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Message: [QUOTE="Carnac, post: 4524638, member: 5798"] [I]"It is a little hard to start a real rivalry with teams outside your conference that you meet once a year." [/I]Acknowledged. That's why I suggested...[I]."The rivalry with South Carolina [B]can be built up[/B] (almost) to that of UConn/Tenn." [/I]The rivalry has begun. I think the 19,000+ fans that bought tickets to Sunday's game would agree. There are salesmen that can sell sand to the Arabs, surely it's not impossible for a sharp marketing department to hype and promote this game to it's maximum potential. The longer they play, the more the rivalry intensifies, and the more fan interest will grow. As I said, THIS game is the biggest game on both schedules. I wonder if the average UConn fan had a choice of attending 1 of 3 games (with a complimentary ticket) between UConn and SC, ND and UT, which one they would choose. I'm not suggesting for a moment that everyone would choose SC. There are still a great number of UConn fans that get a thrill/joy that is indescribable when watching UConn beat Tennessee, especially in person. I think the masses agree the UConn/UT rivalry has pretty much died. It can never be like it once was. With Muffet McGraw gone from ND, that rivalry also is not the same. Current ND head coach Nielle Ivey can never stoke the fires of that rivalry like Muffet did. Except in the minds and heats of "the old guard" fans, the good old days of those rivalries are gone forever. There was a piece written by a journalist posted here in the yard that suggested the same. Both fan bases still dislike Geno though. :mad: [B]An excerpt from the article: [/B] [I]"Over that time in Connecticut, [B]the UConn-Tennessee rivalry no longer has the same intensity and anger as before.[/B] Not only had the Huskies become the top program in the sport, the Vols weren’t much of a threat anymore. UConn’s rivalry with Notre Dame replaced Tennessee and after Muffett McGraw brought that program down then retired, [B]South Carolina has started to emerge as the Huskies’ top competition.[/B] The two matchups at the XL Center featured the same excitement and anticipation as any other big non-conference matchup, but nothing beyond that. [B]It wasn’t the game on the schedule the way it used to be."[/B][/I] [URL unfurl="true"]https://uconnwbbweekly.substack.com/p/whats-it-like-to-attend-a-uconn-tennessee[/URL] [/QUOTE]

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