UConn's Toughest Regular Season Opponent

[MSGRET]

With the release of the Non Conference opponents schedule and after watching the first two European games I don't think that UConn will get beaten by any Big East teams as long as they stay healthy this year. So who do you think has the best chance of beating UConn?

 

[uconnfan68]

Almost chose other, for LSU. Might be interesting.

 

[Bone Dog]

I think it depends on whether Miles is healthy and starting for ND. If she’s not, then I’d have to go with SC.

 

[Tom677777]

SC and Notre Dame will be the two of the most hardest teams Uconn plays so either them has a good chance.

 

[MilfordHusky]

SC or ND, I think.

 

[LuvBball]

I think folks are really underestimating Texas

 

[sun]

Scar is an away game that comes after Notre Dame which is a UConn home game.
UConn will need Amari's help with rebounding against Scar's bigs to defeat them.
That game could be for the #1 national ranking in the AP poll & there will be a lot of pressure on both teams no matter what.
That game could be for a perfect season by UConn.

 

[Rowdy831]

I don't think UCONN has ever had the offensive fire power that they will have this season if everyone is playing. The will have three potential 1st team AA and Nika who has been the DPOY two years running in the Big East. They will have size, speed, ball handlers and great coaching so how will any team stay close to them? Couple that with an embarrassing exit from the tournament last season and you have a hungry team that is also loaded so I think they will win every game and most won't be interesting.

To me the teams since Stewie have been very average compared to other UCONN squads but they still found a way to win and win a lot. I love to play know it all with Geno but there is no doubt he is the best that has ever coached WBB and he has CD too. It is almost unfair to see the level of talent coming to UCONN and I sense they will have another one of those magical winning streaks.

 

[Geew1992]

Almost chose other, for LSU. Might be interesting.

But lsu isn’t on the schedule.

 

[oldude]

The truth is that with a healthy Paige, Aaliyah, Azzi, Nika, Aubrey, etc., UConn runs the table on all of these teams. I picked SC as the Huskies toughest opponent because the Gamecocks size and athleticism will present a challenge, although I don’t see SC beating UConn this season after losing Boston and 5 other players after last season.

 

[jdote33]

Great question. As one noted, if the team plays LSU in the Cayman Islands tournament (Nov 24-25), then I think it's them. They have 3 potential All-Americans, a top 3 incoming freshman, and championship experience. However, since they are not in the poll, I went with North Carolina. ND still has Hannah Hidalgo if Miles is not healthy to start the season, and Cassandra Prosper looked really good this summer for her national team. But I just think if healthy, the trio of Azzi, Nika, and Paige is a bit too much for that backcourt. North Carolina added Lexi Donarski (Paige HS Minnesota rival) and they have Deja Kelly and Paulina Paris. They also beefed up the front court a bit. I feel like they are flying under the radar but I like their team.

Also I agree that Texas will be tough on the road. I think their front court will be difficult for us to defend, but I don't think they have great matchups for Paige and Azzi.

 

[JJTB]

Injuries….I’m already concerned!

 

[Jumper33]

South Carolina. ND will have a solid team. Even without Miles, Hidalgo looks pretty promising. If Miles is healthy, they might have the second best backcourt after us?

However we play ND at home. And South Carolina has a crucial element that ND is lacking - they have Dawn Staley. I don’t see South Carolina faltering too far from where they were last year honestly. They will be tough with Cardoso.

Some other teams on here will be strong as well. Looking forward to all these games.

 

[Cuango]

South Carolina may not be as good as they have been with Boston but we are deluding ourselves if we think they have suddenly become an easy out. Did anyone see Chloe Kitts in the recent FIBA tournament? Dawn is a formidable force and will have her team running on all cylinders.
Clearly, the three most worrisome games are SC, ND, and Texas! Two of those three are on the road and will be in seriously hostile environment! ND will be tough even as a home game if Miles is healthy. She is a force of nature!
I would guess the next toughest games (barring a surprise LSU game in The Cayman Islands) will be North Carolina, UCLA, Maryland, Louisville, and NC State. Of those, NC and UCLA are the toughest IMO. NC has talent and IMO, a very talented coach, UCLA has talent! I believe we will win all these secondary tier games but I have to admit to a little concern with NC.
The scariest games for me however, are SC and Texas. Both are on the road, extremely hostile environment, and feature talent, toughness, and great coaching! Furthermore, we will be the featured game of both those team‘s seasons. ND of course will be tough but at least that will be a home gam!
I just pray we have a healthy team for all those games! If we do, we are possibly in for a truly magical season!

