Are Viewers Tuning out UConn Dynasty

[Tenspro2002]

Interesting (and dismaying) story about the ratings for the championship game.

Three of the five lowest rated title games have involved the Huskies in the last six years according to SMW’s data – 2015, 2013, and 2009 respectively.

Why not blame Louisville? They were our opponent in both 2009 and 2013, and both times were nowhere near challenging.

 

[JoePgh]

UConn needs the Tennessee game more than Women's College Basketball does. At some point, recruits are going to be put off by the fact that UConn spends most of its schedule playing the Memphises and Southern Methodists of the world, while in the ACC they could play bigtime opponents. And ESPN will lose interest in televising UConn games if they consist mostly of 40-point blowouts. The list of Top 20 teams willing to play UConn gets smaller every year, and there is the lurking threat of a conspiracy by P5 conference teams to avoid playing UConn at all, to keep them off national television.

I could even imagine that at some point the P5 conferences would decide to hold their own Women's National Championship tournament during the same three weeks as the NCAA tournament. If that idea takes off, it would make the NCAA championship meaningless, and obviously UConn wouldn't be able to play in the other tournament.

The statute of limitations has expired on whatever happened in 2007 and before. UConn and Tennessee should agree to play without preconditions, because it is in the present interest (financial and otherwise) of both schools to do so.

 

[Waquoit]

Ah, who cares about the ratings

 

[msf22b]

I'm not saying it will…but it should.

 

[AnotherVolFan]

All the LV need to do is apologize.

Which is exactly why we'll just have to meet in the tournament, not gonna happen.

 

[Bgillon]

UConn needs the Tennessee game more than Women's College Basketball does. At some point, recruits are going to be put off by the fact that UConn spends most of its schedule playing the Memphises and Southern Methodists of the world, while in the ACC they could play bigtime opponents. And ESPN will lose interest in televising UConn games if they consist mostly of 40-point blowouts. The list of Top 20 teams willing to play UConn gets smaller every year, and there is the lurking threat of a conspiracy by P5 conference teams to avoid playing UConn at all, to keep them off national television.

I could even imagine that at some point the P5 conferences would decide to hold their own Women's National Championship tournament during the same three weeks as the NCAA tournament. If that idea takes off, it would make the NCAA championship meaningless, and obviously UConn wouldn't be able to play in the other tournament.

The statute of limitations has expired on whatever happened in 2007 and before. UConn and Tennessee should agree to play without preconditions, because it is in the present interest (financial and otherwise) of both schools to do so.

I agree, except not in our lifetime

 

[CL82]

UConn needs the Tennessee game more than Women's College Basketball does. At some point, recruits are going to be put off by the fact that UConn spends most of its schedule playing the Memphises and Southern Methodists of the world, while in the ACC they could play bigtime opponents. And ESPN will lose interest in televising UConn games if they consist mostly of 40-point blowouts. The list of Top 20 teams willing to play UConn gets smaller every year, and there is the lurking threat of a conspiracy by P5 conference teams to avoid playing UConn at all, to keep them off national television.

I could even imagine that at some point the P5 conferences would decide to hold their own Women's National Championship tournament during the same three weeks as the NCAA tournament. If that idea takes off, it would make the NCAA championship meaningless, and obviously UConn wouldn't be able to play in the other tournament.

The statute of limitations has expired on whatever happened in 2007 and before. UConn and Tennessee should agree to play without preconditions, because it is in the present interest (financial and otherwise) of both schools to do so.

You are absolutely right. I mean UConn has done so poorly since game the was cancelled. We have really disappeared from the national consciousness. We can't recruit competitively anymore and can't compete at the national level.

Look even if we play again it wouldn't be the same. Pat is gone and UConn has passed Tennessee. Notre Dame is now our closest rival, who by the way has also passed Tennessee. If Tennessee can rebuild, and they are moving in the right direction, we'll play again. If not, well things change.

