The biggest college basketball game of the entire regular season

[GlastonTim]

Big deal - its all about the noise/atmosphere - Do you think Dook cares if it doesn't lead the ACC in attendance? The HOME court has built in positives vs the home away from home

F Duke

 

[AllHusky]

If DC can avoid foul trouble, I'm not worried about Marquette.

Has Donovan ever taken a charge? Can’t say I’ve ever seen that

 

[navery12]

Has Donovan ever taken a charge? Can’t say I’ve ever seen that

Probably not, and at 7'2" I hope he never tries to either

 

[uconnblueinky]

Our newest UConn fan ( daughter) anxiously awaiting tomorrow's game

 

[XLCenterFan]

This should be a Gampel game - all UConn home games (except Christmas holiday period) need to be Gampel games

No way. Some of these games should be in Gampel and some should be in Hartford. It’s gonna be wild regardless of the venue.

 

[JB75]

I think it’s perfect the way it is half the games at XL and half at Gampel. Love Gampel but tomorrow’s a Hartford XL game for sure. Saturday 3pm start long holiday weekend. Bars in the city will be hopping. Tomorrow is not a Gampel game . It’s better in Hartford tmrw. Sportsbook, restaurants , more spots to move around , places to bring the kids etc…. No brainer

 

[XLCenterFan]

Trying to remember , when was last time 2 top 5 teams played each other at XL?

I think it was Pittsburgh a loooong time ago. Semi-big snowfall the night before if I remember. When Coach’s restaurant was still open. That’s where I was prior to that one.

 

[UCTitleTown]

Probably not, and at 7'2" I hope he never tries to either

True. The knee level of a driving guard could be....ummm....."problematic" for Senhor.

 

[XLCenterFan]

I think it’s perfect the way it is half the games at XL and half at Gampel. Love Gampel but tomorrow’s a Hartford XL game for sure. Saturday 3pm start long holiday weekend. Bars in the city will be hopping. Tomorrow is not a Gampel game . It’s better in Hartford tmrw. Sportsbook, restaurants , more spots to move around , places to bring the kids etc…. No brainer

I agree. Both venues have good things about them. Love that this is an XL game. Get as many people as possible yelling at Shaka. Very glad it’s not a noon game. Give us some time to drink in Hartford.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Really hoping no one is told to sit down during the game

 

[nomar]

This reads like a long-form Jon Rothstein tweet

Not enough "The Carpenter" references!

 

[businesslawyer]

Obviously Maker's Muppet wore it better, but it's a good effort.
Yep, we're getting that feeling back again of big time games at the XL.
Games with national implications in-season.

If that was a Maker's Muppet imitation, the imitations of Christopher Walken during the DePaul game were much more on point.

But it is obviously a huge, huge game, reminiscent of earlier days. And knowing a win all but wraps up the regular season championship.

 

[husky429]

Don’t stop drinking. Friday 5p to Saturday 9p.

My neighbor is an uber-bougie bartender at a place with those 18$ cocktails I never buy. He's having me try some new menu ideas.

I can't feel my toes, so I think it's going well.

I'll see you all in 24 hours

 

[kobe]

fellas this one's gonna be a rout.

marquette has played 1 ncaa tournament team since december and they split 1-1 with them. complete fraud.

uconn wins this by 15 minimum

 

[Dogdeacon]

I see this as Tristan and Cam time. With AK dropping death knells. Cam vs Kolek could be fire if they let that happen. Cam might kick him. Kolek can’t stop either/any of our guards

Unless freescooter gets his way & hires Shaka to coach UConn, Kolek is going to see un-scalable Castle walls everywhere he goes when he is not trying to get Diarra out from inside his shirt.

 

[Dogdeacon]

But the dirty little secret about the Field House was that the noise was somewhat dampened from the crowd sitting so far from the edge of court. Except for that VCU game where the space was all filled in with seats. That's when the rafters shook so hard it "loosened decades old dust".

The Fieldhouse was dirty and mostly secret in that no one went to a lot of the games in the Perno & early Calhoun days. We typically sat under the baskets ala North Goal gang to be close to the action. I couldn't believe how crafty Earl Kelley was from that angle when watching my freshman year (Kyrie 1.0?!), he would spin shots in off the top of the backboard and bomb from 23 feet while it was still only worth 2. Earl was just plain dirty.

