NEVER play TENN again

[npignatjr]

you're right. but $ conquers all.

unfortunately.

Doesn't UConn lose money playing in Hartford?

 

[hjoerring]

I'm glad we won, otherwise it would be a feat to open The Boneyard. I agree that this is no longer a rivalry game/series-- as in #1 and #2; that it isn't between coaches-- GA & Pat; Conferences-- BE vs S; and, the current players are elsewhere in their thoughts. And all are in agreement that the games should have been handled much better. I am in agreement that the action(s) of the Tenn player on AE was clearly unsportsmanlike and would have been given a different action-- were I officiating (when in doubt or when a decision would have grave consequnces for one team blame both players for the folly). That is, throwing out the Tenn player would have taken away the incredible work put in for the win by Uconn. Were this to have resulted in anything resembling a fight would have been more alarming for me. Thank goodness. I certainly understand TonyC exasperation, but am in agreement with those who have pointed out that we have and still do play in similar games (other peoples championships).
Also, it might be good for WCBB. Its a media event and is clearly medially constituted. And absent big influxs of $ to Uconn Athlectics, mediality is one general conditions within which the excellence of Uconn BB can showcase. I for one was blown away by the poise the team showed-- going up early and when Tenn came within 2-5 basically said to them here and no further. Doing that in a hostile environment is something we should like the world to see.
So TonyC, drink a cup or two of warm water, and give us your thoughts on our next pain-in-the--- .

 

[Biff]

Doesn't UConn lose money playing in Hartford?

I believe it does but they play there not for UConn to make money but rather for the state to bolster the XL center.

 

[my2cents]

What Tennessee has in its' favor is a rabid fan base, and a tremendous history.

However, they are not a top team any more. They are barely a top 25 team, if that, and poised to drop further in the future. Warlick was a tremendous recruiter (I say she recruited circles around Harper), but was permanently stuck in the old Pat Summit coaching mold - get athletic players, one on one offense, crash the O-boards, play in your face defense. Certain parts of that plan are great, but the lack of anything resembling offense was never gonna work. And she seemingly did not have any assistants with great offensive basketball minds to fill in the areas where she was deficient.

Recruiting under Harper, however, has completely gone off the rails. Horston, and her class that went to Tennessee, was recruited by Warlick. Since then Harper's gotten exactly 1 kid in the top 15 over the last 4 recruiting cycles.

• 2020 her top recruit was #57 Salary
• 2021 it was #43 Puckett
• 2022 it was #11 Pissot
• 2023 it's a total bagel - 0 recruits

Sure she bolstered the roster with kids like Jackson (Miss State), Hollingshead (Georgia), Powell (Minny), Walker (WMU), and Franklin (Missouri State), but to have 0 recruits with at least 6 seniors on the team bodes very ill next season. Some of the kids will need to stay and use the covid year, and she'll need to clean up in the portal again, but really, if Tennessee did not have such a storied past, they would be a largely irrelevant middle of the pack team. They are living on fumes from prior greatness.

My point is unless something happens fast, they are poised to sink to the middle of the SEC pack, and potentially start being a perennial NIT invitee. So really, aside from nostalgia, there's no reason for the game. The "hype" surrounding it is old, and they are sinking fast. Frankly, I have no problem continuing to play them as I foresee 30-40 point blowouts in our mutual future should they play starting next season.

But the constant barrage of "Women's college basketball needs UCONN-Tennessee" is just silly. There are TONS of more compelling story lines including a host of new, and historical, programs vaulting towards the top.

• How long can SC stay at the top?
• Stanford has vaulted themselves back into the NC conversation over the past several years
• Mulkey is making great strides at LSU
• Schaeffer is doing exciting things at Texas
• ND is showing they are more than Muffet McGraw
• Lawson and the Duke story line
• Arizona is trying to show staying power
• North Carolina is back to being a national player
• The Big East is stronger than ever

Geno has done so much for WCBB over the years that he has zero to prove. AND he owes WCBB nothing in the sense of "for the good of the game to play Tennessee". That's a load of cr@p. The rivalry between those 2 schools existed in part because of the coaches and in part because no one was consistently better than those 2 schools for a very long time.