 

[rvwsleep]

UConn needs the Tennessee game more than Women's College Basketball does. At some point, recruits are going to be put off by the fact that UConn spends most of its schedule playing the Memphises and Southern Methodists of the world, while in the ACC they could play bigtime opponents. And ESPN will lose interest in televising UConn games if they consist mostly of 40-point blowouts. The list of Top 20 teams willing to play UConn gets smaller every year, and there is the lurking threat of a conspiracy by P5 conference teams to avoid playing UConn at all, to keep them off national television.

I could even imagine that at some point the P5 conferences would decide to hold their own Women's National Championship tournament during the same three weeks as the NCAA tournament. If that idea takes off, it would make the NCAA championship meaningless, and obviously UConn wouldn't be able to play in the other tournament.

The statute of limitations has expired on whatever happened in 2007 and before. UConn and Tennessee should agree to play without preconditions, because it is in the present interest (financial and otherwise) of both schools to do so.

What ??? Where did you come up with this "idea" ? Also, tell me, when is "at some point" please ?
And this "The list of Top 20 teams willing to play UConn gets smaller every year". We play USCe and Texas next year and they aren't traditional opponents for us. The only top 20 teams that we can't play in our OOC schedule the next few years is Tennessee. Baylor dropped most of their tough OOC teams because Mulkey didn't want to get run over but with their upgraded recruiting I would not be surprised to see them on our schedule in the near future.
Who in the top 20, besides Tennessee, will not play us ?

 

[JoePgh]

What ??? Where did you come up with this "idea" ? Also, tell me, when is "at some point" please ?
And this "The list of Top 20 teams willing to play UConn gets smaller every year". We play USCe and Texas next year and they aren't traditional opponents for us. The only top 20 teams that we can't play in our OOC schedule the next few years is Tennessee. Baylor dropped most of their tough OOC teams because Mulkey didn't want to get run over but with their upgraded recruiting I would not be surprised to see them on our schedule in the near future.
Who in the top 20, besides Tennessee, will not play us ?

Let's see. I can think immediately of Maryland, Kentucky, Louisville, Duke, and Baylor. Stanford is ducking UConn next year, although they will be on the schedule the following year. Rutgers could be added to the list, although they were in and out of the Top 25 during the year. North Carolina, Arizona State, Texas A&M (temporarily out of the Top 25, to be sure), Syracuse, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, and Ohio State are teams that UConn has played in the past, but there is no sign of them returning to the schedule. Stewie's homecoming game next year will be against Colgate because Syracuse would not schedule UConn on its home court. I believe I heard that inquiries were made about playing Iowa, but they did not step up to the plate. I don't know whether Princeton would be interested or not.

When Geno schedules teams like Creighton and UC-Davis on the out-of-conference schedule, it can only be because stronger opponents were unwilling to play against his team.

 

[Icebear]

Which is exactly why we'll just have to meet in the tournament, not gonna happen.

Sadly that is true. When you tell lies about people it is your responsibility to apologize not Geno's to apologize for something that never happened. It takes character to admit you did wrong and set it right.

 

[Icebear]

Let's see. I can think immediately of Maryland, Kentucky, Louisville, Duke, and Baylor. Stanford is ducking UConn next year, although they will be on the schedule the following year. Rutgers could be added to the list, although they were in and out of the Top 25 during the year. North Carolina, Arizona State, Texas A&M (temporarily out of the Top 25, to be sure), Syracuse, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, and Ohio State are teams that UConn has played in the past, but there is no sign of them returning to the schedule. Stewie's homecoming game next year will be against Colgate because Syracuse would not schedule UConn on its home court. I believe I heard that inquiries were made about playing Iowa, but they did not step up to the plate. I don't know whether Princeton would be interested or not.

When Geno schedules teams like Creighton and UC-Davis on the out-of-conference schedule, it can only be because stronger opponents were unwilling to play against his team.

Stronger opponents in the areas he wants to schedule as homecoming games for team members.

 

[storrsroars]

Maybe the world just hates Connecticut. On the men's side, Duke vs. Wisconsin this year drew 33% higher ratings than UConn vs. Kentucky last year.

