UCF is supposed to be good this year. You also gotta factor in a silly loss to a team like Tulsa lmao. 25-6 seems a little overly optimistic but I don’t see a lot of unwinnable gamesPosted this in another thread, and re-posting here. I am pretty bullish on this year's team.
Based on what we know as of today (which to be honest is not too much) I think the season goes as follows:
1. Morehead St ---- W
2. UMKC --- W
3. Syracuse --- W (this one will be close, but having attended many games at the garden, UConn fans are a big factor)
4. Oregon --- L (Oregon will likely beat Iowa)
5. Cornell --- W
6. New Hampshire --- W
7. Umass-Lowell --- W
8. Arizona --- W (this is likely a down season for Arizona; lost a lot of talent and '18 class not like previous classes)
9. Lafayette --- W
10. Florida St. --- L (this should be a close game though)
11. Manhattan --- W
12. Drexel --- W
13. Villanova --- L
14. @USF --- W
15. UCF --- W
16. SMU --- W
17. @Cincy --- L
18. @ Tulsa --- W
19. Tulane --- W
20. Wichita St. --- W
21. @UCF --- L
22. ECU --- W
23. @Temple --- W
24. @Memphis --- W
25. Houston --- W
26. @SMU --- W
27. Cincy --- W
28. @Wichita St. --- L
29. USF --- W
30. Temple --- W
31. @ECU --- W
Reg Season record: 25-6. We won't have too many impressive wins, but we will rack up many road wins, and will have a good wining percentage. This should get us into the tournament, but as a low seed. Much of the strength of our wins will depend on how well the other AAC teams fare in OOC games.
This is pretty early, but we know what Jalen is capable of, we know the potential of a healthy Alterique, we witnessed Carlton's growth and potential last year. If other teammates step up and with Hurley's guidance, 25-6 is very doable.
UConn will be a tournament team if...
I'd say what I have said since we hired Hurley, 23-24 wins regular season, plus we get to the final of the AAC tournament. Should be a 6-7 seed. Not going to pick and choose game to game, because I expect surprises to the upside and downside, as always.
Zero losses by 20 points or more, few in double digits, if any. We are not going to be an easy team to play.
Alterique Gilbert is healthy. It's really as simple as that.
If he is in and out of the lineup, then I think you can start thinking about alternative outcomes but, as long as he is healthy, I don't see any reason why this isn't a tournament team.
I think if we get dependable outside shooting from more than one player we'll be in good shape. If CV, Jalen, Alterique if healthy, other Adams, Polley and Sid can give us a threat from deep it'll be a game changerAlterique Gilbert is healthy. It's really as simple as that.
If he is in and out of the lineup, then I think you can start thinking about alternative outcomes but, as long as he is healthy, I don't see any reason why this isn't a tournament team.
Zero losses by 20 points or more, few in double digits, if any. We are not going to be an easy team to play.
Here me out, WE WILL BEAT TULSA, AT TULSA BABY!
Best Syracuse and everything else is gravy.
But actually;
Just based on past performance, I’m going to go more conservative than others and say 20-11.
Some sure wins, and only one sure loss (@Tulsa, obviously).
Win the AAC tournament, and we start re-Storrs-ing the brand