We have a huge opportunity at hand...

[Deleted member 3149]

Right now, we are roughly #26 in the country.

Tonight, we play a VERY beatable Houston team that fluked us on New Years Eve. A win tonight should have us in the 23-25 range for Monday's AP poll.

After Houston, we have a chance to also take down a vulnerable #13 Cincinnati who is due for an AAC loss. In addition, we face a (for lack of better word) crummy USF team immediately after.

That means, if all goes well and we take advantage of the next week and a half, we could very well be around #18 in the country by February 10th. While that means essentially nothing to most, it means that we'll be heating up at the exact correct time. Who gives a if you lose steam in December. All that matters is that we're headhunting for a top 10 spot come March 1st.

To sum it up, this next week and a half is HUGE and it will determine what kind of skill-set this team has along with how badly we really want another crack at a title run. A lot of that is up to KO and Shabazz, and a lot of that is up to streaky guys like Boat, DeAndre and Omar. I think this team wants it, and I think this team has what it takes.

I'm ten toes in. Are you?

 

[Tenspro2002]

Being ranked consistently will help the perception that we're still a national player.

Without a number next to your name -- you could be #26, you could be #326 -- nobody gives a damn.

 

[BFieldHusky]

Right now, we are roughly #26 in the country.

Tonight, we play a VERY beatable Houston team that fluked us on New Years Eve. A win tonight should have us in the 23-25 range for Monday's AP poll.

After Houston, we have a chance to also take down a vulnerable #13 Cincinnati who is due for an AAC loss. In addition, we face a (for lack of better word) crummy USF team immediately after.

That means, if all goes well and we take advantage of the next week and a half, we could very well be around #18 in the country by February 10th. While that means essentially nothing to most, it means that we'll be heating up at the exact correct time. Who gives a if you lose steam in December. All that matters is that we're headhunting for a top 10 spot come March 1st.

To sum it up, this next week and a half is HUGE and it will determine what kind of skill-set this team has along with how badly we really want another crack at a title run. A lot of that is up to KO and Shabazz, and a lot of that is up to streaky guys like Boat, DeAndre and Omar. I think this team wants it, and I think this team has what it takes.

I'm ten toes in. Are you?

Let's get past tonight, but the Cincy game next week is huge. If we beat Houston tonight and somehow beat Cincy on the road, we would be 6-3, with the following schedule:

@UCF
USF
Memphis
@Temple
SMU
@USF
Cincinnati
Rutgers
@Ville

Tough games against Memphis, SMU, Cincinnati and Louisville, but 3 of those are at home. And very winnable games against UCF, USF twice, Temple and Rutgers. We could put ourselves in position to be looking at a 3 or 4 seed depending on how we do in the AAC tournament.

Remember that Memphis, SMU and Cincinnati have a lot of games left with each other, so there is a chance to move up into the Top 2-3 in the AAC.

 

[huskiesnyc]

There should be no looking ahead considering we lost to this team, and a second loss would be devastating. Lets just handle our business and get payback tonight, and we're back in the rankings on Monday.

 

[upstater]

The @UCF game is a tough one in the sense it's 2 days after the away Cincy game. Not sure why UConn has been dinged like this with ridiculous travel.

 

[Mots010]

That Washinton>CT>Texas travel was obsurd, and the fact that we have to go from Florida > Cincy is ridiculous as well. I honestly dont know, but did we ever have multiple game road trips like this in the Big East, outside of preseason tourneys?

 

[Jerry1714]

That Washinton>CT>Texas travel was obsurd, and the fact that we have to go from Florida > Cincy is ridiculous as well. I honestly dont know, but did we ever have multiple game road trips like this in the Big East, outside of preseason tourneys?

We did Cincy to Florida last year, those kind of trips are very common in the college game now with realignment.

 

[Kitaman]

Right now Houston is all that matters. They know they can beat us whether we are ranked 10, 26 or 56. We've got to smack the taste of victory out of their mouths and whomp on their ass! We need have to re-gain respect and intimidation in our new conference.

If we can't kick their ass at home tonight then we don't need to be ranked.

Tomorrow can wait.

 

[YearoftheHusky]

Being ranked consistently will help the perception that we're still a national player.

Without a number next to your name -- you could be #26, you could be #326 -- nobody gives a damn.

This is without a doubt true. Was watching the Michigan vs. MSU game with a buddy last week at a bar when I asked them to put on the UConn vs. Rutgers game. When they did, my friend asked if we are eligible this year. I said yes, to which he replied, "oh so you guys just suck this year?" I asked why he would think that and he said because we were unranked. He had no clue what our record was or who we had beaten, but since we were unranked the perception was that we are not very good.