 

[nd2tty]

Let's see. I can think immediately of Maryland, Kentucky, Louisville, Duke, and Baylor. Stanford is ducking UConn next year, although they will be on the schedule the following year. Rutgers could be added to the list, although they were in and out of the Top 25 during the year. North Carolina, Arizona State, Texas A&M (temporarily out of the Top 25, to be sure), Syracuse, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, and Ohio State are teams that UConn has played in the past, but there is no sign of them returning to the schedule. Stewie's homecoming game next year will be against Colgate because Syracuse would not schedule UConn on its home court. I believe I heard that inquiries were made about playing Iowa, but they did not step up to the plate. I don't know whether Princeton would be interested or not.

When Geno schedules teams like Creighton and UC-Davis on the out-of-conference schedule, it can only be because stronger opponents were unwilling to play against his team.

There are so many more things that go into scheduling than "we don't want to play UConn" or "we won't play UConn and thus weaken their OOC schedule and thus weaken UConn's chances at a title" (has that worked?).

Obviously, it's a little different (and the neutral site considerations and the money is a lot different), but I recall the trio of articles written by Andy Katz, Myron Medcalf, and Eamonn Brennan in 2012 for ESPN on the many contingencies of scheduling: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...nconference-scheduling-men-college-basketball, http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...ilosophy-nonconference-scheduling-complicated, http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebask...5/hey-realignment-leave-these-rivalries-alone. Being in the recent aftermath (or potentially the continued era) of conference realignment makes it even more unstable. Wish ESPNW would do a version for WBB...

Syracuse seems an exception to general practices of scheduling (or at least in Hillsman's transparency): i.e. the refusal to play a home-and-home due to potential encroachment upon recruiting territory. This seems odd, to me at least, especially with the current recruiting reach of UConn (we are in the post-Moriah Jefferson coming to UConn from Texas era, after all, as well as the (letter of intent pending) post-Crystal Dangerfield from Tennessee), and the traveling options and game-watching options of potential recruits these days. Maybe the Breanna Stewart feelings are still fresh for Syracuse...

Tennessee, of course, is also an exception to the general practices of scheduling.

The others rotate in and out of series for any number of reasons (including pure reasons of rotation, i.e. "we have played this series for 2/4/8 seasons, it's time for something new" or we agreed to 4 seasons ahead of time and renewal never came up in conversation) that, I would imagine, have little to do with manipulation, grudges, or attempts to weaken UConn's OOC. And remember it's all in balance with, and/or in deference to, one's conference scheduling. After all, OOC scheduling (unless you are a mid-major) is a mixture of art and science. I doubt UConn/Geno wants to open 2015-2016 with nine OOC games against Baylor, South Carolina, Maryland, Notre Dame, Florida State, Louisville, Arizona State, North Carolina, and Iowa....even if they/he could.

 

[JonB]

When Geno schedules teams like Creighton and UC-Davis on the out-of-conference schedule, it can only be because stronger opponents were unwilling to play against his team.

It could also be partly because Geno recognizes that playing UConn is a boon to those schools' programs, and Geno wants to see WCBB as a whole grow.

 

[Sonny44]

In my view, it's terribly shortsighted of Geno not to be scheduling UTenn and rebuilding that rivalry
Especially now that Notre Dame is apparently significantly weakened.

The result of the final was a foregone conclusion in the nations psyche.
And even though it was a reasonably competitive game (more due to Morgan's nerves than any special effort by the Iris),
The outcome was never really in doubt and for the nation the drama was limited.
It's hardly surprising that ratings were lacking.

I have been reminded regularly by Doggy and Ice of the horrific transgressions of Pat and the UTenn staff and administration and the reasons Geno has insisted on apologies before considering a renewal of the series.

But I am reminded of an essay by Deems Taylor, a much beloved writer and critic on music in the first half of the last century. In his piece entitled "The Monster." he described a ne'er-do-well, who cheated on his best friend, stole his wife, backstabbed everyone in sight, ran out on debts, was anti-Semitic…a real nice guy as our friend Ozzie used to say…

But Taylor goes on to say that none of this matter, doesn't matter at all, because the "Monster" was Richard Wagner and that his corpus of work excuses his bad behavior…is of no consequence compared to what we have been left.

