Conference schedule the rest of the way

[CL82]

It looks pretty grueling. Sure we get the mid February Georgetown, Depaul break, but otherwise it's pretty unrelenting.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Agreed but I do think 16-4 is very much a realistic conference record. If Castle improves quicker than mid February and Donovan stays on the floor for 25 minutes a game we might be able to go 17-3. But that is why they play the games. There will be a few unexpected rock fights. I think at the beginning of the year every UConn fan would take 17-2 and 7-1 in conference three weeks into January. Actually, I look forward to teams coming up with defensive strategies to slow us down and what DH does to counter. Look for some inside out sets after the break. No question Castle’s man will be asked to double team and that is where we find out more about Steph. These two are the key players on how much better we can be over the last 11 regular season games.

 

[superjohn]

It looks pretty grueling. Sure we get the mid February Georgetown, Depaul break, but otherwise it's pretty unrelenting.

View attachment 95477

Only 1 out of our next 6 looks difficult though. Looks like W's in 5 out of 6 or all 6. I think we win all 6.

 

[CL82]

Only 1 out of our next 6 looks difficult though. Looks like W's in 5 out of 6 or all 6. I think we win all 6.

I hear what you're saying on a game to game basis, but that is so hard to do.

 

[Tenspro2002]

The next 6 are fine -- the toughest game there is @ St. John's. It's really the last 6 games that are brutal.

Marquette
@Creighton
Nova
Seton Hall
@Marquette
@Providence

We do get a week off between the two home games, which is nice, but we really need to keep it together and not let anything snowball into the postseason, especially in the last two games on the road.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

The next 6 are fine -- the toughest game there is @ St. John's. It's really the last 6 games that are brutal.

Marquette
@Creighton
Nova
Seton Hall
@Marquette
@Providence

We do get a week off between the two home games, which is nice, but we really need to keep it together and not let anything snowball into the postseason, especially in the last two games on the road.

Honestly a favorable situation for us to have the schedule backloaded like this. I am so excited for this stretch of games. Hurley's teams always get better throughout the year...

 

[Chin Diesel]

A lull between now and Feb 17 against Maquette.

Will there be a hiccup before then? Somewhere between possible and probable but this schedule is the best UConn has had in years, especially with how it overlaps with Clingan's injury and recovery.

 

[auror]

When the schedule came out, I said:

I have us at 14-1 in the first 15 with that schedule. And then possibly losing 3/5 to close. I'm sure we'll lose a random second one somewhere in the first 15, so I like us at 15-5 overall.

We're 7-1 with 5 likely wins and 1 probable win coming up, so 13-1 or 12-2 is extremely possible. Then it's home Marquette which is another hopeful win (but tougher game). So yeah 14-1 or 13-2 very much still on table.

In the last 5, the @Providence game has gotten a little easier without Hopkins, though still senior night for them and a rivalry game. Home Seton Hall looks harder now to offset a bit.

 

[superjohn]

When the schedule came out, I said:

We're 7-1 with 5 likely wins and 1 probable win coming up, so 13-1 or 12-2 is extremely possible. Then it's home Marquette which is another hopeful win (but tougher game). So yeah 14-1 or 13-2 very much still on table.

In the last 5, the @Providence game has gotten a little easier without Hopkins, though still senior night for them and a rivalry game. Home Seton Hall looks harder now to offset a bit.

I just can't see this team losing 3 out of 5 no matter who the opponents are and UConn teams seem to gain strength under Hurley at the end of the season. With Clingan back and rounding into form and improvements from Castle I just have trouble seeing it. The floor is pretty high with this team because they're so consistent.

 

[UCann]

Does anyone know why we never play conference games on Mondays or Thursdays?

 

[auror]

I just can't see this team losing 3 out of 5 no matter who the opponents are and UConn teams seem to gain strength under Hurley at the end of the season. With Clingan back and rounding into form and improvements from Castle I just have trouble seeing it. The floor is pretty high with this team because they're so consistent.

Beating good teams on the road is just so tough. Under Hurley, we didn't win a road game against a team that ended the season in the KenPom top 50 in his first 5 years, including last year. We were 0-13 I think. We've actually done it twice so far this season (Xavier, Villanova... but we'll see if they end up there at the end of the season). Nova just missed last season and Florida was at the time but didn't finish there.

So while we certainly could win at Creighton, at Marquette, or at Providence, I wouldn't expect it. The latter 2 will be their team's senior nights. Even if we win, home Nova and home Seton Hall will be a couple of our toughest home games, too, and we could lose 1 of those randomly (though we will likely be well motivated due to the gauntlet). 2 wins out of 5 is a decent result for that stretch, 3 wins would be quite good.

 

[Sphinx]

superjohn:

Couldn't agree more. That high floor you mention goes by the name of Newton, Spencer and Karaban. These three guys give us a floor that is usually above our opponent's ceiling and never far below it. But your reference to Clingan and Castle gets to the nub of any projection, which is to ask, "What is our own ceiling?". The answer will come from these two guys, and while we don't know the answer yet, we know this -- it's a potential that has barely been tapped.

