ESPN (Voepel) Says UConn-Baylor is best rivalry

[j66kicker]

(Of course - they’re carrying Thursday’s game...)

Why UConn-Baylor is the best rivalry in women's college basketball

The Baylor-UConn rivalry is underappreciated, but Thursday's matchup (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) is one of the most anticipated of the season.

www.espn.com

 

[CajunHusky]

(Of course - they’re carrying Thursday’s game...)

Why UConn-Baylor is the best rivalry in women's college basketball

The Baylor-UConn rivalry is underappreciated, but Thursday's matchup (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) is one of the most anticipated of the season.

www.espn.com

Not ....

UConn vs South Carolina
UConn vs Louisville
UConn vs Stanford (once they resume)
I could see UConn vs Oregon becoming a big deal.

Mulkey is desparate to create a UConn rivalry because she has complained for a number of years now that her program does not get National games.

 

[JonathanXIV]

Mulkey is desparate to create a UConn rivalry because she has complained for a number of years now that her program does not get National games.

You mean Baylor versus Lubbock Christian isn't a National game?

 

[Centerstream]

You mean Baylor versus Lubbock Christian isn't a National game?

Everyone knows that she schedules all these "JV" type games to benefit the smaller schools. Has nothing to do with padding her Win-Loss pct or her team and player's stats.

 

[mbr33ct]

Did the editing department intentionally leave off "this week" in the headline?

 

[huskyd]

(Of course - they’re carrying Thursday’s game...)

Why UConn-Baylor is the best rivalry in women's college basketball

The Baylor-UConn rivalry is underappreciated, but Thursday's matchup (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) is one of the most anticipated of the season.

www.espn.com

You can read later in this article that there's such a thing as "Coach of the Week." Really? And how is that calculated? Braggart: "Hey, I was Coach of the Week." Someone cares?

 

[eebmg]

I think her take is very reasonable. We are in for a heck of a fight and I hope we attack it head on. No deer in headlights this time

 

[Zanzman]

Not ....

UConn vs South Carolina
UConn vs Louisville
UConn vs Stanford (once they resume)
I could see UConn vs Oregon becoming a big deal.

Mulkey is desparate to create a UConn rivalry because she has complained for a number of years now that her program does not get National games.

She was that backed out when Stewie was here

 

[hart2hart]

I’d love to see UCONN/Stanford every year.
They look pretty darn good! But, we’re better!

 

[the Q]

It is interesting that without muffets blatant misandry that this rivalry question is now a thing again.

 

[MSGRET]

Not ....

UConn vs South Carolina
UConn vs Louisville
UConn vs Stanford (once they resume)
I could see UConn vs Oregon becoming a big deal.

Mulkey is desparate to create a UConn rivalry because she has complained for a number of years now that her program does not get National games.

Not Mulkey, ESPN. They only have UConn for two regular season games this year, would have had three if the Louisville game had not been canceled. I betcha that they will also hype the UConn vs Tennessee game during the Baylor game. Notice in the article that Standford vs Oregon and South Carolina vs Mississippi State are hyped before the South Carolina vs UConn even though this series was watched more than the other two combined. South Carolina vs UConn game had been ESPN's top watched regular season game over the past few years and they hype the other's only because they're on the ESPN networks.

 

[EricLA]

There are many nuances to the definition of "Rivalry", but according to the dictionary, it's "competition for the same objective or for superiority in the same field.". But it really doesn't take into account tradition.

Harvard - Yale
Duke - UNC
Red Sox - Yankees
UCLA - USC
Army-Navy

Some rivalries go back a century or more, and those are the truest IMHO. So if you look at UCONN's longest rival, it's really Tennessee. We had to knock them off in 1995 to get to the top, and there have been MANY battles ever since, fortunately with UCONN coming out on top more times than not. Plus comparing Geno vs. Pat - NC's, final 4's, total wins, winning%, etc etc. And the fan bases dislike each other as well, so to me that's the truest long-time rival. We now hold a 14-9 edge over them, 23 games in our history.