My agreement is not exactly parallel, but related.

Interest in the game is on some levels, not increasing.
The finals of the National Championship should be suspenseful and have powerful story lines.
UConn will be a completely unmatchable powerhouse next year and maybe on into the future.
Playing UTenn regularly is a necessity, perhaps not for Geno, but for continued growth of the game we love.

You would make a good announcer. See something you don't like, blame it on somebody's nerves.

 

[rvwsleep]

Let's see. I can think immediately of Maryland, Kentucky, Louisville, Duke, and Baylor. Stanford is ducking UConn next year, although they will be on the schedule the following year. Rutgers could be added to the list, although they were in and out of the Top 25 during the year. North Carolina, Arizona State, Texas A&M (temporarily out of the Top 25, to be sure), Syracuse, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, and Ohio State are teams that UConn has played in the past, but there is no sign of them returning to the schedule. Stewie's homecoming game next year will be against Colgate because Syracuse would not schedule UConn on its home court. I believe I heard that inquiries were made about playing Iowa, but they did not step up to the plate. I don't know whether Princeton would be interested or not.

When Geno schedules teams like Creighton and UC-Davis on the out-of-conference schedule, it can only be because stronger opponents were unwilling to play against his team.

Maryland, Louisville, Duke, and Baylor may just be rotating UConn out of their schedule, only time will tell if they are refusing to play the Huskies. When did Kentucky start ducking UConn ? Were they ever on UConn's OOC schedule ?
Stanford is certainly not ducking UConn since they will play them the following year which will make 9 out of the last 10 years that they will be on UConn's OOC schedule. You have a list of 7 teams "North Carolina, Arizona State, Texas A&M, Syracuse, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, and Ohio State" that we have played in the past. 4 of them (highlighted) did not finish last season in the top 25. Are you really disappointed that they don't have Georgia Tech on their schedule ?

"When Geno schedules teams like Creighton and UC-Davis on the out-of-conference schedule, it can only be because stronger opponents were unwilling to play against his team"
Here are the first 9 games that we played 5 years ago in the 2009-2010 season
12/20/09 Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Conn.) UCONN 90, IONA 35
12/10/09 XL Center (Hartford, Conn.) UCONN 80, HARTFORD 45
12/03/09 Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Conn.) UCONN 84, VERMONT 42
11/29/09 Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Conn.) UCONN 87, CLEMSON 48
11/28/09 Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Conn.) UCONN 86, RICHMOND 37
11/27/09 Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Conn.) UCONN 91, HOFSTRA 46
11/20/09 DCU Center (Worcester, Mass.) UCONN 87, Holy Cross 34
11/17/09 AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX UCONN 83, Texas 58
11/14/09 Gampel Pavilion (Storrs, Conn.) UCONN 105, N'Eastern 35
It wasn't like the OOC schedule had only top 20 opponents 5 years ago. Were teams ducking UConn then ?
If Geno can't arrange to play all the top teams he would like to play in their OOC schedule, does that automatically mean that teams are ducking him or could it be just a scheduling problem ?

"The list of Top 20 teams willing to play UConn gets smaller every year" Can you tell me when this started ?

"At some point, recruits are going to be put off by the fact that UConn spends most of its schedule playing the Memphises and Southern Methodists of the world" When will that "some point" will be ? It certainly isn't the near future.

"there is the lurking threat of a conspiracy by P5 conference teams to avoid playing UConn at all, to keep them off national television.
I could even imagine that at some point the P5 conferences would decide to hold their own Women's National Championship tournament during the same three weeks as the NCAA tournament. If that idea takes off, it would make the NCAA championship meaningless, and obviously UConn wouldn't be able to play in the other tournament."
Did USCe, Texas, LSU etc. not get the conspiracy memo ? They are all P5 non traditional foes of UConn who have been added to the Huskie OOC schedule.
Even in football (where what the P5 conferences say, goes) non P5 teams are eligible to participate in the playoff system. Why would it be different in women's basketball ?
I'm sorry, I find the overall tone of your post over the top doom and gloom.

