What's at stake vs Maryland

[Oldbones]

Great post! Perhaps you forgot "Gerrymander," surely the most (in)famous neologism derived from politics.

Interesting also that Elbridge himself (the second VP to die in office, both under Madison) used a hard G like Gardler for his name but time and usage have turned it into the "J" like Jamelle.

 

[Oldbones]

UConn's consecutive win streak is already out of reach to anyone else.

The 2021-2024 Huskies might disagree.

 

[Oldbones]

The streaks are great and bring a lot of attention, but they are for the fans, not the players.

For me, the biggest thing at stake is whether or not we can beat a tough team in a hostile environment. We have already proven that we can do THAT, but we need to prove that we can do it against THIS team, which shoots the ball well and has 2 likely All-American players. A loss would shake our confidence and show our vulnerability.

I guess we now have to say that MD has three likely albeit eventual all-Americans. Slocum was aces..................

 

[UcMiami]

There was one more streak at stake - Uconn came into this game with a 15-0 streak against top 5 teams which is pretty amazing - it now stands at 16 wins and counting.
And I agree that the aura of Uconn is an important aspect of the team - at this moment in time there are only five players in all of WCBB who have every been involved in a win against a Uconn team - three seniors and two juniors on the Stanford Cardinal. It doesn't mean that players are necessarily intimidated, just that they have never experienced it. Like new teams reaching the FF for the first time or for the first time in a long time it is uncharted territory. And meeting Stanford in the NCAAs isn't that likely nor that daunting a prospect.

So yeah, beating MD had some more meaning than just a win in December, and beating SC in Feb will as well. It is why if Uconn is not going to be undefeated this season, I would prefer they play a poor game against an AAC opponent towards the end of the season than get beaten by a contending team. A Villanova shocker from 2003 or a St. John's shocker from 2012 kind of game has less consequence.