Please get us out of the American conference!

[BostonFan]

Worst thing that could have happened to UConn women's (and men's) basketball. Zero intensity & rivalries and gives us a false sense of confidence. In no way does it get the players ready for stressful FF games. Well, some say UConn plays a tough out of conference schedule. They do, but they occur mostly in the beginning of the year & feels more like glorified exhibitions than anything else. Again, it doesnt get the team ready for stressful FF games.

 

[UConnCat]

We'll be out in 20 minutes.

 

[John]

Worst thing that could have happened to UConn women's (and men's) basketball. Zero intensity & rivalries and gives us a false sense of confidence. In no way does it get the players ready for stressful FF games. Well, some say UConn plays a tough out of conference schedule. They do, but they occur mostly in the beginning of the year & feels more like glorified exhibitions than anything else. Again, it doesnt get the team ready for stressful FF games.

Yes because Uconn women played so many tight games in the Big East.

 

[BostonFan]

Yes because Uconn women played so many tight games in the Big East.

Well, at least UConn would play some very good teams two or three times a year before the FF to build mental & physical toughness. There was ZERO stress levels in any AAC games this year. Unbelievable.

 

[BugsyCT]

Argument holds weight for the men's team, for the women's team that argument is a joke.

They dominated the old BE every year back in the day. And they play plenty of tough OOC games too and usually win them, including this year with ND in the regular season whom they beat.

It's not the conference. Please stop. Some of you fans are spoiled beyond comprehension.

 

[UConnCat]

Well, at least UConn would play some very good teams two or three times a year before the FF to build mental & physical toughness. There was ZERO stress levels in any AAC games this year. Unbelievable.

I suggest you start a movement to get UConn out of the AAC. May I suggest this as your logo:

 

[BugsyCT]

The New Big East had one ranked team in the final polls before the tourney started (DePaul ranked 23rd)

So yeah, it's all about this weak conference.

 

[John]

Well, at least UConn would play some very good teams two or three times a year before the FF to build mental & physical toughness. There was ZERO stress levels in any AAC games this year. Unbelievable.

The Big East was no women's basketball juggernaut, stop trying to revise history.

 

[Blaneylover]

Worst thing that could have happened to UConn women's (and men's) basketball. Zero intensity & rivalries and gives us a false sense of confidence. In no way does it get the players ready for stressful FF games. Well, some say UConn plays a tough out of conference schedule. They do, but they occur mostly in the beginning of the year & feels more like glorified exhibitions than anything else. Again, it doesnt get the team ready for stressful FF games.

I don't like the conference anymore than you do, but it has nothing to do with what happened last night. This program will play anyone, anywhere. Their out of conference schedule is ridiculous. HCGA pushes them to play to a level rather than to their opponent. There are other reasons why they lost two years in a row in the National semi-final, but this conference ain't one of them.

 

[Boreifs]

Worst thing that could have happened to UConn women's (and men's) basketball. Zero intensity & rivalries and gives us a false sense of confidence. In no way does it get the players ready for stressful FF games. Well, some say UConn plays a tough out of conference schedule. They do, but they occur mostly in the beginning of the year & feels more like glorified exhibitions than anything else. Again, it doesnt get the team ready for stressful FF games.

Nothing like emotion trumping fact. According to Massey, UConn rated number TWO in strength of schedule, behind only Notre Dame.

 

[npignatjr]

The AAC has good football, except UCONN, men's basketball and some good women's teams. What conference would not UCONN usually smoke most teams, Big East, ACC, Big 10 .

 

[UConnCat]

The Big East was no women's basketball juggernaut, stop trying to revise history.

Actually, there were a few years when the Big East was quite a women's basketball juggernaut. Beginning in 2007-2008 and through the 2010-2011 season, the Big East sent more teams to the NCAA tournament than any other conference in the country. In 2009 two Big East schools met in the national championship game (UConn and Louisville). In 2011 and 2012 UConn and Notre Dame made the Final Four. In 2012-2013, the Big East sent 8 teams to the NCAA tournament and 3 BE teams made the final four.

 

[Cheddie]

The Big East was no women's basketball juggernaut, stop trying to revise history.

The Big East at one time did have Notre Dame, Rutgers, when they were a much stronger program, and Perretta's pesky Villanova teams. But that conference is long gone.

 

[ASweet3781]

The Big East was no women's basketball juggernaut, stop trying to revise history.