 

[Blue Blood]

Win 5 of the next 6 winnable games beat Marquette and Hall at home and we're big east champions. Going into the year any of us would have happily signed up for that.

 

[50cPitchers]

At least 5 of the next 7 are “home” and the 2 away games are our easier trips (depaul/gtown)

Those final 3 games are brutal though. All within the same calendar week

 

[UCann]

Here's my MIke and the Mad Dog breakdown of the remaining schedule:

Xavier @ XL: WIN - coming off a break, already beat them at Cintas without Clingan
Providence @ Gampel: WIN - rivalry game, on campus, no Hopkins
St. Johns @ MSG: WIN - Storrs South, didn't have Clingan last time
Bulter @ XL: WIN - not much to say here, again did not have Clingan and beat them in their house
@ Georgetown: WIN - first of back-to-back games in an empty arena, just need to stay motivated
@ Depaul: WIN - see above, worst team in the league
Marquette @ XL: WIN - nationally televised, will be a good game, but we're out for revenge from the BET last year
@ Creighton: LOSS - tough place to play, they'll be out for revenge but should be close
Villanova @ Gampel: WIN - Saturday night, prime time, national television, rivalry game on campus, the crowd will be rocking
Seton Hall @ Gampel: WIN - CBS game, Sr. Day, and we'll be out for revenge
@ Marquette: LOSS - I believe it's their senior night, tough road game
@Providence: WINN - they have nothing left to play for at that point, we'll be looking to close out the season on a high note

I only see two more losses for us. Maybe we lose a third fluke game. I'll take 10-2 or 9-3 the rest of the way!

 

[CTBasketball]

We better lose some games before March or I’ll be scared shitless.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Honestly I would be good winning the season title and making it to final of the BE tourney losing in that game and then using that loss to make sure we are laser focused in the tourney. If we do that and finish 16-4 in league I think we are still a one seed. That sting right before the tourney starts seems like a good thing. We need to feel how easy it is to lose a big game before we start defending our championship. Although I admit losing in the BE final will suck but I still felt good last year heading into the tourney after the semi final loss to Marquette in the BE tourney.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

We better lose some games before March or I’ll be scared shitless.

At Providence, at Marquette, at Creighton, at St. Johns. Not saying we'll lose all of them - I doubt we do - but I would imagine we'll pick up at least a couple from among those games.

 

[7774]

Honestly I would be good winning the season title and making it to final of the BE tourney losing in that game and then using that loss to make sure we are laser focused in the tourney. If we do that and finish 16-4 in league I think we are still a one seed. That sting right before the tourney starts seems like a good thing. We need to feel how easy it is to lose a big game before we start defending our championship. Although I admit losing in the BE final will suck but I still felt good last year heading into the tourney after the semi final loss to Marquette in the BE tourney.

How about we just win the Big East Tournament like we’ve done 3 other times we’ve been national champions.

 

[superjohn]

Honestly I would be good winning the season title and making it to final of the BE tourney losing in that game and then using that loss to make sure we are laser focused in the tourney. If we do that and finish 16-4 in league I think we are still a one seed. That sting right before the tourney starts seems like a good thing. We need to feel how easy it is to lose a big game before we start defending our championship. Although I admit losing in the BE final will suck but I still felt good last year heading into the tourney after the semi final loss to Marquette in the BE tourney.

I would be good with winning the Big East regular season title and the Big East tournament title.

 

[tzznandrew]

Only 1 out of our next 6 looks difficult though. Looks like W's in 5 out of 6 or all 6. I think we win all 6.

The @ Nova game was really important. The games will all be tough, but they really should win the upcoming home games and the DePaul & Georgetown games. St. John's will be tough, but this team might be absolutely rolling.

I love the Big East, but it isn't quite what we thought it would be in the offseason. We need to take the regular season title by the throat.

 

[7774]

I would be good with winning the Big East regular season title and the Big East tournament title.

Both of these things are super important to me. It’s insane how many people here act like they are not a huge deal.

 

[tzznandrew]

I would be good with winning the Big East regular season title and the Big East tournament title.

Winning the regular season season and tournament title did just fine for 1999. No reason not to go for that.

Edit: I'll add that 2022 Kansas won regular season and tournament title before NCAAT just two years ago, so it's not like this is rare.

 

[Sphinx]

Both of these things are super important to me. It’s insane how many people here act like they are not a huge deal.

Ditto here. IMO, the blue blood labels attached to Kansas, Kentucky, UNC, Duke et al have as much to do with their year-after-year dominance in conference play as with their occasional natties. UConn followed that path for some 15 years beginning in 1990, but then became sporadic in its Big East results and was finally reduced to an also-ran in the AAC.

Would I trade one of our two natties over the past ten years for 5 or 6 conference titles? Yes, definitely. It would not only have painted us a bluer blue-blood but would have made UConn basketball a lot more fun, year in and year out.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Would I trade one of our two natties over the past ten years for 5 or 6 conference titles? Yes, definitely. It would not only have painted us a bluer blue-blood but would have made UConn basketball a lot more fun, year in and year ouout.

Whoa whoa whoa.... Trading Championships for something less?

You're loony. No way pal!