New rivalries, new coaches, etc. Great players, great play, great stories, all those things make WCBB compelling. The game needs more of that and less "manufactured" circuses...

Well said. My feelings exactly. Start new rivalries , stop reliving the old ones. Pat Summit is gone. The key to making these new ones is play top 5 teams, not fading programs.

 

[my2cents]

I believe the matchup has become largely irrelevant. Tennessee needs us much more than we need them. That being said in 1995 Pat Summit could have said that about UConn but didn't. She took us on. Maybe we can repay her by continuing the rivalry? Thoughts?

Pat Summit also canceled the game, which lasted 11 years. The ledger is even.

 

[CL82]

I believe the matchup has become largely irrelevant. Tennessee needs us much more than we need them. That being said in 1995 Pat Summit could have said that about UConn but didn't. She took us on. Maybe we can repay her by continuing the rivalry? Thoughts?

Then, again, back in 1995 a soon to be championship, Huskies and their coach Geno Auriemma agreed to allow a Tennessee team to play in Connecticut in a nationally televised game that was already set up for the Huskies. That game allowed a Tennessee team to creep into the public’s perception. Geno agreed to play them sometimes as often as three times a year lifting their program until the Lady Vols won eight championships in total and its coach became the third winningest coach of all time. Eventually they’ll their coach got tired of losing against Connecticut, both on the court and in recruiting, and quit.

Somehow that has morphed into a claim of right that the largess Auriemma had shown to the Tennessee program must continue. I would rather Tennessee fans just said thank you for the success Geno and the Connecticut program has given them and went on their way. It surely isn’t our fault they couldn’t sustain it.

 

[meyers7]

I liked the way it went down last night. I think the rivalry renewed last night. I think because of last night game, Tennessee will get better players that want to be a part of this game and it will only get more intense. Mark my words. I love it because it’s what brought me into the sport. That first game is when I fell in love with the sport. As long as no one gets hurt, I like the intensity and seeing our girls not back down and then win. ITS AWESOME!

And that's a perfect reason to NOT play this game/series. Any true UCONN fan does not want anything that will help TN.

 

[mbr33ct]

This is why they play the game

View attachment 83544

ESPN can't be happy this years UConn/South Car game is on FOX. This Sunday's game against Villanova will be on CBS Sports Network...this game should also draw lot's of eyes as well.

 

[huskeynut]

The UConn - Tennessee rivalry is not close to what it once was. It is not longer the two best programs in wcbb playing each other. No Number 1 ranking on the line. Now it's two teams who have a talent gap. One is no longer a national power. Despite these facts, the game is still a big draw. ESPN viewership numbers prove that. So play the game.

The physicality of the game is not a problem either. Teams have been playing UConn physical for years. I don't worry about UConn because they can dis out as good as they get. SC plays physical. That's fine. There are other teams we have played over the years who used the overtly physical play to try to even up the talent gap. UCF anyone. We usually prevail. We see it in the BE teams we play.

My biggest gripe is a play like the Edwards/ Jackson one. Jackson was clearly the aggressor and crossed the line. IMO, she should have been ejected from the game. There was intent to hurt and that can never be allowed. Unfortunately the officiating crew was incapable of making a call. Giving Aaliyah an intentional foul was a cop out to their responsibility. The officiating crew proved they could not tell the difference between a charge call and a blocking call.

I see nothing happening to improve the officiating. The officiating is controlled by the NCAA - in reality it's the university/ college presidents and athletic directors. The non action by the NCAA is doing damage to wcbb/ mcb programs and players. Unfortunately either the don't see it or they are incapable to act for what ever reason.

And no, I have no answers. Just a whole lot of questions as to inaction.