 

[jdote33]

Just for fun/best guess, as we are still around 2.5 months away: potential starting lineups of uconn (not trying to be controversial jk) + each of most of the teams in the poll

	Uconn	@Texas	@South Carolina	Notre Dame	UNC (Mohegan)	@UMD	@NC State	LSU(potential opp/ Caymand Islands)
HC/ESPN Too Early Top 25 #	Geno/1	Vic Schaefer/20	Dawn Staley/ 8	Niele Ivy/10	Courtney Banghart/19	Brenda Frese/17	Wes Moore/NR	Kim Mulkey/2
Center	AE	Taylor Jones	Kamila Cardoso	Kylee Watson	Maria Gakdeng	Allie Kubek	River Baldwin	Angel Reese
PF	Aubrey	Deyona Gaston	Sania Feagin	Maddy Westbeld	Teonni Key	Faith Masonius	Mimi Collins	Aneesa Morrow
SF	Paige	Shay Holle	Bre Hall	Cassandre Prosper	Alyssa Utsby	Lavander Briggs	Madison Hayes	Mikaylah Williams
SG	Azzi	Shaylee Gonzalez	Te'Hina Papao	Sonia Citron	Lexi Donarski	Jakia Brown Turner	Sania Rivers	Flau'jae Johnson
PG	Nika	Rori Harmon	Raven Johnson	Olivia Miles	Deja Kelly	Shyanne Sellers	Zoe Brooks	Hailey Van Lith
6th Woman	Caroline	Madison Booker	Chloe Kitts	H.Hidalgo	Paulina Paris	Brinae Alexander	Aziah James	Kateri Poole

Some notes:
*Since the game vs ND is later in the season, I think (crossing fingers) Olivia Miles should be healthy by that time.
*Conversely, against Texas, I probably would've put Aliyah Moore in the starting lineup but not sure if she will be 100 percent by that time. She suffered a torn ACL on December 11th last year. I think she will probably play but not sure if she'll be herself until hopefully February or March. Nevertheless, Texas was kinda hard to gauge. I think Shaylee, Rori and Gaston will definitely start. Last year Faye started more than Jones, but Jones dealt with quite a bit of injuries which has been somewhat of an unfortunate reoccurence in her career. I think Booker is super talented and should start day 1, but Holle is a senior, who plays super hard, so I could see Vic going with her.
*Similar to last year, I have no idea what Maryland is going to do with their starting lineup. They have a ton of wings, but really no bigs or point guards. I'm hoping Kubek, comes back string after getting hurt last year.
*I'm worried about NC State. They've been a perennial top 20 team. They were down a bit last year, and I think their roster got worse. But they do have some incoming freshman that I had no idea how to slot, but seem to be pretty highly touted.

 

[Carnac]

I think folks are really underestimating Texas

No, we're not. I think most posters here are fair-minded and rational. ND and SC BOTH beat UConn last year, Texas did not. I don't know what/who Texas has coming back or coming in, but I expect them to be better than last season. I believe Rory Harmon was out when they played. I haven't looked at their roster, or read any scouting reports on their roster or potential overall success this season. I respect Texas and their coach Vic Schaefer who is entering his 4th year as the Longhorns head coach, but........I expect SC and ND will be just a bit more formidable this year.

Aliyah Boston is now in the WNBA. No one is happier to see her go than me. A quick roster check shows that Dawn lost her entire starting 5. Four of them to the WNBA (Fletcher). 6'7" Kamilla Cardoso steps into her starting role. Sophomore forward Ashlyn Watkins, Sania Fagan, and Ravin Johnson will be part of the core group that will make life tough for Gamecock opponents this year.

Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey did an excellent job of restocking her roster for the coming season. ND finished 24-9/13/5 (13-1 at home) last year. I don't think they'll lose 9 games this year, especially if their floor general Olivia Miles stays healthy all year.

I think UConn has a better chance of beating all 3 THIS year than last. We're also not underestimating SC and ND. Texas will be good, but not tougher than SC/ND. The question was who will be UConn's "toughest" opponent this coming season. UConn will have several "tough" opponents. Pardon me, but I don't think Texas will not be at the top of that list.

 

[Jumper33]

No, we're not. I think most posters here are fair-minded and rational. ND and SC BOTH beat UConn last year, Texas did not. I don't know what/who Texas has coming back or coming in, but I expect them to be better than last season. I believe Rory Harmon was out when they played. I haven't looked at their roster, or read any scouting reports on their roster or potential overall success this season. I respect Texas and their coach Vic Schaefer who is entering his 4th year as the Longhorns head coach, but........I expect SC and ND will be just a bit more formidable this year.