 

[HuskyNan]

I think shes quite aware, I heard her, Mercedes, and Jannah are the ones most anxious to have a shot at UCONN

Some fans don't want a UConn-Tenn matchup because of the inevitable circus that will follow. I think it would help visibility of the game and introduce a potentially fresh rivalry. Rivalries are great for the game.

 

[nd2tty]

Number of Top 25 teams played during OOC (total number of OOC games):

2001-2002: 5 (16)
2002-2003: 3 (13)
2003-2004: 2 (11)
2004-2005: 4 (11)
2005-2006: 3 (14)
2006-2007: 4 (13)
2007-2008: 4 (13)
2008-2009: 2 (14)
2009-2010: 6 (14)
2010-2011: 7 (14)
2011-2012: 5 (14)
2012-2013: 7 (14)
2013-2014: 6 (13)
2014-2015: 4 (12)

Maybe this year aside, I'm actually noticing an upwards trend, from about 2009-2010 on...

 

[HuskyNan]

Who in the top 20, besides Tennessee, will not play us ?

Let's see. I can think immediately of Maryland, Kentucky, Louisville, Duke, and Baylor. Stanford is ducking UConn next year, although they will be on the schedule the following year. Rutgers could be added to the list, although they were in and out of the Top 25 during the year. North Carolina, Arizona State, Texas A&M (temporarily out of the Top 25, to be sure), Syracuse, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, and Ohio State are teams that UConn has played in the past, but there is no sign of them returning to the schedule. Stewie's homecoming game next year will be against Colgate because Syracuse would not schedule UConn on its home court. I believe I heard that inquiries were made about playing Iowa, but they did not step up to the plate. I don't know whether Princeton would be interested or not.

When Geno schedules teams like Creighton and UC-Davis on the out-of-conference schedule, it can only be because stronger opponents were unwilling to play against his team.

I don't know why you think it's teams not scheduling UConn rather than the other way around. Geno dropped North Carolina because the games were ridiculously lopsided even though Sylia Hatchell announced that she'd like to continue the series.

Syracuse won't schedule UConn as long as Breanna Stewart is there to deny her a home game. Maybe when they get over their snit at having been aced out of a key recruit, the teams might meet but if the Orange never appear on UConn's schedule I won't be crying any tears. Maybe Cornell wants a game, even if people do grumble about RPIs and weak schedules.

DePaul, UCLA, Notre Dame, Rutgers, South Carolina, Texas, Louisville are already set for future games and last I knew, there were negotiations with Tennessee killer UT-Chattanooga . That's a pretty good lineup.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

To the OP's point -

I know lots of folks (mostly, but not all, Rutgers fans, some are AZ fans) who don't watch UConn blow-outs or games they perceive as likely UConn blow-outs. As someone above said, perhaps a different final opponent would have made a difference for some, but, um, you beat South Carolina handily during the season, as you did Notre Dame.

My feeling about the NC game was the "nothing to see here" feeling - with no rooting interest, I chalked it up as another UConn victory and didn't feel the need to watch.

I watched the Dayton game, for example, intending to turn it off but stayed with it because, even when the result was obvious, it was a very pleasant game to watch. But normally, if I am watching a Husky game, it goes off once the outcome is decided, which is often very early in the game. I know how UConn plays, I do think you get style points, but I've seen it and it is same old, same old for someone without the rooting interest.

As the article pointed out, incidentally, in the last paragraph, it is on other teams to improve to perhaps limit these blow-outs and make the games competitive. I actually am not bothered in the least by UConn winning National Championships, but the fact that even the best other teams usually get blown out in the process is very disturbing.

 

[Nuyoika]

In my view, it's terribly shortsighted of Geno not to be scheduling UTenn and rebuilding that rivalry
Especially now that Notre Dame is apparently significantly weakened.