 

[oldude]

Then, again, back in 1995 a soon to be championship, Huskies and their coach Geno Auriemma agreed to allow a Tennessee team to play in Connecticut in a nationally televised game that was already set up for the Huskies. That game allowed a Tennessee team to creep into the public’s perception.

Really??? Back in 1895, TN was the dominant program in WBB and UConn and their brash young coach was the team trying to “creep into the public’s perception.” Yes, UConn was committed to a nationally televised game in Storrs on MLK day, but ESPN was struggling mightily to find an opponent when Pat stepped up and agreed, uttering those famous words, “ We will play anyone, anywhere, anytime.”

You could make a good argument that by agreeing to play in that game, Pat did more to advance WBB in general and UConn WBB specifically than anyone other than Geno.

 

[CL82]

Really??? Back in 1895, TN was the dominant program in WBB and UConn and their brash young coach was the team trying to “creep into the public’s perception.” Yes, UConn was committed to a nationally televised game in Storrs on MLK day, but ESPN was struggling mightily to find an opponent when Pat stepped up and agreed, uttering those famous words, “ We will play anyone, anywhere, anytime.”

You could make a good argument that by agreeing to play in that game, Pat did more to advance WBB in general and UConn WBB specifically than anyone other than Geno.

No one needed to convince Geno to be willing to schedule any other team, North Carolina, Tennessee, whomever and elevate them. No one needed to beg him. He just did it because he loves women’s basketball and has worked hard to promote it.

I note that the vast majority of Tennessee’s championships came after Martin Luther King day, 1995. That’s indisputable. I also note that after Pat Summitt ended the series, Tennessee drifted back into the pack, while Connecticut continued its unprecedented success. Indeed, when Pat terminated the series Geno generously create a new rivalry with Notre Dame and lo and behold. They were elevated in one national championships both teams that were Connecticut’s “rival” won national championships and jumped ahead in the national consciousness. That is indisputable.


(By the way, Pat Summitt did not say “ We will play anyone, anywhere, anytime.” When she was offered the Connecticut came. You are missing your Pat Summit mythology.)

 

[Bone Dog]

A few random observations about playing in Tennessee and who the LVs are:

I saw a couple clips last night of Paige signing autographs and posing with kids from the stands. She has fans even in Tennessee. I’d be surprised if Azzi didn’t sign a few autographs too. In the handshake line after the games, Horston and Paige had a special hug, and Geno had an extra few friendly words with her.

Yes, the reffing was incompetent. Beyond the AE-RJ incident, which seemed like a predictable result of letting too many hard fouls go unwhistled earlier, Franklin yanked Aaliyah to the floor at mid court in the closing minutes of the 4th with no whistle. A little later RJ did something similar to Aubrey with casual disregard and then simply walked off the court. This one was whistled, her 5th foul, and RJ didn’t even turn to look. She wanted to stop playing and this was her ticket out of the game.

All I saw in those incidents was a couple of transfers got frustrated and committed flagrant fouls with casual disregard for their opponents. Nika and Horston got a Little testy over a foul but they sorted it out by themselves before the refs even got there to break it up.

Horston is who the LVs are, not Jackson or Franklin. She represents the team Kellie is trying to build: fierce and talented with good sportsmanship. But recruiting has been hard so far. Justine Pissot is her only recent success, and she could turn into a significant talent. But without more like her, Kellie will have to rely on the portal to fill out her team. I suspect this means it will be a few years before she will be able to build the program she wants to have. I think Geno wants to support her efforts.

 

[donalddoowop]

Really??? Back in 1895, TN was the dominant program in WBB and UConn and their brash young coach was the team trying to “creep into the public’s perception.” Yes, UConn was committed to a nationally televised game in Storrs on MLK day, but ESPN was struggling mightily to find an opponent when Pat stepped up and agreed, uttering those famous words, “ We will play anyone, anywhere, anytime.”

You could make a good argument that by agreeing to play in that game, Pat did more to advance WBB in general and UConn WBB specifically than anyone other than Geno.

