Do the UConn men have a basketball rivalry with St. John's?

[Waquoit]

SJU kicked Husky ass pretty regularly when the Big East started. The only real rivalry years were when Satan was the head coach.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

The Big East tourney game against St. Johns was really our only competitive game the last 6 weeks of the year.

 

[Scoe]

If the question needs to be asked then the answer is no.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

No. But we do have a rivalry with Pitino.

Pretty much

 

[EricLA]

I disagree that teams have to be on more equal footing to have a rivalry. According to Miriam Webster,

The word rival most commonly refers to a person or group that tries to defeat or be more successful than another person or group, which means that rivals tend to come in pairs.

I also add in other teams we really don't like. PC will NEVER come close to our level of success, but they are like an annoying little brother who is a jerk and has an inferiority complex. But I would still consider that we have a rivalry with them, partially due to proximity. And for the most part, their fans are insufferable.

Same with SJU. I don't think they have to beat us to become a rival. I don't have any issues with their fans, but am NOT a fan of Pitino. Want to beat his @ss every time we play them. I'd consider that a rivalry.

To me, considering another a team a rival isn't giving them any "power" per se, just acknowledging that as a fan, I don't like them, and want to beat the snot of them every time we play. Like by 40+ points.

I mean I get it. None of these teams are close to the same level as UConn, but rivalries come in all shapes and sizes. Example - on the women's side, Tennessee USED to be equal to UConn, but since Summitt left, they have fallen off the face of the earth. However their fans are the worst in the world, and not enough bad things can happen to that program to suit me. And we rarely play them, but I'd still consider them a rival, just a different kind than ND and SC - 2 current rivals who are every bit as good as UConn...

 

[freescooter]

People just don’t get rivalries. Just because you play a team every year and you’ve had a few good games doesn’t make them a rival. When you think of rivalries, you can name them. In basketball UNC-Duke, football Michigan-Ohio State, Texas-Oklahoma. BC-BU in hockey. Those games. Harvard-Yale. Longevity is a part but only a part. You don’t build a rivalry in 5 games but just playing someone a lot doesn’t make them a rival either. There is something extra in those games that is hard to really identify. I mean Harvard has played Brown almost as often as Yale but nobody calls that The Game. Just playing a few Big Games doesn’t make it a rivalry either. And just because one side goes through a tough patch doesn’t make a rivalry disappear. It might even make it more intense.

 

[FearThePups]

People just don’t get rivalries. Just because you play a team every year and you’ve had a few good games doesn’t make them a rival. When you think of rivalries, you can name them. In basketball UNC-Duke, football Michigan-Ohio State, Texas-Oklahoma. BC-BU in hockey. Those games. Harvard-Yale. Longevity is a part but only a part. You don’t build a rivalry in 5 games but just playing someone a lot doesn’t make them a rival either. There is something extra in those games that is hard to really identify. I mean Harvard has played Brown almost as often as Yale but nobody calls that The Game. Just playing a few Big Games doesn’t make it a rivalry either. And just because one side goes through a tough patch doesn’t make a rivalry disappear. It might even make it more intense.

Agree. I’d add Bama and Auburn football and Ky and TN basketball. I would say the UConn Duke games although fewer and far between were always bitter and they’d be my number 1 out of conference rival.

 

[cohenzone]

I don’t see St John’s as a rival the way Syracuse was. I also don’t see winning and losing during an extended period as defining a rivalry. See Yankees-Red Sox. Michigan-Ohio State. They just (or their fans anyway) just want to win every time

The best long lasting sports rivalries tend to have a geographic component. Rivalries based on teams being good at the same time are a real thing and create interest, but they tend to come and go in a way that historic rivalries don’t fade based on how good or bad the teams are. But even though St.John’s, Providence and BC are much closer to Storrs, there really wasn't and even now anything close to our Syracuse rivalry. It shows up on the BY a lot with a bunch paying attention to and trashing them even though we haven’t been in the same conference for quite a while.

I think it would be fun to feel a real constant rivalry with either or both of St. John’s and PC for however long UConn is in the BE.

 

[WrenchFan69]

Here's our rivalries in my head -

Tier 1: Syracuse, Nova, Georgetown
Tier 2: St. John's, PC
Tier 3: Pitt, Cincy, Duke
Tier 4: Seton Hall, Marquette, BC

 

[FfldCntyFan]

We have about as much of a rivalry with St John;s as an axe has with a piece of wood.

 

[AllHusky]

I think if you asked Jim Calhoun, he would say BC was a rival. Remember the fierce recruiting battle for Bill Curley? After UConn and Calhoun lost that one, I felt like Calhoun never lost to BC again(he did of course, just felt like that!)

I just checked, pretty damn close to never. Lost to BC just 3 times since Curley was recruited in 1990.

 

[milards]

Traditionally, in the past, yes.
It would be great to see this rivalry fire up again.
An argument can be made that St. John's used to be a bigger rival than Syracuse. Certainly bigger than Providence. In fact, before St. John's fell on hard times this century, it was probably UConn's biggest rival.

Late 90’s games against Artest and co at the Garden were so fun.

 

[willie99]

Sure, why not. They're always tough with Pitino and they're going to get better. Having a good team in NYC can only help

Remember, in the 80's they were looking down at us. Although they never achieved our level of greatness, they did have Louie

 

[John]

Not a rival.

 

[Umami Zen]

Rick has to step up and beat us. His words

 

[Waquoit]

Rick has to step up and beat us. His words

The guy before him did.

 

[Kolumbo]

People just don’t get rivalries. Just because you play a team every year and you’ve had a few good games doesn’t make them a rival. When you think of rivalries, you can name them. In basketball UNC-Duke, football Michigan-Ohio State, Texas-Oklahoma. BC-BU in hockey. Those games. Harvard-Yale. Longevity is a part but only a part. You don’t build a rivalry in 5 games but just playing someone a lot doesn’t make them a rival either. There is something extra in those games that is hard to really identify. I mean Harvard has played Brown almost as often as Yale but nobody calls that The Game. Just playing a few Big Games doesn’t make it a rivalry either. And just because one side goes through a tough patch doesn’t make a rivalry disappear. It might even make it more intense.

You list the biggest existing rivalries. That doesn't mean thera aren't dozens of other rivalries out there.

Yes St. John's is a rival. I can't stomach losing to them. Early on they were better. It was intense when they had Artest, Thornton, Barkley. Then sheet went sideways and the BE changed drastically.

 

[Khal Drogo]

SJU kicked Husky ass pretty regularly when the Big East started. The only real rivalry years were when Satan was the head coach.

Malik Sealy was brutal. He always was unstoppable.

 

[M.S.G.]

SJU kicked Husky ass pretty regularly when the Big East started. The only real rivalry years were when Satan was the head coach.

 

[CL82]

Rivalries are fun, what’s wrong with you guys?

Rivalries are fun. Pretend rivalries are just sad.

 

[Umami Zen]

The guy before him did.

I am aware of the pre-Pitino St Johns-UConn history-My comments were made within the context of the article this OP referenced

 

[Waquoit]

I am aware of the pre-Pitino St Johns-UConn history-My comments were made within the context of the article this OP referenced

You thought I was criticizing you? I was busting on Rick.

 

[Palatine]

The Red Sox/Yankees rivalry was acknowledged as one of the best in sports even though the Red Sox hadn't come out on top for almost a century.

 

[HooperScooper]

The Red Sox/Yankees rivalry was acknowledged as one of the best in sports even though the Red Sox hadn't come out on top for almost a century.

Sox beat the Yankees hundreds of times so not really a good comparison.

But you’re right, 2004 ratcheted up things.