But the true dirty little secret was the no-smoking in the building policy that allowed everyone including students to file outside at half time and indulge in beverages hidden in the snow. And THAT made the building louder!! Our go to? #UConnJack

 

[caw]

fellas this one's gonna be a rout.

marquette has played 1 ncaa tournament team since december and they split 1-1 with them. complete fraud.

uconn wins this by 15 minimum

I don't think that is true. I think SHU and Butler get in at the end of the day. That said MU did split with those two teams.

Right now the top of the BE is UConn, MU, Creighton, SHU and then Butler, Nova, PC, X. Some mix of the last five will get two in at least, IMO.

Remaining schedules:

MU: @ UConn, DePaul, X, PC, @Creighton, UConn, @X
UConn: MU, @Creighton, Nova, SHU, @MU, @PC

MU has the extra game but it's against DePaul.

Otherwise it's a pretty even schedule to end the season for both teams with UConn's being slightly harder because @PC is probably harder than @X and Nova/SHU right now are harder than PC/X. That said all of those teams will be fighting to get a signature win to boost their NCAA chances.

 

[CTBasketball]

fellas this one's gonna be a rout.

marquette has played 1 ncaa tournament team since december and they split 1-1 with them. complete fraud.

uconn wins this by 15 minimum

Does Cincinnati have running water yet?

 

[OffTheGlass]

I do think this is actually a bigger game for Marquette than for us. We will be a top seed while Marquette is waivering between themselves and AZ. Lots of season left but if Marquette is going to be a 1-seed, they need to win 1 of 2 from us. Plus if they lose, the BE Title is a given. Should be a fun game, but I am somewhat expecting a double digit win only because we're at home.

 

[alphasigko]

I was at the VCU game and yes the building shaked and quaked all night. The game that rivaled that one was the slowdown game against Rhody.

Yep! I was there when Doug Melody dribbled like Marques Haynes all around and through the URI defenders. The crowd went wild watching that outstanding performance!

 

[TheChamps990411]

Hope UConn has a statement win by crushing Marquette by 20+ points.

Tired of hearing "experts" put us behind Purdue, time to show that we are a well-balanced team with great players in every position, and on the bench, and a great coach, and not a one-man show!

Marquette lost to Purdue in a close game so Uconn has an opportunity to make a HEEEUUUGGGE! statement if they can win this game comfortably on national tv. Lets hope we give our best performance of the season and come out healthy at the buzzer.

 

[Pmac923]

The loudest UConn home games in the last 4-5 years have been Villanova 2022 at XL, St John’s 2023 at XL, Memphis 2019 at XL, and the Providence Gamepl game in 2023.

XL has been better as of late.

Xavier at Uconn 2023 was pure mayhem

 

[NJHusky]

Sietsa key Oyster Bar

Rain possible around game time. SKOB is a cool place but a bit cramped inside. Evies or Raffurtys on main are good sports bars. Geckos in Southside is also good…and closer to siesta key

 

[BigTenFan]

Should be a great game: you are #1, playing at home in front of a huge crowd, talented opponent with energetic coach- Looking forward to a fantastic atmosphere and a W!

 

[RichZ]

XL Center crowd need to step up tomorrow for 40 min. on national tv

Actually, they need to be loud and proud for the entire broadcast, not just the 40 minutes that the game clock is running. Need to drown out the announcers.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

It would be so hype if today was the day Shaka got T’d up for being on the court playing by D. Crowd will go absolutely bat guano crazy!!!

 

[87Xfer]

Timing today is brutal. I have to leave the house at halftime to see my daughter's music performance. If we're down at the half, I'm gonna be in a foul mood. I'm tempted to just record and watch the whole game afterward, but there's no way I'm not turning the game on when it tips off.

 

[Waquoit]

Yep! I was there when Doug Melody dribbled like Marques Haynes all around and through the URI defenders. The crowd went wild watching that outstanding performance!

Sounds boring

 

[ThetaZoo]

Yep! I was there when Doug Melody dribbled like Marques Haynes all around and through the URI defenders. The crowd went wild watching that outstanding performance!

They had to give him smelling salts at one timeout, or so the legend goes.

 

[Waquoit]

It's a weird kind of nerves I'm feeling right now. For me, this game is more about pain avoidance than pleasure seeking.