Advice Needed

[UConnSportsGuy]

What the heck are we supposed to do for the first game on Friday?

I could never cheer for Duke against any team even if my life depended on it. My deceased relatives would literally come back and kill me themselves.

And I feel the same for St John’s with their scumbag Coach, fans, and program.

Normally I would just cheer for the asteroid. But UConn is going to physically be in the building as well, so I cannot even cheer for the 0.000001% chance of an asteroid hit.


How is everyone else going to handle the Sophie’s Choice?

 

[NewBlood]

Well I feel better about a Matchup with Duke but the loss would sting deeper

StJohns is a team of mercenaries, with a dirtbag coach. Good for the conference but sad we have to rely on such a sham of a school

I do believe we can beat StJ on a neutral court. And this team is a fighter, resilient and tough. Plus I would love to have this highlight the stupidity of the ncaa about seeding

Either way, we handle our business Friday, we will handle our business Sunday

 

[formerlurker]

Why stress? The reasons to celebrate beating either one of them far outweigh any anxiety you're feeling. We need to handle our own business first.

 

[Supes]

Definitely rooting for the Johnnies. Big East pride. No question at all.

 

[formerlurker]

Suck Ft. John's doesn't hit the same.

 

[thekollieman]

It’d be fun to put Duke out of yet another tournament on our way to a championship, but I’d rather get the last laugh against St. John’s. We know for a fact we’re capable of beating them by 32 points… so let’s just do something even somewhat resembling the way we played them in Hartford, BUT

MSU first! One game at a time, as the saying goes: survive and advance. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

Definitely cheering for St John's. If you take care of our business with MSU, we want a payback for the Big East final with a healthy Silas. We can definitely beat them again.

 

[Scoe]

I’m sorry I just couldn’t resist. Directed toward toward the thread title not the OP.

 

[John]

One game at a time. Bad mojo looking ahead.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

I'd prefer St. Johns just to hear Hurley complain to the Nation about how disrespected the Big East was this year. Under- seeding Johnnies then putting the Leagues two best teams in same bracket.

 

[brihman]

It might be St John’s waiting for us. They are a tough match up for Duke.

 

[HuskyHawk]

If our fans weren’t in the arena, I’d go “giant meteor”. But I’ll be ok with 7 overtimes. The good news is that even if Duke wins, playing St. Johns beats the hell out of you.

 

[willie99]

It's not looking ahead, I just want St John's to beat Dook for Big East pride. We have to show the world we're a basketball powerhouse conference. We have to work it, the other conferences are simply anointed, they can lose a ton of games and still get a one seed. They can lose 16 games and still be on the bubble

The powers that be don't want two Big East schools to be in the FF, that would blow their self-fulfilling "metrics" away, that's why we're in the same region as St John's. I want to play St John's in the Elite Eight, but we both have to win to get there.

 

[BlueandOG]

Cheer for St. Johns because Duke will have as many titles as UConn if they win this year. That is unacceptable.

 

[jibsey]

What the heck are we supposed to do for the first game on Friday?

I could never cheer for Duke against any team even if my life depended on it. My deceased relatives would literally come back and kill me themselves.

And I feel the same for St John’s with their scumbag Coach, fans, and program.

Normally I would just cheer for the asteroid. But UConn is going to physically be in the building as well, so I cannot even cheer for the 0.000001% chance of an asteroid hit.


How is everyone else going to handle the Sophie’s Choice?

Great post. I’m torn the same way. We don’t fear anyone but I would take my chances against Duke. I think St. John’s beats Duke because of physicality but Duke can make shots.
And if it turns out Hurley described our potential 4th game as a bloodbath.

 

[TheShot1990]

I'll say it again. You without question root for St. Johns because if they win, the BigEast gets another $8 million to share between members. What do you get if Puke wins, a stomach virus?

 

[Lafayette]

I'll say it again. You without question root for St. Johns because if they win, the BigEast gets another $8 million to share between members. What do you get if Puke wins, a stomach virus?

root is a strong word… I would prefer a Duke loss as second to a UConn win anytime.

 

[aceboon]

As a fan who isn't invested in credits or money that I won't personally receive a cent of, easy choice for me, Duke. Now if UConn loses the next game then I don't really care, but I have zero interest in facing a Big East team again if UConn gets past MSU.

 

[UCTitleTown]

Cheer for Duke or sit on your hands in silence. Obviously we need to handle our business, but I really want Duke and for Reed to expose Boozer. I think Reed would be super motivated for that match-up.

 

[superjohn]

St. John's of course.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

I always root for conference mates in the tourney. Anything that's good for the Big East is good for us. Puke losing gets them out of the tourney and keeps them at 5 titles and it's another black mark on the ACC. The choice is clear.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I'd prefer St. Johns just to hear Hurley complain to the Nation about how disrespected the Big East was this year. Under- seeding Johnnies then putting the Leagues two best teams in same bracket.

In the postgame last night Hurley basically got as close as he could without stating it outright (to avoid getting fined or getting us further disfavored by the NCAA), that there was an anti-BE agenda at play with under-seeding St. John's and putting us in the same region.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I always root for conference mates in the tourney. Anything that's good for the Big East is good for us. Puke losing gets them out of the tourney and keeps them at 5 titles and it's another black mark on the ACC. The choice is clear.

I think I agree, that keeping us above Duke in the national title count is more valuable than the risk of St. John's getting some bragging rights against us.

Plus, St. John's is almost certainly an easier opponent.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I prefer things fall as they fall and I absolutely don't want anyone thinking we need someone to do our work (knocking off a potentially difficult opponent) for us.

This is how we need to approach these games:

If Duke beats St John's, we get to even the all time tournament series with Duke and continue our tournament winning streak against them (they beat us in thec1964 elite eight, 1990 elite eight and 1991 sweet sixteen*, we beat them in the 1999 national championship game* and 2004 national semifinal*).

If St John's beats Duke, we get to even the score this year and after we cut down the nets, nobody will be able to say "but St John's was better than you head to head".

* won the national title that season.

 

[GlastonTim]

For those interested, there is an amazing article in the Athletic on Zuby. Must read. If Dan want St John’s, that’s good enough for me.

 

[drayenob]

Had St. Johns in my bracket and I still couldn't root for them.

 

[CL82]

What the heck are we supposed to do for the first game on Friday?

I could never cheer for Duke against any team even if my life depended on it. My deceased relatives would literally come back and kill me themselves.

And I feel the same for St John’s with their scumbag Coach, fans, and program.

Normally I would just cheer for the asteroid. But UConn is going to physically be in the building as well, so I cannot even cheer for the 0.000001% chance of an asteroid hit.


How is everyone else going to handle the Sophie’s Choice?

Personally, I'm rooting for a quadruple overtime game.

 

[B1GEast]

It should be a good game to watch. dook will get all the calls unfortunately

St John's is doomed, but if they do manage to win and we take care of business, it will be just another game on the schedule

Honestly, I don't care who wins, we are capable of beating either. We just have to focus on Michigan State

 

[Spaceman213J]

I'm rooting for St. Johns.

Have to get by Mich. St. first though, and that's a big ask. Need to get all our guys healthy and in a short time.

If UConn does advance they a few more minutes from Reibe against Izzo's group than he gave in the first round. Reed was indescribable that first game, but it looked like it took a little out of him.

Also, I hope Demary gets his ankle close to 100%. Fears is a great distributor of the ball, but we all know his history. Aside from the groin shots, he's been known to slide his feet under the shooter's.

 

[NJHusky]

i really wish our game was first.