Check your year, 1895.

 

[donalddoowop]

A few random observations about playing in Tennessee and who the LVs are:

I saw a couple clips last night of Paige signing autographs and posing with kids from the stands. She has fans even in Tennessee. I’d be surprised if Azzi didn’t sign a few autographs too. In the handshake line after the games, Horston and Paige had a special hug, and Geno had an extra few friendly words with her.

Yes, the reffing was incompetent. Beyond the AE-RJ incident, which seemed like a predictable result of letting too many hard fouls go unwhistled earlier, Franklin yanked Aaliyah to the floor at mid court in the closing minutes of the 4th with no whistle. A little later RJ did something similar to Aubrey with casual disregard and then simply walked off the court. This one was whistled, her 5th foul, and RJ didn’t even turn to look. She wanted to stop playing and this was her ticket out of the game.

All I saw in those incidents was a couple of transfers got frustrated and committed flagrant fouls with casual disregard for their opponents. Nika and Horston got a Little testy over a foul but they sorted it out by themselves before the refs even got there to break it up.

Horston is who the LVs are, not Jackson or Franklin. She represents the team Kellie is trying to build: fierce and talented with good sportsmanship. But recruiting has been hard so far. Justine Pissot is her only recent success, and she could turn into a significant talent. But without more like her, Kellie will have to rely on the portal to fill out her team. I suspect this means it will be a few years before she will be able to build the program she wants to have. I think Geno wants to support her efforts.

Franklin was called for a foul on the play you mentioned.

 

[drweo]

Then, again, back in 1995 a soon to be championship, Huskies and their coach Geno Auriemma agreed to allow a Tennessee team to play in Connecticut in a nationally televised game that was already set up for the Huskies. That game allowed a Tennessee team to creep into the public’s perception. Geno agreed to play them sometimes as often as three times a year lifting their program until the Lady Vols won eight championships in total and its coach became the third winningest coach of all time. Eventually they’ll their coach got tired of losing against Connecticut, both on the court and in recruiting, and quit.

Somehow that has morphed into a claim of right that the largess Auriemma had shown to the Tennessee program must continue. I would rather Tennessee fans just said thank you for the success Geno and the Connecticut program has given them and went on their way. It surely isn’t our fault they couldn’t sustain it.

According to Caroline Peck, during the College Game Day show, it was Tennessee that put UConn on the map! She was a Tenn. assistant coach back in 1995 and according to her, Summit did ESPN and UConn a favor by agreeing to play that first game. I guess Tenn. thought they would win that one!

 

[uconnever]

The only thing everyone has to do is look at Geno and Lou’s post game interview. G said our girls come here to play in games like this and Lou said the exact same thing. I’m sure if you asked the other girls, they loved it also. If mostlly all the UConn legends experienced it, I would want to as a player also. The refs were horrible but I like sending our girls into that atmosphere, it will help them down the road. I know G secretly loves watching his girls fight through and succeed as long as no one gets hurt.

 

[BRS24]

I don’t like the game but my reason has nothing to do with physical play or refs. It’s just that the game has become a circus. ESPN hypes up a stupid out of conference game between the #5 team and an unranked one like it’s for the national championship. You get fans going loopy over the dumbest things. It’s become ridiculous

The Huskies can play ND or Syracuse or Georgia if it wants a rivalry game

I agree, as we tuned into Game Day, hoping to get some of the classic clips by both UConn and TN players, and perhaps some interviews of prior players, and instead we got a lot of meh. ESPN could have done a better job with the pre-game show and they chose not to do so.

 

[wingsfan055]

Really??? Back in 1895, TN was the dominant program in WBB and UConn and their brash young coach was the team trying to “creep into the public’s perception.”

Back in 1895, I believe the official team name was the Tennessee Moonshiners.

 

[uconnever]

According to Caroline Peck, during the College Game Day show, it was Tennessee that put UConn on the map! She was a Tenn. assistant coach back in 1995 and according to her, Summit did ESPN and UConn a favor by agreeing to play that first game. I guess Tenn. thought they would win that one!

