The UConn Huskies football team (3-3) is on a bye week this weekend following its 34-20 win over Temple last Saturday in Philadelphia.

But as the program prepares for next Friday's game against UMass, it got some good news on Thursday: The "Barstool Sports College Football Show" will be live at Rentschler Field leading up to the game. The pregame show starts at 5:30 p.m. ET and appears to be featuring noted Barstool personalities Dave Portnoy and Dan "Big Cat" Katz.

UMass has been one of the worst programs in the country for years, having gone 0-12 in 2025 and 2-10 in 2024, but the Minutemen are 4-2 this season heading into Saturday's contest with Buffalo.

I think you can pick any number of reasons. First off, the game is on Friday night instead of Saturday, which leaves the company time and flexibility to do things during the Saturday slate.

Second off, Portnoy is a Massachusetts native. Although he went to Michigan for school, he's a proud Massachusetts supporter, so I have to imagine that any time he can highlight New England, he's looking to.

Third, Portnoy's split with Fox Sports is now well-known, so perhaps his lack of travel for that show has just freed him up to do other things like this.

At the end of the day, this is critical exposure for the program. Jason Candle is ultimately in favor of promoting his program and there's no better promotion than Barstool, who appeals to teenagers. Maybe some high school football player with talent learns about UConn football through Barstool, or maybe some prospective student learns about UConn and ends up enrolling.

All of it helps the program, and all of it helps the University as a whole.

Just because the football team isn't playing this weekend doesn't mean that there aren't things to be excited about. For instance, the UConn women's basketball team is back in action on Monday night at PeopleBank Arena in Hartford (7:00 p.m. ET). They'll take on national power Texas just one week after they beat Syracuse in the first exhibition game of the season.

The UConn men also beat Syracuse earlier this week in their exhibition opener, and they'll be back in action on Tuesday night in East Lansing, Mich. against Michigan State. The two programs also played last year in exhibition play, with the Huskies getting the win.

UConn beat Syracuse 72-52 and we'll have to wait and see if star guard Braylon Mullins will play this week.