Huskies Ready for Gampel Return
The Story: The women's basketball team (12-1, 1-0) will try to continue its romp through the AAC with a game tonight against Cincinnati (9-5, 0-1) at Gampel Pavilion (SNY, 7 p.m.).
BET THE OVER: We wrote a little yesterday morning about the Huskies' 85-game regular-season conference win streak and how they're defeating opponents by an average of 44.9 points per game.
When it comes to the Bearcats, though, UConn is even more ruthless, winning by 52.4 points per game since the creation of the AAC in 2013 — and that's with Jamelle Elliott as coach. Elliott was fired in March after nine seasons, a decision that Geno Auriemma ripped at the time. Revenge isn't going to be a factor, but if the Huskies had no problem eviscerating Cincinnati with Elliott on the bench, what could they do tonight?
SHOOTING FOR CONSISTENCY: Senior Napheesa Collier may be averaging 18.4 points per game, but her shooting percentages in every category are down from last season. She's shooting 57.2 percent, including 22.2 percent from the perimeter and 64.9 percent from the foul line.
"It is frustrating because when I'm practicing, they're all going in, and when I'm in the gym and shooting, they’re going in," she said. "And then I get to the game and they're not. I just have to have faith that they're going to start dropping and just keep shooting."
Auriemma said he's not worried about Collier's streakiness — sure, because the Huskies are winning — and believes she'll snap out of her funk. This could be the game in which it starts to come back together.
RENEWED FOCUS: Sophomore guard Megan Walker took a game-high 13 shots in the win over Houston on Sunday. She spoke afterward about trying to play more aggressively against the Cougars and establishing herself as a confident shooter.
Walker, who is averaging 11 points and 5.6 rebounds per game this season, will be one of the Huskies' cornerstone players for the next two years. With weaker opposition on the way during the conference portion of the schedule, that mentality could set herself up as a reliable player for the Huskies, especially after a lost freshman season.
SCOUTING CINCINNATI: The Bearcats enter on a four-game win streak after losing their previous three games, including a brutal 12-point loss at Ball State in late November. The key? Sophomore forward IImar'i Thomas, who replaced Chelsea Warren in the starting lineup at the start of that streak and has scored at least 20 points in each win.
What Would it Cost to Buy UConn Football?
The Story: We know some fans are down on the football team and would not pay a penny for it, but an annual report by the Wall Street Journal values the program as one of the top properties in the Group of 5.
WE'RE NO. 70! UConn, as determined by a finance and economics professor at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus, is the 70th most valuable football team in the nation and the third-most valuable AAC team. If UConn wanted to sell the football team, it would fetch roughly $56 million (YES dollars!) on revenues of approximately $38 million a year.
HOW DID WE GET THAT NUMBER?: The calculation takes into account revenues, expenses, cash-flow adjustments, risk assessments, and growth projections to arrive at franchise value.
WHO ARE UCONN'S PEERS? Well, Texas is worth more than $1 billion, so yes, UConn is more of a small-market team in football terms. What is most interesting is to look at who is in front of UConn.
BYU (No. 60), Boise State (No. 63), UCF (No. 65) and USF (No. 69) are the only other college football not currently affiliated with a Power 5 conference deemed to have more value than UConn. Of course, Notre Dame, worth $856 million, is its own special case.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN? To us, even after a 3-9 season and now a 1-11 season, the Huskies still remain a more valuable commodity than the likes of Houston (No. 72), Temple (No. 73), SMU (No. 74), Memphis (No. 75) and Cincinnati (No. 77). That's important.
The "least valuable" Power 5 team is apparently West Virginia at $61 million. Old friend Rutgers is valued at $67 million, so the Huskies still remain one of the more valuable non-P5 football teams.
DON'T GET TOO EXCITED: This valuation takes into accounts UConn's many issues. The Huskies are valued at 1.4 times their revenue — not exactly a growth property. Texas, for example, is valued at $1.1 billion, is fetching seven times its revenue in this study.
BOTTOM LINE: Got a headache? Don't worry: We should know about a defensive coordinator in a week or so. No one is buying UConn football, and if they did, it would probably be one of UConn's hedge fund boosters who would close down the team and move basketball to the Big East.
UConn is the third-most valuable AAC team. It isn't all good news, but at least the Huskies aren't in last. We'll take the win.
Morning Read
HOMECOMING FOR WILLIAMS: The women's basketball team signed a home-and-home series with Little Rock so that freshman Christyn Williams will get her homecoming game as a senior. UConn will host in 2020-21 and play on the road in 2021-22. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
NO LOCK FOR NO. 1: Last week's loss to Baylor means that all four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament are up for grabs for the first time in several years. (ESPN)
GENO SEES HIMSELF IN HURLEY: We aren't expecting Dan Hurley to never lose a game, but Geno Auriemma sees a lot of his young self in his counterpart. (Hartford Courant)
IT JUST TAKES TIME: The rebuild of the men's basketball program under Hurley was always going to take time despite the appearance early on of a quick fix. (The UConn Blog)
KEMBA TALKS FUTURE: Charlotte Hornets guard Kemba Walker addressed his upcoming free agency and acknowledged that staying with the team will depend significantly upon whether he makes the playoffs this season. (The Jump on ESPN)
BOWLING AT FENWAY? ESPN and the Boston Red Sox are in discussions regarding creating a bowl game to be held at Fenway Park, likely involving an AAC team playing an ACC team. (TMG Sports)
