UConn ranked #64

[HooperScooper]

Matt Norlander of CBSSports ranked every D1 team. UConn came in at #64. We'll see if they can beat that.

64. Connecticut
New coach: Dan Hurley.

The Huskies probably wouldn't rank this high on any other media member's theoretical list of 353 teams. I'm going in though because Dan Hurley's proven to be a borderline great coach already and he has one of the three best players in the American in Jalen Adams. If Alterique Gilbert can stay healthy, the American is going on notice with him and Adams, given how Hurley's been successful with creative and slashing guards.

College basketball rankings 1-353: From Kansas to No. 353 and an interesting fact on every team

 

[Stinger92860]

64 on the high side, wow times have changed. I’m hoping we get to top 40 and get into the dance.

 

[Hoophound]

We have a backcourt that could probably drag us to the Final Four. Let’s hope for something shockingly good to happen. I’m optimistic.

 

[Waquoit]

That's a fair ranking. We have some star power and I thought all of the returnees showed flashes last year. Players get better. I'm ready for some basketball.

 

[Austin316]

“Theoretical list”

 

[tcf15]

OOC
9. Villanova
12. Oregon*
14. Syracuse
19. FSU
42. Arizona
59. Iowa*
239. Manhattan
258. Cornell
264. Drexel
285. Morehead
286. UNH
299. UMKC
305. Lafayette
315. UMass-Lowell

AAC
26. Cinci
31. UCF
40. Houston
69. Temple
78. SMU
84. Memphis
99. Wichita State
120. Tulsa
184. Tulane
192. USF
273. ECU

 

[auror]

OOC
9. Villanova
12. Oregon*
14. Syracuse
19. FSU
42. Arizona
59. Iowa*
239. Manhattan
258. Cornell
264. Drexel
285. Morehead
286. UNH
299. UMKC
305. Lafayette
315. UMass-Lowell

AAC
26. Cinci
31. UCF
40. Houston
69. Temple
78. SMU
84. Memphis
99. Wichita State
120. Tulsa
184. Tulane
192. USF
273. ECU

Oof. Our cupcakes are especially cupcakey.

Good thing they got rid of RPI. Ours was going to be sucktastic.

 

[LIuconn]

last yr we couldn't count on those ranked 200+ to be cupcakes. in hurley i trust

 

[auror]

last yr we couldn't count on those ranked 200+ to be cupcakes. in hurley i trust

Agreed. But for reference, last year we played 5 non-conf teams above 200 (in KenPom), this year 8 (projected by Matt). And 3 of the 5 from last year were more competitive in the 200s than the best of the ones we play this year. Essentially, last year we played 2 cupcakes ranked 239 or worse, and 8 this year.

 

[sammydabiz]

Hey, we were #68 in 2011...

 

[SubbaBub]

Top 50 and Top 100 wins are what matter. According to this we should have roughly 13 Top 100 games. 4-5 of those should be Top 25 games.

Go .500 or better vs. the Top 25 and get 8 or more Top 100 wins and we should make it easily. Go .500 or worse vs. the Top 100 and you are staying home.

Oh. and don't lose to any of the sub 100 teams. We can probably survive a loss to Tulsa but really no one else on that list.

 

[Edward Sargent]

OOC
9. Villanova
12. Oregon*
14. Syracuse
19. FSU
42. Arizona
59. Iowa*
239. Manhattan
258. Cornell
264. Drexel
285. Morehead
286. UNH
299. UMKC
305. Lafayette
315. UMass-Lowell

AAC
26. Cinci
31. UCF
40. Houston
69. Temple
78. SMU
84. Memphis
99. Wichita State
120. Tulsa
184. Tulane
192. USF
273. ECU

What do the asterisks after Oregon and Iowa signify?

 

[tcf15]

What do the asterisks after Oregon and Iowa signify?

Just copied and pasted from Twitter so forgot to explain, but UConns only going to play one of them as part of the 2K Sports Classic after playing Syracuse.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Just copied and pasted from Twitter so forgot to explain, but UConns only going to play one of them as part of the 2K Sports Classic after playing Syracuse.

thnx

 

[Tex-Lager93]

Bulletin Board Material. No way there are 63 better teams when it’s all said and done.

 

[BFieldHusky]

OOC
9. Villanova
12. Oregon*
14. Syracuse
19. FSU
42. Arizona
59. Iowa*
239. Manhattan
258. Cornell
264. Drexel
285. Morehead
286. UNH
299. UMKC
305. Lafayette
315. UMass-Lowell

AAC
26. Cinci
31. UCF
40. Houston
69. Temple
78. SMU
84. Memphis
99. Wichita State
120. Tulsa
184. Tulane
192. USF
273. ECU

Of note. Harvard is 80. Will be an interesting test on Saturday.

 

[auror]

Top 50 and Top 100 wins are what matter. According to this we should have roughly 13 Top 100 games. 4-5 of those should be Top 25 games.

Go .500 or better vs. the Top 25 and get 8 or more Top 100 wins and we should make it easily. Go .500 or worse vs. the Top 100 and you are staying home.

Oh. and don't lose to any of the sub 100 teams. We can probably survive a loss to Tulsa but really no one else on that list.

Well we're not sure what it will take these days due to the new NET rankings. Scoring margin will actually matter now, but doesn't seem to be as important as raw wins/losses and location is considered with the quadrants.

From my extrapolation of the recent bubble inclusions, we most likely need at least 5 quadrant 1 wins (home 1-30, neutral 1-50, road 1-75) to have a shot (and now probably a decent scoring margin in them).