Once Tennessee started faltering and the teams stopped playing, Notre Dame became our fiercest rival. Both teams were again near the top of the rankings every year and we faced them regular season, BET, and NCAA's.

ND has since fallen off. They don't have a chance of beating us any time soon. Although we are 38-12 all time. Stanford, to me, hasn't really been a rival because we don't play in their conference, and we have played them 18 times going 11-7. There have certainly been some memorable games of great importance.

So now, the 3 best programs seem to be UCONN, Stanford and SC. All 3 are recruiting gangbusters and IMHO will be final 4 fixtures over the next 3-4 years. Everyone else will be fighting for the 4th spot. But we really don't play Stanford, and only SC has been schedule the past few years. Our record vs. SC is 8-1, but we know they are very good and recruiting well, but is it a rivalry, or just a big important game?

I guess it depends how you really define "rivalry"...

 

[veryolddog]

Mulkey has consistently stated in the past that she aspires that her program be like the UConn program. That the UConn program always pursues excellence demostrated by the amount of National Championships and final fours attended. This has not been a secret. That is what she expects from Baylor. So a head to head competition with UConn is a great way to pursue that direction.

 

[JonathanXIV]

Everyone knows that she schedules all these "JV" type games to benefit the smaller schools. Has nothing to do with padding her Win-Loss pct or her team and player's stats.

Exactly, padding her team's record is just an unexpected result.

Sorry, don't find that believable. Kim has put together a schedule unworthy of a major power for years. No need to go into further in this thread. There have been other threads that discuss this in detail.

 

[Carnac]

I think her take is very reasonable. We are in for a heck of a fight and I hope we attack it head on. No deer in headlights this time

I’d like a double digit win!! I’d settle for an “ugly” win. A 2 point loss will be just as devastating to Baylor as a 20 point loss. Only one team will be in good spirits after the game. I want it to be UConn.

Our girls were devastated last year after losing to Baylor at home, and allowing UConn’s consecutive home game win streak to terminate on their watch. Let’s return the favor. One thing we do know. There are no moral victories. They’ve never handed out a trophy or had a parade to celebrate a moral victory.

 

[Geew1992]

There are many nuances to the definition of "Rivalry", but according to the dictionary, it's "competition for the same objective or for superiority in the same field.". But it really doesn't take into account tradition.

Harvard - Yale
Duke - UNC
Red Sox - Yankees
UCLA - USC
Army-Navy

Some rivalries go back a century or more, and those are the truest IMHO. So if you look at UCONN's longest rival, it's really Tennessee. We had to knock them off in 1995 to get to the top, and there have been MANY battles ever since, fortunately with UCONN coming out on top more times than not. Plus comparing Geno vs. Pat - NC's, final 4's, total wins, winning%, etc etc. And the fan bases dislike each other as well, so to me that's the truest long-time rival. We now hold a 14-9 edge over them, 23 games in our history.

Once Tennessee started faltering and the teams stopped playing, Notre Dame became our fiercest rival. Both teams were again near the top of the rankings every year and we faced them regular season, BET, and NCAA's.

ND has since fallen off, and we haven't played them in a while. Although we are 38-12 all time. Stanford, to me, hasn't really been a rival because we don't play in their conference, and we have played them 18 times going 11-7. There have certainly been some memorable games of great importance.

So now, the 3 best programs seem to be UCONN, Stanford and SC. All 3 are recruiting gangbusters and IMHO will be final 4 fixtures over the next 3-4 years. Everyone else will be fighting for the 4th spot. But we really don't play Stanford, and only SC has been schedule the past few years. Our record vs. SC is 8-1, but we know they are very good and recruiting well, but is it a rivalry, or just a big important game?

I guess it depends how you really define "rivalry"...

I'm not sure what you mean by a while. UCONN played ND last year, which was a horrible year for ND. The only reason the game wasn't played this year was due to COVID. The year before, I'm pretty sure ND knocked UCONN out of the tournament. So, I would still consider ND a rivalry.

