East Hartford — Somewhere in sportswriter’s school you learn this: Don’t criticize unless you offer a solution.

Example: It would be fraudulent to whine about why UConn and its national basketball brand isn’t part of current expansion and realignment without taking the time to understand the process. Essentially, the purveyors of greed who run college sports believe it’s the football program — not basketball — that determines the invitation to the rat race.

Specifically: What “added value” would your football program bring? “Added value” is an amorphous term including (but not limited to) sizable/passionate fan base, market size, tradition and brand. This is where UConn, swirling the bowl in an empty stadium before Jim Mora’s arrival, generated a national yawn.

Ah, but Mora and the Huskies are undergoing a renaissance, which allows us to revisit this discourse’s premise. Television cameras panning rows of empty seats at Rentschler Field is as damaging to the program as losing games. UConn needs butts in the seats as much as it needs victories for the sake of perception, if nothing else.

This is what encouraged your humble narrator and some friends to do their part Thursday night for the season opener. Buy the tickets and schlep to The Rent. I’ve said this often: When UConn is successful, it’s good for all of our bottom lines, particularly at a media company where success generates subscriptions and clicks.

My mission: The fan experience. Not the press box. I went on Stub Hub and found tickets in the lower bowl across from the UConn bench on the 20-yard line. They were — get this — $20 apiece, plus the perfunctory (criminal?) surcharges and fees. But a great view of the field and about 40 steps from the concession stand and restroom. Fans around us reiterated that UConn football tickets may be the last bastion of that thing called a bargain here in Connecticut.

We arrived at 4:30 for the 7:30 kickoff. Tailgated like champions. Kudos to the great Roger Bidwell, the former 1,000-win baseball coach at Avery Point, for his homemade salami grinders. That and the euphoric nectar made for a rather enjoyable early evening.

Best line of the night: Our group was discussing the recent blue moon sightings. Sayeth Bill Scarlata, the former NFA girls’ basketball coach and seven-time state champion: “This should be a great week for married guys. You know. Once in a blue moon.”

We made tailgating friends with the people around us. Phil from Simsbury’s daughter is engaged to an NC State offensive lineman, thereby adding dots of Wolfpack red to an otherside UConn blue tailgate. We offered two other guys from Windsor bourbon as we walked to the stadium. They may not get Christmas presents that they’ll appreciate more, based on the looks on their faces.

Tailgating may be our last bastion of civility. Nobody talked politics. We just talked about life, laughed, told stories, shared food and drink and were generally thrilled that football season is back. Some of you misanthropes in the HCS (Human Comments Section) ought to try the concept of happiness occasionally.

Excellent atmosphere in the stadium. The crowd was generously announced in excess of 36,000. According to the State’s Office of Policy and Management (OPM), the entity to which UConn reports ticket sales and revenue, the seating area at the Rent (what TV cameras show) is about 36,000. The sellout figure of 40,000 includes luxury box attendees, band members, media, teams, concession workers, police and anyone else in the footprint of the stadium. (All athletic departments report attendance figures as such.)

Given the empty seats in the upper level, my guess is about 30,000 showed up. But it probably looked good on television, looking mostly full. Mission accomplished.

It took some time leaving, so we tailgated again. Nothing like a burger (thanks to former Fitch and Purdue great George Hall for firing up the grill again) at 11 p.m. By the time all the food disappeared, so did the traffic. Easy ride home.

Bottom line: We want to go again. It’s time consuming, but a fun, inexpensive night out. There’s another appetizing home game later this month against Duke, a 3:30 p.m. kickoff on Sept. 23. Good lower bowl seats on Stubhub are between $20 and $30 apiece.

As Bonnie Raitt sang: I can’t make you love me if you don’t. Same concept here: I can’t make you love this if you don’t. But the fastest path to Power Five revenues is butts in the seats watching a winning football team. Happy to do our part the other night.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro