It's very important that we win the conference this year

[amory]

All BS about the American aside, it's high time for UConn to win another regular season conference championship. We haven't done it since 2006.

One or two bad conference losses are to be expected, it happens. But we saw last year, the AAC isn't getting a ton of respect from the selection committee, and there are no guarantees for us in a very difficult OOC schedule. I think our history and brand get us a decent seed if we're the conference champion, but if last year is any indication the 2nd and 3rd place finisher might not even get a bid.

Plus come on. We're the class of the conference in basketball, it's time to prove it.

 

[Offhegoes]

We certainly have the talent to do so. I also think we potentially have the talent to win #5. All depends on how we mesh. I think Ollie has a tough job balancing minutes/shots with our key guys this year, but by midseason we should hopefully get a solid rotation down.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

Completely agree. KO has been killing it on the recruiting trail. But the conference has to still be a major hurdle. If we can establish a Calipari-era Memphis like dominance of the AAC, that could help a lot.

 

[Tenspro2002]

This is an important way to demonstrate to recruits and commentators that we're "above" the conference, not weighed down by it.

I mean, Gonzaga recruits extremely well, and nobody knocks them for being in the WCC (a conference much worse than the AAC). They are a national program defined more by their OOC exploits than their conference. We can do the same, but only if we -- like Gonzaga -- dominate the conference year in and year out.

 

[sdhusky]

All BS about the American aside, it's high time for UConn to win another regular season conference championship. We haven't done it since 2006.

One or two bad conference losses are to be expected, it happens. But we saw last year, the AAC isn't getting a ton of respect from the selection committee, and there are no guarantees for us in a very difficult OOC schedule. I think our history and brand get us a decent seed if we're the conference champion, but if last year is any indication the 2nd and 3rd place finisher might not even get a bid.

Plus come on. We're the class of the conference in basketball, it's time to prove it.

Will Ollie or Diaco win the conference first? If Ollie doesn't do it this year, I'm goin with Crazy Bob in 2016

 

[mets1090]

Will Ollie or Diaco win the conference first? If Ollie doesn't do it this year, I'm goin with Crazy Bob in 2016

I'll trade this year's basketball championship for next year's football championship without even giving it a second thought.

 

[B1GEast]

When is it never important?

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Personally i'd rather win a national title then a conference title but that's just me.

 

[BoatShow]

Personally i'd rather win a national title then a conference title but that's just me.

2 National Titles since our last regular season title does soften the blow.

 

[nycscooby]

conference title means nothing to me, all about the national titles

 

[amory]

Personally i'd rather win a national title then a conference title but that's just me.

2 National Titles since our last regular season title does soften the blow.

conference title means nothing to me, all about the national titles

...k well you guys didn't read the OP.

Conference titles don't mean much in a vacuum, but going forward in this conference it could be a prerequisite to a national championship.

Hot takes, though. National titles over conference titles, eh?

 

[Palatine]

Ray Allen never spent a day in college, when the Huskies were NOT in first place in the Big East. Or to be positive. Ray Allen was on the first place Big East team, every single day he spent at UConn.

Time to get back to that. Does Ray have any edibility left?

 

[Walker11]

This is an important way to demonstrate to recruits and commentators that we're "above" the conference, not weighed down by it.

I mean, Gonzaga recruits extremely well, and nobody knocks them for being in the WCC (a conference much worse than the AAC). They are a national program defined more by their OOC exploits than their conference. We can do the same, but only if we -- like Gonzaga -- dominate the conference year in and year out.

This post is weird. You aspire to be like Gonzaga - a program we recruit better than, and are more successful than?

 

[TasteofUConn]

Plus come on. We're the class of the conference in basketball, it's time to prove it.

Winning the National Championship in the 1st year of the conference didn't prove it? OK.

 

[champs99and04]

...k well you guys didn't read the OP.

Conference titles don't mean much in a vacuum, but going forward in this conference it could be a prerequisite to a national championship.

Hot takes, though. National titles over conference titles, eh?

Acting like a conference title is a prerequisite to a national championship is even more strange.

 

[jibsey]

If we have a strong team and don't dominate the conference well that means our conference is getting better. Because we don't seem to be moving any time soon I want a strong conference so having 3 or 4 teams that are competitive doesn't bother me as long as we can get decent seeding out of it, but more important than winning the conference is to be very good in our OOC as that has national implications.

 

[EricLA]

Personally i'd rather win a national title then a conference title but that's just me.

Why not both?!!

 

[intlzncster]

Acting like a conference title is a prerequisite to a national championship is even more strange.

No, but good seeding gives you a leg up in that respect, year in year out.

 

[amory]

Acting like a conference title is a prerequisite to a national championship is even more strange.

Is it? What seed would you guess the #2 or #3 team in the American might get this year? Optimistically I'd say 8 or 9, maybe double digits.

I was thrilled obviously when we won as a #7, but I don't see that being a regular thing

 

[CallMeBruce]

Personally i'd rather win a national title then a conference title but that's just me.

I don't know... I think I'd like to with the conference title first, and then the national title.

 

[Palatine]

I don't know... I think I'd like to with the conference title first, and then the national title.

The conference regular season title, then win the conference tourney, then win the NCAA.

 

[champs99and04]

No, but good seeding gives you a leg up in that respect, year in year out.

To the extent that there is a correlation between teams that win their conference and teams that are seeded well is only because better teams are naturally going to finish higher in the standings. The committee has been fairly clear - if my memory serves correct - that teams are seeded first and foremost based on their resumes.

Is it? What seed would you guess the #2 or #3 team in the American might get this year? Optimistically I'd say 8 or 9, maybe double digits.

I was thrilled obviously when we won as a #7, but I don't see that being a regular thing

It's contingent on a ton of factors. If Cincinnati, UConn, and SMU are all top 15 teams, then yes, UConn could definitely be a two or a three seed even if they don't win the conference, depending on what they do OOC.

 

[RedDog]

Everyone on this site mentions how terrible the AAC is, but the fact is that UConn has no conference titles and no tournament titles. We need to start winning championships, and then we can complain full time!

 

[ctchamps]

All BS about the American aside, it's high time for UConn to win another regular season conference championship. We haven't done it since 2006.

One or two bad conference losses are to be expected, it happens. But we saw last year, the AAC isn't getting a ton of respect from the selection committee, and there are no guarantees for us in a very difficult OOC schedule. I think our history and brand get us a decent seed if we're the conference champion, but if last year is any indication the 2nd and 3rd place finisher might not even get a bid.

Plus come on. We're the class of the conference in basketball, it's time to prove it.

I'd subscribe to this desperation if we knew a few things.
Who is on the selection committee?
How will the conference perform with it's OOC games?
And when conference play begins what will the conference have as an RPI rating and where will this place it relative to other conferences?

Branding any conference without this information is overgeneralized.

 

[Hoophound]

Everyone on this site mentions how terrible the AAC is, but the fact is that UConn has no conference titles and no tournament titles. We need to start winning championships, and then we can complain full time!

Meh. We won the NCAA title in 2014. Conference championships are just a matter of time and circumstance. It's not like we've been in the AAC long. We're 0 for 2 on conference titles but 1 for 2 on national titles in our time here. Not too shabby.

Besides, the complaint isn't the crappy basketball, we've had decent competition and it's improving. It is the step down in overall quality, prestige and money from the best basketball conference ever assembled that we are complaining about. We can complain about that all we want, it's totally justified.