So with this rankings prediction, we'd need to win at least 5 of these games:
N- 9. Villanova
N- 14. Syracuse
N- 19. FSU
26. Cinci
@ 26. Cinci
@ 31. UCF
@ 69. Temple
And N- 12. Oregon* if we get them is another crack.

So we probably need a 5-3 winning record against the toughest teams on our schedule and only 1(!) of the games is at home. Would be quite nice if UCF, Houston, and/or SMU could sneak into the top 30 since we have those 3 at home. An AAC tourny final run might be neceessary, too. Conceivably if we got 3 or 4 wins and creamed the rest of our schedule (~25+ wins entering NCAAs) we might have a shot, too.

It's going to be tough sledding.

 

[ASweet3781]

I'm optimistic for several reasons.

1. There have been believe it or not at least 20 wins there for any competently coached AAC team there to put in the bank between our non conference schedule and the weaker teams in the league. How else do you think SMU and Cincinnati win all those games and than flame out in the 1st or 2nd round. You don't have to have a great roster to be an NCAA team out of this league. Our former coach couldn't do it because he couldn't figure out how to beat Tulsa or sweep Temple or really run a program. But I think Hurley will. I have the general thought that there are a lot of good but not great teams in NCAA men's basketball today. There are also a lot of mediocre and bad teams. That's why you see regional finals of Loyola vs Kansas State and Xavier as a 1 seed. It just doesn't take much to be good besides good guards, a good coach, and establishing an identity.

2. Before AG went down there were glimmers of hope. A win over Oregon, a strong 30 mins vs MSU, and beating the cupcakes. But the margin of error for a poorly run program is so thin that things fell off the cliff when he went out and things spiraled out of control. There were still 3-5 winnable games that Ollie and poor culture gave away after AG was lost.

3. Guards. The most important position in the sport and we apparently have 5 of them that will be contributors this year.

4. Depth. We have depth. Finally.

5. Coaching. Did I mention coaching and just establishing a culture in your program that breeds winning, consistency, and toughness? I think we have it. And I think it makes the difference in going 1-4 against Tulsa and Temple in a year and treating SMU and Cincinnati as if they are Kentucky and Duke.

My causes for concerns:

1. I question if Jalen Adams is mature enough to be "the man". He has the tools and he now has a real coaching staff that will push him. Not to mention some decent enough talent around him. But it's still one of those things you'll have to see it to believe it.

2. AG's health. Obvious.

3. The frontcourt. There's bodies. And fouls. Will any of them step up?

 

[SubbaBub]

We took a ton of bad shots, got outrebounded badly and played poor team defense. I'd start there before predicting some dream season. I think the last one will be fine with Hurley. The first two will be mostly on the players. The same players.

 

[Purple Stein]

State Rankings:

64. UConn
143. Hartford
174. Yale
201. Quinnipiac
216. Fairfield
283. CCSU
328. Sacred Heart

Pull out UConn and you could have a fun, local, 6 team tournament. We can commission Diaco to brand it and make the trophy.

 

[Travelman6]

Cool.

Low enough to comfortably fly under the radar and start surprising some teams later in the year but not so low that even a great start still leaves them out in the cold.

Keep under rating the Huskies though! Outside of the past two years that is when Uconn thrives! Hurley is primed to lead this program back into the national spotlight. Maybe not this year, persay, though it is possible, but very soon!

 

[Austin316]

State Rankings:

64. UConn
143. Hartford
174. Yale
201. Quinnipiac
216. Fairfield
283. CCSU
328. Sacred Heart

Pull out UConn and you could have a fun, local, 6 team tournament. We can commission Diaco to brand it and make the trophy.

They’ve actually done this before. I think it’s called the CT 6 Tournament.

 

[CL82]

OOC
9. Villanova
12. Oregon*
14. Syracuse
19. FSU
42. Arizona
59. Iowa*
239. Manhattan
258. Cornell
264. Drexel
285. Morehead
286. UNH
299. UMKC
305. Lafayette
315. UMass-Lowell

AAC
26. Cinci
31. UCF
40. Houston
69. Temple
78. SMU
84. Memphis
99. Wichita State
120. Tulsa
184. Tulane
192. USF
273. ECU

Good thing we added Wichita State to boost RPI.

 

[Palatine]

Matt Norlander of CBSSports ranked every D1 team. UConn came in at #64. We'll see if they can beat that.

64. Connecticut
New coach: Dan Hurley.

The Huskies probably wouldn't rank this high on any other media member's theoretical list of 353 teams. I'm going in though because Dan Hurley's proven to be a borderline great coach already and he has one of the three best players in the American in Jalen Adams. If Alterique Gilbert can stay healthy, the American is going on notice with him and Adams, given how Hurley's been successful with creative and slashing guards.

College basketball rankings 1-353: From Kansas to No. 353 and an interesting fact on every team

I'll take the under.

 

[tcf15]

Another look at UConn's OOC opponents based on where they are predicted to finish in their respective conferences:

Morehead State (CBS rank: 285th overall): 10th (out of 12 teams)

UMKC (299): 7th (9)

Syracuse (14): 4th (15)

Oregon (12): 1st (12)
OR
Iowa (59): 10th (14)

Cornell (258): 6th (8)

UNH (286): 8th (9)

UMass-Lowell (315): 9th (9)

Arizona (42): 4th (12)

Lafayette (305): 9th (10)

FSU (19): 7th (15)

Manhattan (239): 8th (11)

Drexel (264): 9th (10)

Villanova (9): 1st (10)