The result of the final was a foregone conclusion in the nations psyche.
And even though it was a reasonably competitive game (more due to Morgan's nerves than any special effort by the Iris),
The outcome was never really in doubt and for the nation the drama was limited.
It's hardly surprising that ratings were lacking.

I have been reminded regularly by Doggy and Ice of the horrific transgressions of Pat and the UTenn staff and administration and the reasons Geno has insisted on apologies before considering a renewal of the series.

But I am reminded of an essay by Deems Taylor, a much beloved writer and critic on music in the first half of the last century. In his piece entitled "The Monster." he described a ne'er-do-well, who cheated on his best friend, stole his wife, backstabbed everyone in sight, ran out on debts, was anti-Semitic…a real nice guy as our friend Ozzie used to say…

But Taylor goes on to say that none of this matter, doesn't matter at all, because the "Monster" was Richard Wagner and that his corpus of work excuses his bad behavior…is of no consequence compared to what we have been left.

My agreement is not exactly parallel, but related.

Interest in the game is on some levels, not increasing.
The finals of the National Championship should be suspenseful and have powerful story lines.
UConn will be a completely unmatchable powerhouse next year and maybe on into the future.
Playing UTenn regularly is a necessity, perhaps not for Geno, but for continued growth of the game we love.

What is necessary is for the rest of the country.... is to get better. Geno can't coach everyone's teams. The rest of the country can't depend on a UConn vs TENN game to make the world care about WBB. I think that is far more shortsighted. If WBB stopped looking to blame other programs and started working on their own it would grow. Individual growth requires self reflection. The same can be said about a team. The sport spends far too much time worrying about why UConn is so good. Let's take a look @ why we suck. Who is out there having that conversation?

 

[Nuyoika]

It'll make a great story line next..."Stewie, Mojeff, and Tuck going for an unprecedented 4th National Championship in a row....Diamond DeShields in her first season back since transferring to the once powerhouse Tenn LadyVols, whose in the championship game for the first time since 2008. Stewie and Co trying to cement UCONN's place in the history books and Diamond and Co trying to restore former glory to a once great program"
I can see the ESPN media machine having a field day with our storylines next season. But the question remains....can Tenn play good enough basketball to set this storyline in place???? We shall see next season.

I definately think they have enough talent to make a FF. However, once the FF hits you need great coaching and the ability to operate in the half court as well as transition to win in the NC game. Warlick has mentioned a few times she doesn't much focus on offense. It shows. Talent can only get you so far. When it gets tough you need coaching and execution. Can Warlick make that happen? If so, I they could be in the mix.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

Credit where credit is due. If a decline in ratings has followed a decline in competitiveness at the top, the credit goes to ND, Baylor, Stanford, Tenn, Duke, UNC, et. al., not UConn.

 

[OldAlum]

Playing Tenn in season right now would be anticlimactic at best. Lots of hype and hoopla, then UConn crushes them. Then everyone complains again about the lack of parity.
UConn doesn't need it. And I see no reason to give more attention to a program that maligned UConn and will not own up to it.

I think it is actually better that they don't meet until and unless they meet in the Final Four. Lots of anticipation and a better chance of a competitive game. I find the matchups much more interesting if the teams haven't met before. Wouldn't the UConn/ND matchup have been more fun this year without a previous meeting?

 

[JoePgh]

Number of Top 25 teams played during OOC (total number of OOC games):

2001-2002: 5 (16)
2002-2003: 3 (13)
2003-2004: 2 (11)
2004-2005: 4 (11)
2005-2006: 3 (14)
2006-2007: 4 (13)
2007-2008: 4 (13)
2008-2009: 2 (14)
2009-2010: 6 (14)
2010-2011: 7 (14)
2011-2012: 5 (14)
2012-2013: 7 (14)
2013-2014: 6 (13)
2014-2015: 4 (12)

Maybe this year aside, I'm actually noticing an upwards trend, from about 2009-2010 on...

Keeping the strength of the out-of-conference schedule the same, or even a little better than in the past is insufficient to maintain UCONN'S current level of prominence and visibility. Now that we are exiled in the AAC, our in-conference SOS will always be bad --the team will have only South Florida to keep it awake in January and February.

