Has the conference affiliation finally caught up

[NormanDale]

This "seismic shift" isn't true at all. You and the OP and some others on here are in complete meltdown looking to make grandiose proclamations because you're upset that your team lost. C'mon. - They got beat by a better team on that given night just the same way any "non-great college team" can get beat. It's as simple as that.

Ten years ago which you claim UCONN would have wiped out a number 19 team-- UCONN beat #17 West Vga 57-51 in January 2011. In late February they beat #17/18 GTOWN 52-42 in which it was a 4 point game with 5:16 left.

You know back then just like now other teams had scholarship players and had some good coaching too. Not every coach was bad.

What's changed since the last 4 years is that UCONN hasn't had Stewart/Jefferson/Tuck. It has nothing to do with a "seismic shift."

No, what has changed was the creation of the WNBA in 1996, multi-million dollar sneaker deals for women players, investment in Team USA basketball, competitive AAU basketball for girls starting as early as 8 years old, etc. There are far more young girls being groomed to play basketball these days, there are far more good players and good coaches because there is far more money involved. As for the "complete meltdown" part, I predicted they would lose this game in prior threads, but by all means don't let facts get in the way or your BS!

 

[southofnorth]

Tonight was mainly about defense. It could’ve happened against any team that was shooting the ball well on any given night. How often do you let the other team score 90 points and get a win? Not many. Would playing against better competition be good? Maybe, but even the better conferences only have a handful of teams better than those found in the AAC or Big East so it seems unlikely that another conference change would suddenly help UConn go undefeated. Again, tonight was about defense. You score 87 meaning your offense was there, but you gave up wide open threes and fouled and didn’t keep players in front of you and that’s all a recipe for disaster against a team like Arkansas. The best thing now is for UConn to take this loss and figure out what they can do better and then put that plan into play. They’ve got the potential, now it’s time to see it through.

 

[Cuango]

This team’s chances for winning the national championship depend (almost exclusively) on whether they can become something approximating a UConn standard defensive team. I’m not worried so much about tonight’s game as Arkansas was clearly in the zone. Unfortunately, we were basically a sieve tonight. However, defense has always been the ace in the hole for UConn and it is very difficult to see a path to a championship unless they improve drastically on the defensive end and specifically against good teams!

 

[Jmsdawg]

No.

Not being a very good team is what caught up with us.

UConn is a very good team, beating a team making 3s as Arkansas did last night was a very difficult task even for a great team. I still feel this team has the potential to win the National championship. Hang in there because it is obvious to me better things are in the future.

 

[Plebe]

UConn is a very good team, beating a team making 3s as Arkansas did last night was a very difficult task even for a great team. I still feel this team has the potential to win the National championship. Hang in there because it is obvious to me better things are in the future.

 

[Plebe]

As an outsider, I'd also argue that (b) is plausible-- not for teams (like the Stewie years) that are head and shoulders above everyone else, but for teams, like this one and the past few at UCONN, whose advantages over the best other teams in WBB are less or sometimes not that at all. Yes, Geno does everything he can to schedule a very demanding out-of-conference schedule and that has generally given UCONN what is listed as a very high strength of schedule overall. But playing marquee games, usually spread out over time, against tough opponents out of conference is not the same, in my view, as navigating a conference schedule in which the margin of error for victory, week after week and sometimes game after game, is much less than it has been, and is, for UCONN in both the American Conference and Big East. The physical and mental demands of competition within a relatively tough conference are much greater and, perhaps just as important, the scouting by opponents is much more thorough (and becomes increasingly so). So--if team B learns how to defend what team A has been doing so well up to that point (or discovers a weakness), everyone jumps on board, forcing team A to adjust if it is to continue to be successful. And that of course makes team A all the stronger as the (conference) season progresses. That's why it is often the case that teams with a fine out-of-conference record fall flat once they get a couple of games into the conference part of the season. I think it's difficult to improve as much as one would like without that sort of week-to-week competition. Not impossible, obviously, but considerably more difficult. And that is the challenge that UCONN has faced for several years now.

Yes, I'm sure that playing the likes of Washington and Colorado and Pitt and Wisconsin and Vanderbilt and Kansas would make all the difference, suddenly turning a B game into an A+ game.

This is all armchair spitballing, at best; sophistry would be more accurate.