Let's see it had UConn, Notre Dame, Louisville, Rutgers, DePaul, Marquette, Villanova, Syracuse, etc

More importantly it did not have SMU, East Carolina, Houston, Tulsa, etc.

I keep going back to the game at SMU where we came out terrible and like led by 4 because SMU was so bad. In a real league, that type of non focus gets exposed and you can learn. In the AAC, the teams are so bad they can't take advantage of any UConn misstep and it provides false comfort. Geno was begging for this bunch to get beat in the regular season the last 2 years at times.

 

[John]

Actually, there were a few years when the Big East was quite a women's basketball juggernaut. Beginning in 2007-2008 and through the 2010-2011 season, the Big East sent more teams to the NCAA tournament than any other conference in the country. In 2009 two Big East schools met in the national championship game (UConn and Louisville). In 2011 and 2012 UConn and Notre Dame made the Final Four. In 2012-2013, the Big East sent 8 teams to the NCAA tournament and 3 BE teams made the final four.

And Uconn had sooo many conference losses back then.

#FakeNews

 

[ASweet3781]

And Uconn had sooo many conference losses back then.

#FakeNews

The 2003 Big East final loss to Villanova was credit by Geno to helping them go on to win the 2003 Championship.

Losing to Notre Dame 3 times in heartbreaking fashion in 2013 helped them to solved the Notre Dame puzzle in the 4th meeting and win the 2013 championship.

Facts.

 

[UConnCat]

And Uconn had sooo many conference losses back then.

#FakeNews

When the facts aren't on your side you simply claim FakeNews. What a world.

 

[John]

How many Big East games would Uconn lose in a typical season? How many games were even close?

 

[willtalk]

Yes because Uconn women played so many tight games in the Big East.

One thing to remember is that the WCBB landscape was different back then as well. Today there is more parity and more teams are capable of beating the top teams. Two years in a row Uconn was taken out in the semi's. Texas almost beat Uconn and they couldn't even make it to the elite 8. The level of strength your team plays means very little. What matters is how many teams you play that have a realistic chance to beat you if you are having an off day and they are playing lights out. The more games you play against this sort of competition the greater the odds that this sort of scenario will manifest itself.

 

[HuskyNan]

And yet, UConn somehow won 4 consecutive championships when the AAC was weaker than it is today.

 

[UConnCat]

One thing to remember is that the WCBB landscape was different back then as well. Today there is more parity and more teams are capable of beating the top teams. Two years in a row Uconn was taken out in the semi's. Texas almost beat Uconn and they couldn't even make it to the elite 8. The level of strength your team plays means very little. What matters is how many teams you play that have a realistic chance to beat you if you are having an off day and they are playing lights out. The more games you play against this sort of competition the greater the odds that this sort of scenario will manifest itself.

It's really hard to keep up with this whole conference thing. When UConn first joined the newly created AAC the concern raised by all the pundits was that UConn would not be tested enough after January 1 and that would hurt their chances in the NCAA tournament. UConn then won 3 straight championships and that argument went out the window. Then it became: UConn's conference season is so easy that its players are rested and the SEC and ACC teams are so beat up that it's just not fair. Now it seems we're back to UConn is not tested enough in its conference schedule even though UConn figured out a way to schedule Texas, Louisville and South Carolina in January and February.

UConn losing in the Final Four is not new. UConn lost to Notre Dame in the FF in 2011 and 2012 when it was not in the AAC, including a year when Maya Moore played. It happens. Why the need for an explanation beyond Notre Dame is a really good team that made a big play to win the game?

 

[caramel]

So, it is my guess, that Loyola-Chicago must be in a better, more challenging conference than the AAC, and that is why they are over achieving and Connecticut is not. And all these years I thought good coaching, good recruiting, and striving to be the best by each player was what counted as to winning championships. Silly me.

 

[uconnfan68]

The Big East was no women's basketball juggernaut, stop trying to revise history.

So UConn, ND, and Louisville weren’t in the Big East? 3-4 of this FF?

 

[HoopsFan21]

I think people need to be realistic going forward. 36-1 is a great season. I said this when the Big Three won the fourth title in a row that it was all downhill from there. You just can't sustain that, and in the intervening years while we had Stewie, Tuck, and Mo owning every court in America, better players were working their way through the pipeline, and more schools were getting those better players to go with more and more good coaches at schools with resources.

 

[John]

So UConn, ND, and Louisville weren’t in the Big East? 3-4 of this FF?

We're talking regular season results and the old Big East, not FFs and the current disaster called the national conference landscape. Try to keep up....