That makes it more urgent that the OOC schedule be as strong as possible. Geno is doing his best, but the task is increasingly difficult.

 

[01Neaggrad02]

Who cares? Connecticut fans are tuning in. Tennessee fans are not watching because they are not winning... Notre Dame fans will start to decline because they are tired of being bridesmaids...

All I care about are if UCONN viewers are "tuning out".... and I think UCONN fans are tuning in more...

 

[Tenspro2002]

I agree, except not in our lifetime

Given the demographics of the WCBB fan community, "our lifetime" doesn't necessarily connote a long time!

 

[Henry]

Either other programs will reach the bar Geno has set or the coaches will continue to get fat making money on their overpaid contracts without delivering a championship. Geno has it right. If you hate us so much, try to beat us. Eventually the UCLA,Celtics,Yankees and Canadiens dynasties ended. We have the right to enjoy it as long as it lasts. If others tune out, who cares?

 

[UcMiami]

Well ... This year was an extremely competitive final, last year might have gotten a little more press because both teams were undefeated, but with the injury, it wasn't really very competitive and the year before ... blow out. So ... by the blow outs are bad - this year should have been more highly rated.

On TN - maybe next year TN will actually have a competitive team, but for most of the period since the series was cancelled a Uconn/TN match-up would have looked like Uconn/USF or Uconn/Lousiville - was that really going to get peoples juices flowing, to see a once competitive team get their doors blown off by their arch-rival?

The reality as someone mentioned above - Baylor and ND were the best competition for Uconn over the current string of 5 out of 7 NCs and those two teams distanced themselves from the rest of the pack. Baylor slipped behind ND after Griner left but is still formidable. SC maybe will stay in the picture as well. TN ... wait and see.

 

[DobbsRover2]

In my view, it's terribly shortsighted of Geno not to be scheduling UTenn and rebuilding that rivalry
Especially now that Notre Dame is apparently significantly weakened.

The result of the final was a foregone conclusion in the nations psyche.
And even though it was a reasonably competitive game (more due to Morgan's nerves than any special effort by the Iris),
The outcome was never really in doubt and for the nation the drama was limited.
It's hardly surprising that ratings were lacking.

I have been reminded regularly by Doggy and Ice of the horrific transgressions of Pat and the UTenn staff and administration and the reasons Geno has insisted on apologies before considering a renewal of the series.

But I am reminded of an essay by Deems Taylor, a much beloved writer and critic on music in the first half of the last century. In his piece entitled "The Monster." he described a ne'er-do-well, who cheated on his best friend, stole his wife, backstabbed everyone in sight, ran out on debts, was anti-Semitic…a real nice guy as our friend Ozzie used to say…

But Taylor goes on to say that none of this matter, doesn't matter at all, because the "Monster" was Richard Wagner and that his corpus of work excuses his bad behavior…is of no consequence compared to what we have been left.

My agreement is not exactly parallel, but related.

Interest in the game is on some levels, not increasing.
The finals of the National Championship should be suspenseful and have powerful story lines.
UConn will be a completely unmatchable powerhouse next year and maybe on into the future.
Playing UTenn regularly is a necessity, perhaps not for Geno, but for continued growth of the game we love.

This position has been stated many times but never with any real beef or logic behind it. What is so interesting about a UConn and UTenn game? It's now an ancient relic that increasingly fewer fans even remember. If UTenn had been a top team the last 7 years and was competing with the Huskies, there might have been some value to a match up. But in recent times there have been much more interesting opponents to line up. If UConn was going to play an SEC team recently, than USCar is the obvious candidate, as at least with the GC-ocks there was a some tension about the outcome going into the game. With the Vols, there wouldn't have been.

No Pat, no competition, no point in playing. If UTenn can prove it can hang with the big dogs next year, then maybe some inquiries about scheduling the two teams could be made purely on a competition level if certain obligations are taken care of. But pretending you can somehow step back into the distant past and revive the excitement of a once big series is just silly.