There is zero empirical evidence that being in a "tough" or "easy" conference per se makes a lick of difference in team development or postseason results. Back in 2012, when the Big 12 was recognized as an extremely tough conference, Baylor, deemed the heavy national title favorite, still suffered the shocking loss to Louisville in the Sweet 16. Contrast that to 2019, when the Big 12 outside of Baylor was a decidedly weak conference, and yet Baylor, though not the clear singular favorite, won it all.

Fans and coaches of certain teams in certain conferences have a Pavlovian compulsion to spout clichés and platitudes about how wonderful/competitive/brutal their conference is and how their specific conference affiliation prepares them uniquely for epic postseason conquests. It's really just a bunch of PR baloney.

 

[bluedevil]

I wonder when teams like Baylor or Stanford or SC lose a game do their fan bases go beserk like ours do?

 

[hoopsfan22]

A little perspective is in order. Over the past decade:

UConn 356-20
Baylor 340-25
ND 323-49
Stanford 301-58
South Carolina 281-65
Tennessee 254-89

 

[HuskyNan]

I wonder when teams like Baylor or Stanford or SC lose a game do their fan bases go beserk like ours do?

No. We have a certain number of fans that feel they’re owed 40 point blowouts every game and get snippy when it doesn’t happen.

 

[hjoerring]

No doubt the UConn teams the past two years while very good are not at the level of the previous 10 to 12 years. This year’s team and last year’s as well have not played as well as they are capable of primarily due to playing most Of their games against very poor competition
Perhaps past teams had a different make up and were able to not be affected by playing against so many inferior opponents

I for one think the league affiliation has finally caught up with your UConn
and obviously made much worse by the
Cancellations against Miss state Baylor
Louisville
Interested in your take

Had it been so long that we had 4-rings in a row and playing in an 'inferior' league? Oh, you mean we are now paying for all the winnings we have had in these inferior leagues. Something else? I'll try: These 'inferior leagues are no longer willing (or able) to help us win games, as they did in the past. No? One more try, please: These super leagues have figured out how to beat teams like us from inferior leagues. Of course truth has nothing to do with reality- it is just an utterance ... picked up and repeated ...
Being against Uconn is like being against sin. Who in their right mind can be for sin.

 

[huskeynut]

I wonder when teams like Baylor or Stanford or SC lose a game do their fan bases go beserk like ours do?

The word "fan" is derived from the word "fanatic."

We are a spoiled fan base that now has become a victim of the program's successes. We expect undefeated seasons and national championships every year. If we do not reach those goals, the program has failed. It wasn't that long ago that some posters were complaining about our competition. They wanted to see more competitive games. Well they have their wish so stop complaining.

As to the OP, conference affiliation has nothing to do with it. Tennessee's dominance fueled the rise of UConn. UConn's dominance gave way to the rise of teams like ND and Louisville and South Carolina. More teams have emerged as "cream of the crop" teams. This is the nature of things. There are coaches & programs that strive to be the best of the best. There is nothing wrong with that.

 

[CL82]

UConn has consistently had one of the best overall strengths of schedule, year in and year out, even in the AAC years. Nothing wrong with the competition.

It's a facile rationale, intellectually lazy in the extreme.

Lol. Ouch. Now that is the way to address a trolling post.

 

[Centerstream]

No, the last three NCs came while UCONN was in the AAC, so it wasn't a hinderance then and the BE isn't a hinderance now. This team, with all its talent, has several weaknesses that need to get fixed before it can be considered a serious contender. But, alas, help is on the way! To me, this year is simply a training year to get the freshmen some experience until comes in the fall. Even with the expected transfers (the handwriting will be on the wall for some knowing who all are coming in the fall), this team will be loaded next year! Just enjoy whatever we can get from this year's team.

According to a large number of BYers, we need even more bigs. So where will they come from?
And just as Paige was going to be this year's messiah, you are now proclaiming it will be Azzi? Interesting.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

I watched the game (with sprinkles of the sinking ship in Starkville) and thought UConn was very good, Arkansas just a little better. I've watched the games with UT and Ark and am amazed how much better Westbrook is, Paige's poise, and they have depth UConn has lacked the last several years. This is NC caliber team no doubt just not an invincible one.

Games like this are usually good ones because even with a loss the team has played a couple of close games and know what to do when the game gets tight. That almost always helps come tournament time when the margin of error shrinks drastically. With the overall depth of talent in this insanely crazy year (UT beat Ole Miss by one point in Knoxville) then the tournament should be fun if it happens.

UConn will be fine as always. PB is a star already and will only improve.

