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Message: [QUOTE="Dogdeacon, post: 4563759, member: 1026"] There is a unique, productive in short-term but destructive in long-term UConn desire to dismiss Universities and basketball teams in close proximity as rivals. Exhibit A = UMass: Calhoun theorizes that playing UMass legitimizes their program & helps UMass recruiting at expense of UConn. Looks bad for UConn when Calipari briefly brings UMass to national prominence, but quickly proves successful as UMass falls into the abyss after Calipari leaves. Can make a case that UConn isn't as successful if UMass is perennial top-25 (i.e. in that world does Shabazz Napier go to UMass?!). Haven't played since 2005, that is ABSURD. Exhibit B = Boston College: A sniff of becoming basketball rivals via meeting often in the dreaded 8-9 game the day before the real BE tourney started. BC was riding Flutie era prominence & occasional BBall success & always shops a snotty contention of superior academics vs other NE sports colleges. This was a rivalry in mediocrity though & UConn put BC basketball in its rearview (where its stayed), but then BC used its connections defect/destroy the Big East AND screw UConn in conference realignment game. The Karma police have exacted their revenge on BC hoops ever since. But the 'schools' from admin to alumnus do seem to still sports hate each other. Haven't played in hoops since 2013, that's RIDICULOUS! Exhibit C = Providence: Basketball competitiveness has waxed and mostly waned for Providence, but they have a decent long-term body of work and games at the Dunk are inarguably the easiest and most intense road games for UConn fans to enjoy. The fact that Providence & UConn are competitive colleges for similar pools of students has to weigh in here too (as it does for so many NE schools). Exhibits D-Z = every other school in CT and New England. UConn mostly plays the crappiest teams in CT, no regular series with marginal D1s Yale (haven't played since 2014?!) or Fairfield (haven't played since 2011) or Hartford (played twice since 98?!) kept at two arms away length all on the more to lose than gain theory. This is bullcrap. Arguably UConn's greatest success came b /c it invited schools to the CT Mutual Classic, got embarrassed as Northeastern handed it to us, but then realized HEY let's hire their coach = that's how a middling Connecticut basketball team became The UConn Basketball program. Frankly I'm sick of it. The conference realignment clustfork has taught us that regional rivalries are EONS better for fans than behemoth national conferences. NE college football will never mean anything as long as schools try to step over each other for King of the Mountain vs trying to rise all boats. As a UConn fan when you provide other people the rationale for not playing UMass or others it always comes off with a tad too much chicken turd flavoring for my taste. I'm glad that BC & UConn football are regularly playing each other. Let's kick their butt in their homecoming game next year! Dave Gavitt founded the BE on the principal of local/regional rivalries & UConn should embrace that principal, it works. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach