UConn Taking Its Talents To Ohio State, Arizona

With UConn stuck in a non-Big 5 conference, non-conference scheduling has become all the more important. Fortunately, the men’s basketball team is still in demand and UConn has taken advantage of that by adding a series with both Ohio State and Arizona, according to Don Amore of the Hartford Courant. The Huskies will welcome Ohio State in December of 2015 and will travel to Columbus’ Value City Arena in December of 2016. In 2017, Arizona will come to Connecticut and in 2018, UConn will make the trip to Tucson, AZ.

Ohio State played in the first ever NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Game back in 1939, losing to the Oregon Webfoots (yes, that was their nickname back then). The Buckeyes then played in three championship games in a row from 1960-1962, winning the first one and losing the next two. Their other appearance in the NCAA Tournament final came under Thad Matta in 2007, but they were defeated by the Florida Gators. Matta has been at Ohio State for a decade and the team has finished first in the Big Ten for half of those years (outright three times and tied twice). In addition to the aforementioned appearance in the 2007 National Championship Game, the Buckeyes also reached the Final Four in 2012 and won the NIT in 2008. Last year, they went 25-10 and lost their opening game in the NCAA Tournament by a single point to intrastate rival Dayton.

Arizona has long been a successful basketball program. Lute Olsen coached the Wildcats to victory over Kentucky in the 1997 national championship game and he also led his program to the championship game in 2001, losing to Duke. The Wildcats’ current coach- Sean Miller- has been at Arizona for five seasons. His most successful seasons came in 2011 and 2014. In 2011, the Wildcats won their conference and reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament before being excused by Kemba and the kids. In 2014, the team also finished first in the Pac-12 and reached the Elite Eight, ultimately falling to Wisconsin by a point. Arizona was ranked 5th in last year’s postseason USA Today Coaches Poll. 

Amore also mentioned that UConn would like to extend its series with Florida, which is scheduled to come to a close after this year’s meeting in the Sunshine State. He also says that UConn would like to play some former Big East opponents, though nothing is set yet.

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