Weak schedule

[The CDR-Ret]

Here's the problem with a weak schedule. Heading into the NCAA's last year, the selection committee was wetting themselves over "Quad 1 wins". However they define them was wrong anyway, as UConn had a few top 25 wins that actually weren't Quad 1, but whatever.

Fast forward to selection Sunday and we were the #5 team so the strongest 2 seed. Again, a joke because anyone with a brain could look at the season after the Tennessee loss and see we should have been a 1 seed, but I digress.

The point is that the committee may yet again look at Quad 1 wins and if UConn loses even 1 game, it could sink us to a 2 seed even tho the other metrics disagree. We will see what they do this year.

Your brilliant point was also made by reading into Geno's comment after the game vs. Louisville: "I like this win, even though we only played 30 minutes of outstanding basketball, the other ten, not so much. Let's not over-analyze it so much that it feels that we lost as we walk out of here tonight."

Sometimes it is: "A win is a win!" Yes, we have some things to work on, but it is going in the right direction.

The schedule is still the schedule. Therefore, control what you can control, and let the rest go.

The Huskies are in good hands, and the women have great attitudes. It is going to be a great season!

Go Huskies!!!!

 

[The CDR-Ret]

Unfortunately, we cannot schedule ourselves. Unfortunately, we are required to schedule Big East opponents.

I think we schedule ourselves every day in practice, and get better as a team. The individual EXTRA workouts are how we get better individually.

Go Huskies!!!

 

[The CDR-Ret]

I said this is an unusually weak schedule when it came out and that there is a good chance we go undefeated. But that wouldn't necessarily mean we are the best team, we need to play at least one of the other teams that are going to compete for a title like UCLA, South Carolina or Texas. Tennessee will be a tough test for us, but that's about it. This makes me nervous for the tournament because the other conferences are stronger top to bottom so those other teams will be battle tested a little more than us. I trust the coaches though.

LSU won a championship like this. I believe the starters can be better rested, and not dinged up.

The key piece is fine tuning the combinations and proving the concept vs. the better teams on the schedule. At Big Dance time shift to the higher gear with the "Fresh Season That Matters" jump with Blanca, and all others are more than ready by then!

Go Huskies!!!

 

[The CDR-Ret]

How many national championships does the SEC have? 12

• Details here.
• TN (8), South Carolina (3), LSU (1)

How many national championships does the UConn have? 12

• All in the Big East and AAC

There are advantages to having a “weak conference schedule” prior to the NCAAT.

• There are disadvantages to having a “strong conference schedule” prior to the NCAAT.
• Details here and here. And this thread.

These advantages/ disadvantages probably disappear or reverse at the extremes ((almost) all “weak”/ “strong” regular season games).

But the addition of two conference games? In a backdrop of a revised NCAAT selection criteria that makes it potentially harder for UConn to get a #1 seed with early season losses (which happened last year but did not hurt as Geno and CD’s farm system curriculum has always been to be best prepared team, seedings falling where it does).

40 inimitable years of coaching excellence by Geno and CD is not nothing.

Being a #2 seed allowed the Huskies to defeat three #1 seeds in a row to their #12 NC. Can NEVER be broken, only tied!

I also enjoy the continuous breaking of conference records, such as regular season and conference tournaments, three women on the BE first team, plus 6th player and Freshman of the year, and continuous unanimous choice to win the conference in the pre-season polls.... Not very many disappointments since I started watching UConn on ESPN after the first win vs. the "Evil Orange Empire" on January 16, 1995 at Gampel.

The love of UConn Huskies Women's basketball should override all other distractions. The immortal words from "Stripes" Sargent Hulka apply here, "Lighten Up, Francis!"

Go Huskies!!!

 

[Gael]

Being a #2 seed allowed the Huskies to defeat three #1 seeds in a row to their #12 NC. Can NEVER be broken, only tied!

The only other team to do it was the 1997 men's Arizona Wildcats, who did it as a #4 seed.

 

[EricSD]

Who would you replace on the schedule?

#21 Louisville
FSU
#25 Ohio State
#24 Michigan
Utah
South Florida
#10 USC
#23 Iowa
#17 Notre Dame
#12 Tennessee

All but Loyola are P4 teams and if UConn wants to get into a conference, playing nice with the P4 is a good idea

I was referring to the increase in Big East games which caused us to schedule less OOC games. If the BE games had gone down by 2 instead of up by 2, we'd have room for 4 more games. I wasn't suggesting dropping any of the OOC games on our schedule. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

Bottom line i was objecting to the BE forcing us to play 2 more in conference games, which IMHO is a waste.

