Matt Norlander of CBSSports Ranks UConn #54

[Kangaroo Zay]

Ranking every college basketball team from No. 1 to 353 for 2019-20 and an interesting fact on every team

Matt Norlander's annual extravaganza of looking at all 353 teams is back for the 2019-20 season

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"Dan Hurley's career record when not accounting for his first season at a new job: 130-67. The Huskies are going to be right near last-four-in/first-four-out territory. Alterique Gilbert is a creative shooting guard. He's owed a season of full health. Hopefully he gets it. UConn'll need it. "

 

[auror]

I think this is the most optimistic ranking I've seen for us anywhere. Still has us 5th in AAC, but has all the AAC teams much higher, including Cincinnati at an audacious #12.

 

[CashewCrew]

He does live in CT and has had a little bit of a sweet spot for us in the past. I'll take it.

 

[kansashusky]

Except Alterique isn't a shooting guard.

 

[Psolo12]

Except Alterique isn't a shooting guard.

Maybe he meant creative, shooting guard?

 

[HooperScooper]

I think this is the most optimistic ranking I've seen for us anywhere. Still has us 5th in AAC, but has all the AAC teams much higher, including Cincinnati at an audacious #12.

Rob Dauster of NBCSports had UConn #24 in his Very Early Preseason Top 25 back in April after the National Championship game. They're not in his new one and you can't find the old one on-line since he just takes the original ranking and updated it. If you go into the comments you can see a reference to UConn being a bit of a stretch.

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[auror]

Rob Dauster of NBCSports had UConn #24 in his Very Early Preseason Top 25 back in April after the National Championship game. They're not in his new one and you can't find the old one on-line since he just takes the original ranking and updated it. If you go into the comments you can see a reference to UConn being a bit of a stretch.

College Basketball

Find all the latest college basketball news, live coverage, videos, highlights, stats, predictions, and results right here on NBC Sports.

collegebasketball.nbcsports.com

You are correct, but he had removed them by the end of April.

College Basketball 2019-2020 Preseason Top 25

The only top 25 you need to read.

web.archive.org

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Seems fair

 

[Austin316]

I think this is where we belong as long as we stay healthy. We have a bench for the first time in years.

 

[Waquoit]

Seems a bit optimistic. But I like the optimism coming from an outside source.

 

[HooperScooper]

You are correct, but he had removed them by the end of April.

College Basketball 2019-2020 Preseason Top 25

The only top 25 you need to read.

web.archive.org

You found it. Thanks. Glad I wasn't hallucinating!

 

[FatHank]

The tournament is just not the same without UConn in it. We're a past champion name and we're expected to be there. Folks always ask me why we're not there. There is a balance to us being in the tournament. I miss us being there and seeing us near last four/first four makes me excited. Now where is my magical genie lamp.

 

[MattMang23]

He does live in CT and has had a little bit of a sweet spot for us in the past. I'll take it.

If I’m not mistaken his wife is a UConn alum. Could explain his perceived favoritism. Norlander, himself, is a Western grad.

 

[storrsroars]

Ranking every college basketball team from No. 1 to 353 for 2019-20 and an interesting fact on every team

Matt Norlander's annual extravaganza of looking at all 353 teams is back for the 2019-20 season

www.cbssports.com

"Dan Hurley's career record when not accounting for his first season at a new job: 130-67. The Huskies are going to be right near last-four-in/first-four-out territory. Alterique Gilbert is a creative shooting guard. He's owed a season of full health. Hopefully he gets it. UConn'll need it. "

Just looking at math alone, 130-67 comes out to basically 22-11ish. Barring any bad losses, for an AAC team, that would pretty much define bubble. But it's progress.

 

[HuskyHawk]

This season's UConn Huskies are a very, very hard team to predict. We've been hammered by injuries for three straight seasons. And we have not had any depth of talent to weather those injuries.

That said, Gilbert was a McD AA for a reason, even if he has never had a chance to show it. Carlton has developed into a beast inside, a real offensive threat that will attract double teams. Vital is a consistent and reliable scorer.

Then the rest is a question of whether we get the upside surprise the downside or the middle of the road. Four freshmen, three expected to have big roles. What will we get? Polley is a hard worker who can shoot, has he improved his overall game enough? Hurley says to expect an upside surprise. Sid is a great athlete and can impact the game, can he find a consistent shot and play defense within the scheme? Whaley has bulked up, but always had hops, energy and could board very well. If he can hold his ground now, could see important minutes. Adams isn't athletic, but is big, strong and plays hard.

If everything goes as well as it can, this team could crack the top 25. The normal or expected result is probably NCAA bubble or NIT. The everything goes wrong result is we miss the post season. We've had the almost everything goes wrong result three straight seasons. I think we are due.

 

[Road2Six]

This season's UConn Huskies are a very, very hard team to predict. We've been hammered by injuries for three straight seasons. And we have not had any depth of talent to weather those injuries.

That said, Gilbert was a McD AA for a reason, even if he has never had a chance to show it. Carlton has developed into a beast inside, a real offensive threat that will attract double teams. Vital is a consistent and reliable scorer.

Then the rest is a question of whether we get the upside surprise the downside or the middle of the road. Four freshmen, three expected to have big roles. What will we get? Polley is a hard worker who can shoot, has he improved his overall game enough? Hurley says to expect an upside surprise. Sid is a great athlete and can impact the game, can he find a consistent shot and play defense within the scheme? Whaley has bulked up, but always had hops, energy and could board very well. If he can hold his ground now, could see important minutes. Adams isn't athletic, but is big, strong and plays hard.

If everything goes as well as it can, this team could crack the top 25. The normal or expected result is probably NCAA bubble or NIT. The everything goes wrong result is we miss the post season. We've had the almost everything goes wrong result three straight seasons. I think we are due.

The one thing we need to see from Carlton is consistency. Last year there were games he just wouldn’t show up. We need his presence every single game.