I think the Big East is actually better than its rank. It's also a conference, through its style of play, that prepares teams to win a NCAA championship. BE style basketball helps create the best edition of its team that a school has ever had.
However, conference play is a different animal than OOC tournament play, and UConn is the perfect example. It takes a different competitive approach to beat a familiar team you've faced twice already in recent months, than it does to encounter them for the first time in a tournament, and experiencing the concussive, shock-bang the Huskies, or a Kansas team, can bring to the floor.