 

[ScottCT]

Who would you replace on the schedule?

#21 Louisville
FSU
#25 Ohio State
#24 Michigan
Utah
South Florida
#10 USC
#23 Iowa
#17 Notre Dame
#12 Tennessee

All but Loyola are P4 teams and if UConn wants to get into a conference, playing nice with the P4 is a good idea

Michigan is ranked 14th.

 

[Ralph]

colorado leading louisville, even if still in the first period. Could make the Cards less of a Good Win.

 

[BBallF]

So here is a challenge to all the "weak conference hurts the team" supporters. Start at 2017, and prove empirically how a much stronger conference would have resulted in a championship. For any of those years you pick, I guarantee you there are credible, legitimate counter arguments as to why we didn't win such as depth, size, injuries, bad plays. You can't prove this theory because it is an unknown and pure speculation. I for one see many advantages in a weaker conference and I think many of those advantages were shown last year in the development of a great team with the largest combined margin of victory ever in the Final Four.

 

[HuskyNan]

Michigan is ranked 14th.

Typo

 

[ec33]

The ACC isn’t a club that UConn can just sign up to and join. UConn has been trying to get into a bigger conference for years, without luck, and it’s not because of the football team. It’s been discussed ad nauseum how hard UConn has tried to get into any of the P4, in fact there’s an entire board on the Boneyard just to discuss conference realignment.

BC blackballed UConn from joining the ACC because the state of Connecticut sued them for leaving the Big East after they said they’d stay. So now every year when the ACC meets, the conference discusses whether they’ll expand again and the decision has been “no”, as it was this year.

Welp, ACC stays together with a new agreement (LINK)

It was pretty obvious to me it wasn't going to break apart until they started approaching the 2036 finish. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/44093338/sources-fsu-clemson-expected-reach-settlement-acc

the-boneyard.com

As for football, last year UConn went to a bowl where it beat ACC team NC State. This year, the Huskies are 7-3, have the 12 ranked QB, and some of the best defensive stats in the country and yet the ACC chose not to extend an offer. Anyone that thinks all UConn needs to do to join a bigger conference is to pick up the phone needs to do some reading because you’re misinformed

https://www.ctinsider.com/sports/uconn/article/football-duke-espn-college-gameday-nick-saban-21150200.php

As you said, there is a whole board for this discussion. But the UConn football team is not good by any stretch. They are working on not being an embarrassment and mostly succeeding at that bench mark -- embarrassing losses to Syracuse, Delaware, and Rice notwithstanding.

 

[HuskyNan]

As you said, there is a whole board for this discussion. But the UConn football team is not good by any stretch. They are working on not being an embarrassment and mostly succeeding at that bench mark -- embarrassing losses to Syracuse, Delaware, and Rice notwithstanding.

All three were overtime losses on the road

 

[Skeets]

All three were overtime losses on the road

3 OT losses from being UNDEFEATED! Not too shabby. One of the benefits, probably the only benefit, of being an independent is that UConn gets to play an eclectic schedule. An occasional P4 school hoping to pick up an easy win. Sometimes that doesn't work. UConn should get a fairly decent bowl bid this year (not the toilet bowl).

 

[JellyBean]

Why try to deny it? It's not as strong as schedules in recent years. No top 5 matchups (as of right now). Maybe no top 10.

I am not trying to deny anything. The schedule is what it is. True some years we have a tough schedule and some years we have a light schedule. You can't always get the heavyweight matchups. Sometimes you gotta take those light heavyweight matchups.

 

[Bald Husky]

The ACC isn’t a club that UConn can just sign up to and join. UConn has been trying to get into a bigger conference for years, without luck, and it’s not because of the football team. It’s been discussed ad nauseum how hard UConn has tried to get into any of the P4, in fact there’s an entire board on the Boneyard just to discuss conference realignment.

BC blackballed UConn from joining the ACC because the state of Connecticut sued them for leaving the Big East after they said they’d stay. So now every year when the ACC meets, the conference discusses whether they’ll expand again and the decision has been “no”, as it was this year.

Welp, ACC stays together with a new agreement (LINK)

It was pretty obvious to me it wasn't going to break apart until they started approaching the 2036 finish. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/44093338/sources-fsu-clemson-expected-reach-settlement-acc

the-boneyard.com

As for football, last year UConn went to a bowl where it beat ACC team NC State. This year, the Huskies are 7-3, have the 12 ranked QB, and some of the best defensive stats in the country and yet the ACC chose not to extend an offer. Anyone that thinks all UConn needs to do to join a bigger conference is to pick up the phone needs to do some reading because you’re misinformed

https://www.ctinsider.com/sports/uconn/article/football-duke-espn-college-gameday-nick-saban-21150200.php

I'm not misinformed about anything, and the fact that you say that is insulting. I am just saying that we are headed in the right direction, and if the ACC can see the future they will eventually beat the BIG or Big12 and invite UConn to join the conference in the not too distant time period.

 

[HuskyNan]

I'm not misinformed about anything, and the fact that you say that is insulting. I am just saying that we are headed in the right direction, and if the ACC can see the future they will eventually beat the BIG or Big12 and invite UConn to join the conference in the not too distant time period.

Read my post again. I said anyone that thinks that all UConn needs to do to join a major conference is to pick up the phone and ask is misinformed. It’s not that simple

 

[Vowelguy]

I'm not misinformed about anything, and the fact that you say that is insulting. I am just saying that we are headed in the right direction, and if the ACC can see the future they will eventually beat the BIG or Big12 and invite UConn to join the conference in the not too distant time period.

B1G is not inviting UConn

ACC is not inviting UConn until, maybe, after the league gets gutted by the B1G/SEC in a few years

 

[Vowelguy]

Here is why the weak schedule matters:

1) The games are less interesting. The main reason I watched most of the Loyola game was to see all the new/improved players. If there hadn't been so much change in the team, I prob would've tuned out much sooner. The UConn teams that would blast a top 5 opponent by 20; those were fun.

2) I'd say one reason UConn doesn't have even more titles, is that I think they haven't always been battle tested. So when adversity strikes they get a little tight and can't overcome it. I can think of more than a few NCAA losses that seem to fit that criteria. In contrast, last year's team was behind all the time; it was no big deal.

I think this year's team could be really good. But not much of a measuring stick until the NCAAs.

 

[Stagnant]

One thing I also want to say about our “weak” schedule. We are also very unlucky. Things have happened that are outside of our control that have weakened some of the opponents on our schedule.

McMahon left Ohio State. Whitehorn kicked off the team in Tennessee. Kneepkens left Utah. Notre Dame seems to be a bit down. Latson left Florida State. Juju is out for the year. The south Florida coach took a job in the wnba. Most of these opponents have probably been on the schedule as planned opponents for a while.

 

[DefenseBB]

It takes two to Tango as the phrase goes and it becomes hard to find partners. Geno has spoken about this at length. Kudos to Dawn Staley who has been willing to always play us. While not this year (which I heard was due to our 20 game mandated conference schedule and not finding a date to match) but we do have the next two years against them. Jeff Walz is always willing to play us. ND and Niele Ivey are willing to keep that rivalry alive. Now let's look at the other top teams- USC has agreed to play us (Lindsay and Geno have a strong relationship), Texas and Vic seem disinclined to play anyone OOC of note other than the conference mandated matchups against other conferences (shame on Vic). LSU and Mulkey also notoriously play a week OOC but will insert a top school every now and then. Whether Kim will play us now that she is at LSU and in the SEC is unknown. Oklahoma is willing to play tough OOC opponents so maybe Geno could check in on this. I know he was close with Sherry Coale but who knows if he has issues with the AD staff. Maryland and Brenda have occasionally appeared on our schedule so maybe a revisit of this.

In general, I have noticed Geno likes to rotate teams from all the P4 conferences year in and year out. This year we have/had 3 ACC teams, 4 Big 10 teams, 1 Big 12 team and 1 SEC team. Losing 2 games to the BE schedule did hurt his ability to schedule.

Observing is fine, whining and offering ZERO logical options is what irritates many people with this subject. The Big East does not exist for Women's basketball, it exists for Men's Basketball, and it is a good league for that. We had hoped the rest of the league would up their program funding and talent but that has yet to materialize. I think that this years edition of the WCBB Big East is one of the most mediocre in years. But as seems to be the phrase in this thread- it is, what it is....

 

[FanSince17]

It takes two to Tango as the phrase goes and it becomes hard to find partners. Geno has spoken about this at length. Kudos to Dawn Staley who has been willing to always play us. While not this year (which I heard was due to our 20 game mandated conference schedule and not finding a date to match) but we do have the next two years against them. Jeff Walz is always willing to play us. ND and Niele Ivey are willing to keep that rivalry alive. Now let's look at the other top teams- USC has agreed to play us (Lindsay and Geno have a strong relationship), Texas and Vic seem disinclined to play anyone OOC of note other than the conference mandated matchups against other conferences (shame on Vic). LSU and Mulkey also notoriously play a week OOC but will insert a top school every now and then. Whether Kim will play us now that she is at LSU and in the SEC is unknown. Oklahoma is willing to play tough OOC opponents so maybe Geno could check in on this. I know he was close with Sherry Coale but who knows if he has issues with the AD staff. Maryland and Brenda have occasionally appeared on our schedule so maybe a revisit of this.

