnel with some fire and show enough for the fans to be hopeful for the future of this team.

GO HUSKIES!!