Geno knows that fans and TV only want to see and pay for big games and Big name teams. Geno's comment that he does not care if he wins or losses is why UCONN will play anybody and anytime. The reason most of the top 20 teams will not play UCONN is they are worried about losing and what their record will be.......When, wins and losses does not matter anymore, you will get teams like Stanford, UNC, Duke, OU, TAM to get outside their comfort zone for the good of the game and to expose their team to the best teams and filled arenas across the country. * * * * * * * * *
There are, without doubt, several factors that affect who plays who outside of the league & NCAA tournaments. You've pointed out one of the more popular factors. Another factor, that rarely gets mentioned is the effort and cost of travel.
Currently, there are only a handful of schools that have the logistical capability to move their little circus to any appropriate US location. Driving the school's travel bus 500 miles in one thing; driving the very same bus 3000 is an entirely different beast. Then consider the financial issues:: it is likely only a handful can pay the costs needed to sustain a national OOC campaign. Before anyone let's their sensitive nature gets to twisting of knickers because of this terribly unfair advantage that centrally located schools like TN & ND hold over us, just keep it in mind that Holy Cross, SHU, Fairfield, College of Charlestown are all in the same boat we are... the schools located in the western half of the country won't play them either. It couldn't hurt to remember that just because it is a fact that UConn is one of very few that can travel to any NCAA Member school's gym, the reverse is just as much a fact for most schools. [Oh, how this unfairness bothers my sensitive soul... Someone should call Commissioner Gordon!]
Like most East Coast teams, we are out of reach for most schools beyond Kansas. Only the most successful and well funded schools are able to agree to play us with or without reciprocal arraignments. So, before we even start building a season we have lost nearly half of the country as possibilities. But, as we all know, for every rule there is an exception.
Special arraignments have been made to play schools in order to fulfill a UConn player's "home" game. Although these "onesies" are by definition a UConn funded issue, occasionally one of these far away teams does collect their milk money and travel east to Storrs because their coach wants his players and staff to experience the UConn program or because the national exposure might open up new recruiting areas for the coaches school.
Ah, Geography.... Obviously, more centrally located schools can & do travel to both coasts. The Vols, ND, LSU, Kentucky, ... will have this advantage until either travel costs become insignificant and/or most programs have sufficient funds to make the journey beyond half of the country.
I hope that message sinks in to all top 25 teams......MD has finally seen the light and good for them. Now, we need for Penn State to step up and get on a big boy schedule......
We all watch the game for our own reasons. I used to pay much stricter attention to the competitive elements... now I watch for the elegant beauty of a very hard thing performed with grace and the illusion of simplicity.
I still enjoy the games pitting a top ten team against our Huskies, but there is something to be said for ballet. The athleticism, the grace of every movement, the elegance of hard things made to look as if they are so very simple to perform draws my attention these days. Although these performances occur against both highly ranked and unranked teams, they do occur more frequently against lower ranked and unranked teams. BTW, I have always loved cupcakes and can't remember a time I passed up a good cream-puff.
Sometimes we hit those very same marks... most call those games:: "UConn Basketball" with it's perfectly timed passes and Gazelle like leaps ending in a finger roll for a basket. It all looks so easy. Think back to the Championship game against TN where we backdoored them into oblivion. That year, TN was just another Cupcake or maybe... just another Cream-Puff?
Our team has often played basketball with all of the elegance and simple beauty of ballet while the Vols were and forever will be, just another Top tier basketball team playing rebound and chucker-ball.
UConn basketball is different... It can be and has been a thing of beauty. More times than not we have seen that thing of beauty displayed against the lesser teams. This does not diminish the accomplishment of attaining something that the other schools with "better" schedules have never attained:: Beautiful Basketball.
Thank god there is no defense in ballet.
Your Ol' Pal Boo
