Are we losing our Prestige as a Program?

[MASSconn]

It is probably 75% realignments fault, but we have still recruited well since we entered the AAC. I am putting this on Ollie and the way we approach our games. We continually play down to our opponents and do not strike fear in anyone.

I grew up watching hungry, powerful teams that beat the crap out of their opponents on the glass. We had Boone, Armstrong and Okafor bashing guys skulls in with slick guard play. Even 2011 was a big, power team. Why did we move away from this philosophy?

Paging Jim Calhoun, our program is losing our prestige and it's notable around the country.

 

[UC990411]

It's gone already, sorry to break it to you

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

No prestige left. I don't even care when the next game is at this point

 

[KeepWinning]

Yea but our coach can outwhine my 3 year old, so we have that prestige.

 

[Kitaman]

Our prestige shifted a long time ago, actually when the BE was dismantled. We became relevant in the post season after disappearing during regular season. That's been our pattern lately.

2014 Championship simply brought our name up again, only to flame out.

 

[DaveHuskiesFan]

We've been ranked 26 out of the last 82 weeks. That's 31%. That's not elite.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Well we for sure aren't gaining any

 

[Chin Diesel]

The downward trajectory is eerily similar to Mike Davis at IU and Doherty at UNC.

 

[Walker11]

Fortunately we are off the radar enough in the AAC for other people to realize we have lost prestige.

 

[Deepster]

The titles in the trophy case and the NBA rep towards Ollie has helped, but that's fading super fast into the history books.

 

[Eskapeesto]

What really stung tonight, at least before I switched it off in disgust, is that Northeastern didn't even bother to celebrate after Gilbert's miss at the buzzer. It was like, "meh, it's just UCONN. They lost to Wagner."

 

[gtcam]

NO

 

[UConnfan8]

yes. Every year. Yes. To answer your thread title question. This is the abomination of an elite basketball program. This is what Kansas and UNC don't do year after year.

 

[Tenspro2002]

The downward trajectory is eerily similar to Mike Davis at IU and Doherty at UNC.

And Tubby Smith at UK.

He was run out the door with the nickname "Ten Loss Tubby" because of mediocre performance during the regular season. Seems apropos.

 

[CTBasketball]

We've been on a downward spiral since 2009. The two titles were comets.

 

[AntG168]

We've been on a downward spiral since 2009. The two titles were comets.

On a downward spiral while winning 2 titles

 

[Tenspro2002]

On a downward spiral while winning 2 titles

Coming off of 10 #1/#2 seeds in 16 years, our NCAA Tournament seeds have been:

None
3
9
None (would have been around 8/9 without ban)
7
None
9

It's been papered over by 2 great months (and some early-season magic in 2011), but on the whole we've been very mediocre.

 

[willie99]

MUGA, we're not what we were, it's undeniable at this point

and it all starts with rebounding, or lack thereof

 

[BUConn10]

Elite programs enter pretty much every season expecting a 1 or 2 seed, with a 3 or 4 being considered mediocre, with insane turnover season to season as well so it's not like they can rely on a core of guys for a few year stretch.

At this point in our fanbases' psyche, most seasons we are just hoping to have enough positive RPI games on the schedule just to be able to get in, with Huskies fans routinely making predictions that they'd be happy with a 5 seed going in. I have been saying this for a while but our perception as an elite program has been shaky since 2013, but has completely fallen off a cliff as of late. Why do you think that despite having 4 titles, and more than anyone else is the most recent era and freshest in the casual fans memory, do we never get invited to something like the Champions Classic or those big time blue blood OOC matchups early season? Because we aren't perceived as elite anymore, aren't a big enough draw, and since these are scheduled so far in advance there needs to be some assurance the team will be highly ranked for tv viewers but we all know that's not the case with us lately.

There's always been a reason UConn fans have been called as having an "inferiority complex" by other fans. It's because despite the insane success we have had in a relatively short period, we never really got 100% of the prestige we deserved for what we did, and now it's just falling in the AAC each year.

 

[TrueBlue02]

It is probably 75% realignments fault, but we have still recruited well since we entered the AAC. I am putting this on Ollie and the way we approach our games. We continually play down to our opponents and do not strike fear in anyone.

I grew up watching hungry, powerful teams that beat the crap out of their opponents on the glass. We had Boone, Armstrong and Okafor bashing guys skulls in with slick guard play. Even 2011 was a big, power team. Why did we move away from this philosophy?

Paging Jim Calhoun, our program is losing our prestige and it's notable around the country.

How I miss the good old days....running the floor offense, big guys down low forcing turnovers & grabbing rebounds leading to fastbreak points. Seems like UConn bball that Calhoun created is slipping away more and more each year.

 

[4in16]

Elite programs enter pretty much every season expecting a 1 or 2 seed, with a 3 or 4 being considered mediocre, with insane turnover season to season as well so it's not like they can rely on a core of guys for a few year stretch.

At this point in our fanbases' psyche, most seasons we are just hoping to have enough positive RPI games on the schedule just to be able to get in, with Huskies fans routinely making predictions that they'd be happy with a 5 seed going in. I have been saying this for a while but our perception as an elite program has been shaky since 2013, but has completely fallen off a cliff as of late. Why do you think that despite having 4 titles, and more than anyone else is the most recent era and freshest in the casual fans memory, do we never get invited to something like the Champions Classic or those big time blue blood OOC matchups early season? Because we aren't perceived as elite anymore, aren't a big enough draw, and since these are scheduled so far in advance there needs to be some assurance the team will be highly ranked for tv viewers but we all know that's not the case with us lately.

There's always been a reason UConn fans have been called as having an "inferiority complex" by other fans. It's because despite the insane success we have had in a relatively short period, we never really got 100% of the prestige we deserved for what we did, and now it's just falling in the AAC each year.

Just asking but has any team in the American ever been invited to Maui? Might just be me but the prestige of the UConn name/brand hasn't worn off completely if we are still routinely invited to top shelf early season tournaments/events (jimmy v etc). If we somehow get it together and beat Ok St then play UNC next Tuesday in prime time you don't think the names UConn v UNC on the guide won't catch the casual CBB fan's eye as a game to watch, even if we manage to come in 2-2.

 

[NielsisGood]

How I miss the good old days....running the floor offense, big guys down low forcing turnovers & grabbing rebounds leading to fastbreak points. Seems like UConn bball that Calhoun created is slipping away more and more each year.

I do miss the days when the teams would play at a frenetic pace. Haven't seen much of that the last few years.

 

[TitleTown]

The UConn you knew and loved is gone! We are officially a mid major program and a bad at that. The 2 main causes are conference realignment and coaching. Say what you want about recruiting rankings. This program does not get near the same players as they were getting under Calhoun while in the Big East! The school really has to make a decision about the future of UConn athletics before it is too late.

 

[Dibbie]

We've been ranked 26 out of the last 82 weeks. That's 31%. That's not elite.

Add the remaining 18 weeks for this season and were around 25%

 

[Bagel&Cheese]

Lost it years ago.