IS the duke game a must win?

[husky99]

I get that this is bad mojo and all but talking with co-worker (monster uconn fans) who are saying yes. There answer is based on tos, conference play, etc

(Fishy please no raw chicken in the the mouth while I am sleeping for asking)

Florida is a big part of this question. They already have 4 losses and seem to have issues. Not sure they will be as strong as we hoped.

 

[huskiesnyc]

A win would be nice but there's no such thing as a must win in December. After Duke we should be favored in pretty much every game, except for maybe Florida the rest of the year. We just need to run this garbage conference and try to go at least 15-3.

 

[Leebo]

Since everyone in the conference goes to the AAC tourney, those are really the only actual must win games.

 

[August_West]

Its not a must, but it would make things a lot easier on us. A loss would turn true road games at Stanford and Florida into 2 MUST's. And that may be a tall order.

I would like to have this one, for a lot of reasons, and would sign up right now for a FLorida/Stanford split in exchange for a Duke win.

 

[UChusky916]

No such thing as a MUST-WIN in December.

However, this game is as probably as close as it gets.

Last year we beat #1 ranked team OOC with a few other quality wins and we earned only a 7 seed because of the AAC conference bias. This year our conference is much worse... UL gone and other teams struggling (none ranked).

Florida, as you mentioned, is not looking like much of a quality win if we could pull that off.
@Stanford is to be determined.
We lost to Texas.
We lost to West Virginia.
We already have a bad loss to Yale.

Put all of that together and a even a win vs Duke may not be enough to get us a decent seed unless we wreck the conference and sweep the AAC tourney.

 

[mauconnfan]

No

 

[Hoophound]

No, but it is a very important game in that it provides a signature win. After losing 3 of our first 6 games, counting on just tearing through the conference would be foolish. This team is going to have to grind out a lot of close wins in the AAC in order to have a gaudy record. The offense just isn't there right now so I expect plenty of rock fights that could go either way without Shabazz there to close out games.

My hope is that we beat Duke and get on a run that puts these "must win" threads to bed. Without a win over Duke we will be having these conversations until March simply because we don't have anywhere else to pick up a huge, quality win.

 

[Tenspro2002]

To have a chance at a protected (5 or better) seed: Yes
To have a chance at an at-large bid: No, but the margin for error becomes extremely small (<3 regular season losses the rest of the way)

Fortunately, the flip side of being in such a horrible conference is we actually have a chance to get in via the auto-bid even if our at-large profile is terrible.

 

[Palatine]

Yes. Must win. Duke is evil and must be defeated.

 

[8893]

No.

"Must" connotes "you have to, or else...," which begs the question, what is the "or else...?"

In most sports, the "or else..." means making the post-season.

In college basketball, the only "or else" that matters imo is making the NCAA tournament.

Because we can and should win the AAC tournament irrespective of how crappy our season may turn out, and thereby get an automatic NCAA tournament bid, the Duke game is not a "must win," especially since it has no effect whatsoever on our conference standings or conference tournament seeding.

 

[willie99]

NO NO NO NO NO................................

there are NO must win games in December, it's not when we're at our best anyhow.

there are a bunch of must win games in March, that's when Blue Collar >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Blue Blood and Blue Chips

 

[Kitaman]

Sorry but it is a must win.......... .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . .for dook. They lose and they further solidify their spot as our Biatch.

 

[Danzz]

This team is a work in progress, so no.

 

[Candyman]

No its not a must win but if we get blown out on national TV it wont be good. We need a signature win though and cant afford to lose all our top OOC games.

I will say thank god the AAC tourneyis in Hartford this year.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Ridiculous question.

 

[Mr. Conehead]

At the end of the day, best guess is that the AAC gets 2 to 3 invites, max, to the dance. So, as long as UConn can win the AAC title, which I think UConn will as this young team continues to develop, UConn does not need to win this game. That said, beating ESPN's darling, Duke, would help a lot.

 

[Inyatkin]

Let's go back to Jim Calhoun from I believe 2005 (paraphrasing): "What's a must win? What happens if you don't? Do they kill you?"

 

[intlzncster]

At the end of the day, best guess is that the AAC gets 2 to 3 invites, max, to the dance. So, as long as UConn can win the AAC title, which I think UConn will as this young team continues to develop, UConn does not need to win this game. That said, beating ESPN's darling, Duke, would help a lot.

Regardless of how many bids the AAC gets, UCONN's in automatically if they win the league, no?

 

[August_West]

Regardless of how many bids the AAC gets, UCONN's in automatically if they win the league, no?

While we should win the aac tourney in hartford this year, does anyone feel truly comfortable hitching an NCAA berth on 3 anything can happen games in conf. Tournament format.


I don't need that stress in my life.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

if they picked the ncaa at large teams today we'd be in trouble. Thankfully they don't do that until March.

 

[scotty0330]

no we can still get to the tournament without a win. Granted seeding will likely be mediocre regardless of what we do in the AAC- but not a must win if you are speaking in regards to selection Sunday.

I was thinking that with the exception of maybe the Louisville game on the road last year going into a game thinking our beloved Huskies being such a prohibitive underdog---at least in my mind. Can't think of too many times going into a game where I have had less confidence in the good guys pulling out a W than this one.

 

[NC_Uconn_Fan]

Yes, only because I live in NC and love having bragging rights beating local schools.

 

[Hi-Low]

Here's what I know...Duke is the best team UConn will play this year, Need a good win for at large bid. Just like you don't leave games in the hands of the refs, you don't leave UConn's at large bid in the hands of the committee.

Not a must win...but if lose UConn will have some must wins down the road.

 

[Jerry1714]

that florida game is going to be a lot tougher then people think. They are starting to get their players back and its a true road.

We need to go 1-1 between those 2 games. Will not be easy

 

[James]

I consider this a must "play with some sort of confidence and continuity" game. That end result isn't as important as the huskies showing SOME level of growth.

In all honesty this is a huge game, the biggest test a few of our starters have faced in their career (hamilton +purvis + facey). I have no clue how they will react, but i'm definitely excited. Just control what you can on the floor: the effort and execution...on BOTH ends.

If we do win, it generally wipes this the slate clean for this team and its upside. even with the terrible buzzer beater losses ( some could chalk up the texas loss to luck, the yale one is indefensible ).