 

[Centerstream]

No. We have a certain number of fans that feel they’re owed 40 point blowouts every game and get snippy when it doesn’t happen.

And it seems some of us know exactly why we didn't get those 40 point blowouts and how to ensure it won't happen again.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

There were people on this board who thought that going to the New Big East was the cure-all for UConn sports. I guess so far that isn't the case. UConn fans need to keep the pressure up to get UConn into the ACC or other P5.

 

[TWG236]

The conference isn't a problem or solution to UCONN winning or losing. UCONN has lost games before that us fans believed they should have won. We scored 87 points, so offense wasn't the problem. We gave up 90 points. Arkansas shot 51 percent and made 13 three's. No matter which conference we belong to, those stats most often mean your going to lose. I for one can't remember the last time we allowed 90 points and 51 percent shooting to an opponent. If it happens again, we will most likely lose again no matter which conference we belong to. WOW what are people going to say if we, God forbid, we lose a Big East game.
.

 

[bluedevil]

There were people on this board who thought that going to the New Big East was the cure-all for UConn sports. I guess so far that isn't the case. UConn fans need to keep the pressure up to get UConn into the ACC or other P5.

Exactly who do we pressure? No P5 will ever take Uconn until they have a football team...Uconn should start one imho.

 

[HuskyNan]

Exactly who do we pressure? No P5 will ever take Uconn until they have a football team...Uconn should start one imho.

LOL. (I assume this is sarcasm)

 

[bluedevil]

LOL. (I assume this is sarcasm)

Some of it...

 

[LoyalFanCT]

Exactly who do we pressure? No P5 will ever take Uconn until they have a football team...Uconn should start one imho.

In 2012, the Hartford Courant reported: "Louisville lobbied hard for an invitation, pitching its overall athletic program and its ability to enhance the ACC football product." We didn't work hard enough to counter their effort.

 

[hoophuskee]

According to a large number of BYers, we need even more bigs. So where will they come from?
And just as Paige was going to be this year's messiah, you are now proclaiming it will be Azzi? Interesting.

Are you referring to most BYers when it comes to Paige as The Messiah or just the one poster you are replying to?

Anyhow, the game was just fun to watch other than the final outcome.

It's just that just like the OP - we are all so prone to evaluate each game and make proclamations. Because wasn't it just one game prior that Geno and many were complaining on here that UCONN couldn't shoot the 3-ball? Now we shoot the 3ball well so that topic becomes silent and now it's our conference" to blame for losing ONE GAME to a top 20 team away form home.

 

[Sifaka]

The OP assumes at least two things:

1. Playing competitive teams sharpens the skills of the UConn team, or any other team.

2. Being in a relatively weak conference denies UConn the chance to sharpen its skills by playing competitive teams.

While 1. is plausible, it's not an ironclad certainty. Other members of this thread have already noted such exceptions as Baylor. Let's add Notre Dame. They play in a conference with a number of competitive schools, and have both excelled and fallen flat in recent years. Roster, quality of coaching, injuries, etc. are all part of the mix that leads to success or failure.

2. is absolute bunkum, nonsense, and codswallop.

The bottom third of any conference is routinely populated by cupcakes, and most years the middle third isn't much better. So our schedule has some unavoidable cupcakes.
The same is true for the best teams in every conference.

Now, let's take the middle third. More cupcakes for us, while in some conferences, in some years, there is a bit more competition. We counteract that by scheduling topnotch OOC games.

The top third in the so-called P5 leagues typically include ranked teams. That is also true for the Big East.

Add it all up, and UConn normally—in a non Covid year—
schedules and plays as many top 25 teams as anyone else, if not more.

The thread starter's proposition brings to mind something penned by
H.L. Mencken. (I paraphrase, as I don't have the 6 volumes of The Prejudices at hand.)


For every difficult, vexatious problem there is one, simple, easy, solution.



And it's wrong!

 

[triaddukefan]

I wonder when teams like Baylor or Stanford or SC lose a game do their fan bases go beserk like ours do?

I'm not a fan of those teams, but whenever Duke WBB loses a game.... I go beserk.... in restaurants and bars. I've gained 100 pounds and became an alcoholic in the past 14 years

 

[huskeynut]

There were people on this board who thought that going to the New Big East was the cure-all for UConn sports. I guess so far that isn't the case. UConn fans need to keep the pressure up to get UConn into the ACC or other P5.

That boat sailed a long time ago.