We only asked once...

[HuskyNan]

Guys, can we ratchet back the outrage? If there is/was any anger at SU's refusal to schedule a game, Stewie herself got to take it out on them last season.

Here's the full quote, by the way:

Before the 2015-16 season, Auriemma said Connecticut asked Syracuse to schedule an early season nonconference game in the Carrier Dome. SU said “No,” Auriemma said Sunday. The topic arose Sunday when Auriemma was asked whether he missed the Big East rivalry of Syracuse and Connecticut, which goes back decades.

“We tried to schedule,” Auriemma said, “but (SU) wasn’t very accommodating when we wanted to play them. We said we’ll come up and play you guys and they said no. We don’t ask twice. We ask once … It doesn’t bother me. People say no all of the time. Everybody’s got to make their own schedule the way they want to make it, to make their program they way they want to make it.

“Our nonconference schedule is the best in the conference. There’s nobody we won’t play. We’ll play anybody, anywhere. Well play at midnight. I don’t care. If you play us, you’ll be on national television.”

Lordy, there are times when I think I took the time machine back to the old Summitt.

3 things Geno Auriemma said at his pre-Syracuse press conference

 

[oldude]

Whatever the rationale was for the Orange not playing the Huskies during the regular season, there will be a very good one going forward. Syracuse will graduate 4 of 5 starters plus their only decent reserve off the bench, and it's not like Coach Q has the top recruiting class in the nation coming in.

There are some lean times ahead in the Dome. Tonight will be the last opportunity for Syracuse to make some noise in WBB for some time to come, unless they pull off an upset of epic proportions.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Hillsman has always sought to be colorful and he talks a lot. He could have said "we just had a full plate; I wish we didn't". No. He made it clear that the game did not make sense to him, embellishing it further with the unique opinion that media create rivalries, schools don't. Yes, 24 straight loses don't make a rivalry. Apparently he has no stomach for trying to start one either. Duke got sick of losing and ended the series. It happens. No biggy. Quentin could have answered the question in a better way.

 

[Shorty Dee]

I don't really know whether or not that is 100% true. Vivian when RU was leaving the American said she wanted to play UConn going forward - and if she changed her mind I am sure it had to do with the declining ability of Rutgers to be competitive in the game. Or Geno realized that RU wouldn't be competitive and passed if she asked.

But I am 100% certain in the abstract that if she was fielding a decent team, CVS would want to play UConn. For a coach with a good team it is a win / win situation. It boosts your RPI, the loss doesn't affect what anyone thinks of your team and you get credit for playing the game. For the players, they get to compete against the highest level and find out what some of their faults might be. And when RU was really good, we were actually competitive with UConn and won some games. An Assistant once said that if RU (of that time) played UConn 3 times a season, they would have a chance to win one, which was born out pretty much. We didn't always win that one but we were competitive.

But since then UConn has gotten better (I wouldn't have believed it possible) while Rutgers has declined quite a bit.

I am going off of what Geno said at the presser for the Syracuse game. Geno said he asked Rutgers to play UConn along with Louisville. Rutgers declined and Louisville will be playing UConn next year. He also stated he asked Rutgers, because he was trying to keep the rivalry going.

 

[Geew1992]

Yes, Geno. Don't beg. You asked, they said no, so keep it moving. Once Rutgers was able to move to the Big 10, I knew C.Vivian Springer and Rutgers wouldn't play UConn anymore. I was surprised Louisville agreed to play UConn again.

I was surprised Uconn and Louisville waited this long to to get a series going again. I highly doubt Waltz would turn the other way when it comes to Uconn. His team may have gotten a beat down, but he knows playing Uconn is good for his team. And there is mutual respect for him and Geno.