 

[Carnac]

I’d love to see UCONN/Stanford every year.
They look pretty darn good! But, we’re better!

I would love for UConn and Stanford to play every year. That would mean UConn comes to California every other year. I could see our team in person on a regular basis. Palo Alto is a lot closer to me than Storrs. I was there the last time UConn came to town back in 2014.

 

[chrissaran]

JonathanXIV, totally agree. Share the money with the smaller colleges, but don't schedule games that aren't competitive.

 

[Carnac]

Mulkey has consistently stated in the past that she aspires that her program be like the UConn program. That the UConn program always pursues excellence demostrated by the amount of National Championships and final fours attended. This has not been a secret. That is what she expects from Baylor. So a head to head competition with UConn is a great way to pursue that direction.

Another way to pursue that direction is to adopt Geno’s philosophy with respect to scheduling preseason opponents. D1 women’s teams are allowed to schedule up to 13 non conference games each year.

How about limiting the cupcakes on your OOC schedule to two, and schedule at least 4 top ten teams?

 

[MSGRET]

Exactly, padding her team's record is just an unexpected result.

Sorry, don't find that believable. Kim has put together a schedule unworthy of a major power for years. No need to go into further in this thread. There have been other threads that discuss this in detail.

This year she has scheduled four teams that don't crack the Top 200 in the Massey ratings. While Geno had one team scheduled and that was Quinnipiac which is 201. ESPN does not show that UConn had a potential match up with Mississippi State at the Mohegan Sun or the cancelled Louisville game under UConn schedule. Geno had to get a game in so he got Shea to schedule a game with UMass-Lowell #272 in Massey. Here are the four teams that Kim scheduled this year and their current rankings in Massey Ratings.

Central Arkansas-#285
Southern-#222
Northwestern State-#355
McNeese State-#353

 

[JonathanXIV]

This year she has scheduled four teams that don't crack the Top 200 in the Massey ratings. While Geno had one team scheduled and that was Quinnipiac which is 201. ESPN does not show that UConn had a potential match up with Mississippi State at the Mohegan Sun or the cancelled Louisville game under UConn schedule. Geno had to get a game in so he got Shea to schedule a game with UMass-Lowell #272 in Massey. Here are the four teams that Kim scheduled this year and their current rankings in Massey Ratings.

Central Arkansas-#285
Southern-#222
Northwestern State-#355
McNeese State-#353

Take a look at Kim's early season schedule for the 2019-20 season. I've detailed it before in other threads, so I won't repeat myself here. But it's embarrassing.

 

[MSGRET]

Take a look at Kim's early season schedule for the 2019-20 season. I've detailed it before in other threads, so I won't repeat myself here. But it's embarrassing.

ESPN is always hyping about her being the fastest to 600, but at least 100 of those are against cupcakes (+250 to 355 rating) and she doesn't even come close to the competition that Geno played in his first 600 games.

 

[HuskylnSC]

It's only a rivalry if you get to make up your own definition of rivalry:
- "But that's one definition of a rivalry: a meeting between top opponents that viewers circle on their calendars."

Uuhh, NO! It's a fun game that is all.

 

[Alydar]

It's not a rivalry when one coach ends the series. Both coaches have to have the guts to play every year, Mulkey has no guts. At least McGraw was a competitor. I don't see Baylor-UConn ever becoming a rivalry as long as Kim picks and chooses when they play.

 

[MD#12Fan]

Solid article. I respect Mechelle Voepel. WCCB is lucky to have her on the beat.
Nice hype by ESPN! I'm surprised, the game's 3 days away. Do we really blame ESPN for not covering UConn? Ridiculous. Isn't that relationship a league thing? (Big East)
I think Geno's relationship with Kim is interesting. I'd love to know more about it. I do not know anything about it. Working together w/ USA Basketball? Geno respecting how the Baylor team and fans treat UConn in Waco? Things she's said to the press over the years? If you know more, enlighten me.