Aliyah Boston is now in the WNBA. No one is happier to see her go than me. A quick roster check shows that Dawn lost her entire starting 5. Four of them to the WNBA (Fletcher). 6'7" Kamilla Cardoso steps into her starting role. Sophomore forward Ashlyn Watkins, Sania Fagan, and Ravin Johnson will be part of the core group that will make life tough for Gamecock opponents this year.

Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey did an excellent job of restocking her roster for the coming season. ND finished 24-9/13/5 (13-1 at home) last year. I don't think they'll lose 9 games this year, especially if their floor general Olivia Miles stays healthy all year.

I think UConn has a better chance of beating all 3 THIS year than last. We're also not underestimating SC and ND. Texas will be good, but not tougher than SC/ND. The question was who will be UConn's "toughest" opponent this coming season. UConn will have several "tough" opponents. Pardon me, but I don't think Texas will not be at the top of that list.

ND was 27-6 this past year. They were 24-9 the year before.

 

[Next 12]

The truth is that with a healthy Paige, Aaliyah, Azzi, Nika, Aubrey, etc., UConn runs the table on all of these teams. I picked SC as the Huskies toughest opponent because the Gamecocks size and athleticism will present a challenge, although I don’t see SC beating UConn this season after losing Boston and 5 other players after last season.

I'm with you 100%. I read all your posts as I believe you are one of the really knowlegeable posters on the Bone Yard. I have previously posted that this year, with the team that Uconn has, we will run the table in the BE and then run the table in the NCAA tournament. The caveat being if we stay healthy. Losing Jana for the year was a shock, because I believed she would have surpassed all expectations in what she would have contributed. I believe Uconn has two starting fives on it's roster and a great back-up bench. This is the year our no NC'S will end. No.12 is there for the taking. Let's get it!! Uconn will be bad for BB again.!!! I am not saying that we won't have to fight for it, but this year we have the fire power to do it. Our defense was always strong and now it is OUR TIME. GO HUSKIES!!!!

 

[Carnac]

ND was 27-6 this past year. They were 24-9 the year before.

I stand corrected. Thanks for the assist.

 

[DrummerDee]

I think folks are really underestimating Texas

Not underestimating the coach, though. They can't beat UConn.

 

[SEbluebood]

Sounds like an irrational post from the BY’s most rational poster!‍♂️‍♂️

 

[The deacon]

I don't think UCONN has ever had the offensive fire power that they will have this season if everyone is playing. The will have three potential 1st team AA and Nika who has been the DPOY two years running in the Big East. They will have size, speed, ball handlers and great coaching so how will any team stay close to them? Couple that with an embarrassing exit from the tournament last season and you have a hungry team that is also loaded so I think they will win every game and most won't be interesting.

To me the teams since Stewie have been very average compared to other UCONN squads but they still found a way to win and win a lot. I love to play know it all with Geno but there is no doubt he is the best that has ever coached WBB and he has CD too. It is almost unfair to see the level of talent coming to UCONN and I sense they will have another one of those magical winning streaks.

I hesitated to pick at your 'very average' description of the post-Stewie UConn teams, Rowdy, because you sort of qualified your appraisal by saying they 'found a way to win.'

Truth is, in 2016-17 and 2017-18, they blew out most rivals en route to back-to-back 36-1 records. Yes, we all know they lost Final Four games on last-second shots.

But how one could call teams with Crystal, Kia, KLS, Gabby and Napheesa even remotely close to 'average' just is off base. The failing of those two teams, other than those two heartbreaking defeats, was their proximity in history to the Stewie Era.

I do appreciate and agree with your prediction about the potential offensive firepower of this current team, which should be entertaining, if perhaps not as successful record-wise as those two aforementioned Huskies teams.

As for this thread, I cast my ballot for SC.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

My best guess at our 13 healthy players potential scoring averages for the 2023-2024 season.
It will vary game-to-game according to minutes played. I may be undercutting some players!
KK Arnold 8
Aaliyah Edwards 20 (will average a double/double with rebounds)
Qadence Samuels 8
Paige Bueckers 24
Nika Muhl 6
Ashlynn Shade 8
Ines Bettencourt 6
Ice Brady 6
Caroline Ducharme 10
Ayanna Patterson 4
Azzi Fudd 25
Amari DeBerry 3
Audrey Griffin 14

Total: 142 potential points but obviously each game will dictate the points scored!
Jana El Alfy would have gone for about 10 points per game with about 8 rebounds per game.
Just my opinion! Don't shoot the messenger!

 

[wingsfan055]

Front line depth and physical play is a major concern. The script since the last time UConn won a Title is to force us to be a jump shooting team by being physical. That's how you beat UConn. Unfortunately, I don't think that' dynamic has changed. Losing Jana was a major blow to inside depth. AE is the only proven post player right now.