Usually the established program which was Tennessee, doesn’t have to come to your house, you go to theirs. So in that way Pat did do us a favor. We were coming to kick the door in eventually anyways, but Pat didn’t have to come here. Her and Geno are alike in they will play anyone anywhere. In that way she did help us.

 

[Bone Dog]

Franklin was called for a foul on the play you mentioned.

Good catch. Thanks for the correction. I think I meant it wasn’t called as a flagrant foul or even reviewed for an upgrade.

 

[BRS24]

A few random observations about playing in Tennessee and who the LVs are:

I saw a couple clips last night of Paige signing autographs and posing with kids from the stands. She has fans even in Tennessee. I’d be surprised if Azzi didn’t sign a few autographs too. In the handshake line after the games, Horston and Paige had a special hug, and Geno had an extra few friendly words with her.

Bolded the important part. Watch the post game handshake line of most games, and there are players who do a lil extra hug with people they know, they've played with/against in the past (HS, AAU, etc) and they respect each other. Inside the lines, it's us vs them. Outside, game recognizes game. It's some folks that turn the rivalry into something different, for a myriad of reasons. Geno also will give a lil extra to the opponents he recruited or respects.

 

[CL82]

According to Caroline Peck, during the College Game Day show, it was Tennessee that put UConn on the map! She was a Tenn. assistant coach back in 1995 and according to her, Summit did ESPN and UConn a favor by agreeing to play that first game. I guess Tenn. thought they would win that one!

Personally, I give Summitt credit for being smart enough to hitch her wagon to Geno Auriemma’s star. It was a smart thing to do and it elevated her team for quite a while. Eventually, she learned that even the brightest stars cast shadows, and she got tired of living in it.

 

[oldude]

No one needed to convince Geno to be willing to schedule any other team, North Carolina, Tennessee, whomever and elevate them. No one needed to beg him. He just did it because he loves women’s basketball and has worked hard to promote it.

I note that the vast majority of Tennessee’s championships came after Martin Luther King day, 1995. That’s indisputable. I also note that after Pat Summitt ended the series, Tennessee drifted back into the pack, while Connecticut continued its unprecedented success. Indeed, when Pat terminated the series Geno generously create a new rivalry with Notre Dame and lo and behold. They were elevated in one national championships both teams that were Connecticut’s “rival” won national championships and jumped ahead in the national consciousness. That is indisputable.


(By the way, Pat Summitt did not say “ We will play anyone, anywhere, anytime.” When she was offered the Connecticut came. You are missing your Pat Summit mythology.)

TN had won 3 national championships along with 1 runner up prior to the game with UConn on MLK day. UConn was certainly an up and coming team, but they had yet to win a championship.

I have no doubt that Geno would play anyone back in 1995. But the suggestion that Geno was doing Pat & TN a favor is incorrect. Pat would have done fine without UConn on the schedule, and Geno would have been successful without playing TN. But that MLK day game was a huge step forward for WBB and I have no doubt that it accelerated UConn’s climb to the top.

 

[Shenandoah]

After last nites debacle with Jackson and Edwards and the way the game was called I dont think UConn should ever play Tenn again. Those of you who have been around and know the history from past years well this for me is the last straw. Genos half time interview was right on and has been building up for years. Those of you who think not read my post in the postgame thread. Those of you who disagree with me dont know what has been going on for years with Tenn. We are lucky Aaliyah wasnt injured. The refs reviewed the call and call a double T. IMO Jackson shouldve been thrown out of the game for un sportsman like contact and threat to injury when she rammed Edwards when she was on top of her and Edwards was trying to get up. I am really angry over last nites game. This should be the end of the Tenn series and it is something that shouldve never been restarted. This would bring a new meaning to GO Ladyvols. Please just GO.

Aaliyah took care of business after she was thrown to the floor, with 5:30 left in the 4th. Enough is enough.