In general, I have noticed Geno likes to rotate teams from all the P4 conferences year in and year out. This year we have/had 3 ACC teams, 4 Big 10 teams, 1 Big 12 team and 1 SEC team. Losing 2 games to the BE schedule did hurt his ability to schedule.

Observing is fine, whining and offering ZERO logical options is what irritates many people with this subject. The Big East does not exist for Women's basketball, it exists for Men's Basketball, and it is a good league for that. We had hoped the rest of the league would up their program funding and talent but that has yet to materialize. I think that this years edition of the WCBB Big East is one of the most mediocre in years. But as seems to be the phrase in this thread- it is, what it is....

Is it only going to get worse with NIL and the Portal ruling the process? Best players (other than UConn) are hitting the portal after a year or two, Morrow, Olsen. The six-year seniors at Creighton finally graduated. Desert.
How about flipping the question 180, how would it help the ACC to have UConn?

 

[oldude]

Is it only going to get worse with NIL and the Portal ruling the process? Best players (other than UConn) are hitting the portal after a year or two, Morrow, Olsen. The six-year seniors at Creighton finally graduated. Desert.
How about flipping the question 180, how would it help the ACC to have UConn?

Assuming that BC wouldn’t block UConn’s entry, at present UConn doesn’t really help the ACC. Yes, MBB & WBB would make the ACC a better basketball conference. But UConn football really does nothing for the ACC, and that’s really what it’s all about.

In the future, as the P4 continues it’s inevitable consolidation into a P3 or P2, the ACC could lose several of its powerhouse football schools to the SEC or Big 10, at which time the conference may go shopping for new members. That might be the opportunity for UConn to jump to the ACC, although it would be to a weakened conference.

 

[DEpup]

I think Coach K is on to something with the idea to merge the ACC and Big East. Then there is no UConn "invite" to hope for.

UConn football is getting better and they'd be the only football addition. And the ACC would get good basketball schools in new TV markets mostly in the Midwest. But think about it, the ACC really doesn't have a NYC, Philly, Balti, or DC presence who are on the actual Atlantic coast... Syracuse and Pitt are inland and Rutgers/MD left.

 

[Cuango]

So I guess this board will have no more bitching about injuries, referees, what people in the media say.
Gonna be mighty quiet.

I hope the first one is true!

 

[HuskyNan]

Yes, MBB & WBB would make the ACC a better basketball conference. But UConn football really does nothing for the ACC, and that’s really what it’s all about.

UConn is 3-1 over ACC teams over the last 2 years and the loss, on the road in OT, was due to a cheesy call by ACC refs

 

[Vowelguy]

I think Coach K is on to something with the idea to merge the ACC and Big East.

It’s not happening.

 

[oldude]

UConn is 3-1 over ACC teams over the last 2 years and the loss, on the road in OT, was due to a cheesy call by ACC refs

View attachment 113245

It’s not about wins and losses. It’s about revenue. Unfortunately, UConn football doesn’t generate the revenue of say SMU, a relatively recent addition to the ACC.

 

[HuskyNan]

It’s not about wins and losses. It’s about revenue. Unfortunately, UConn football doesn’t generate the revenue of say SMU, a relatively recent addition to the ACC.

Then explain BC and Rutgers in the ACC and Big 10, respectively

 

[oldude]

Then explain BC and Rutgers in the ACC and Big 10, respectively

Decisions that were made years ago when the ACC & Big 10 were looking to gain a presence in the huge Northeast tv market, both of which effectively neutralized the hope that UConn might be that Northeast presence. Again, it was all about revenue and UConn lost the coin toss twice.

 

[PacoSwede]

More conference games hurts UConn ....

Conference realignment. It’s mainly about $$$. Football is by far the biggest consideration. Would expansion get a conference into an additional lucrative market is the main draw. So football is king while mbb is a very small factor and the other sports matter not at all. UConn did fill the Rent with Randy Edsall in the Big East conf.

Also, UConn beat NC (not NCST) in the bowl game last year and the move to the AAC was absolutely football driven. Basketball was not a consideration.

Bingo!!!