Is Postseason Possible for Hurley?
The Story: The men’s basketball team has not made the NCAA tournament in two years and, barring a miracle run in the AAC tournament next month, will miss it again this season. What would be nice this year is an NIT berth. Can the Huskies get to .500 in the conference and will they get in?
WHERE ARE THE HUSKIES? UConn is 13-12, but playing better, and is ninth in the 12-team conference at 4-8 after dropping three straight. Right now, the Huskies are would play in the 8-9 game against Wichita State on Thursday, March 14, with the winner playing No. 1 Houston in the quarterfinals. So, to reach the NCAAs, they would need a Kemba-esque run to the Big Dance.
WHAT’S AMERICAN LOOK LIKE FOR POSTSEASON: The league has two locks in the tournament with No. 9 Houston (25-1, 12-1) and Cincinnati (21-4, 10-2) in regardless of what happens. UCF (19-5, 9-3) is also likely in barring a collapse. After that, Temple (19-7, 9-4) is on the bubble and surprising USF (17-8, 7-6) is on the fringe.
NIT LOOK? The NIT isn’t as easy to make any more with spots taken by teams that win their regular-season title but fall in the conference tourney getting an automatic bid. In the American, Temple, USF and Memphis (15-11, 7-6) figure to be good candidates with Tulsa (16-10, 6-7) also worthy of consideration. Wichita State (12-12, 5-7) and UConn are on the fringe and underwater in their conference. UConn is eighth in the conference in net rating at 82. The Huskies would likely need to win more games to move past Tulsa (74) and USF (78) in the pecking order.
TOUGH ROAD FOR HUSKIES: UConn is 1-7 on the road this season and will have games at SMU on Thursday and at Wichita State sandwiched with a home game against Cincinnati. If the Huskies are going to make a run, they are going to have to do it by winning on the road. They end the season with home games against USF and Temple before the finale at East Carolina.
BENEFITS OF POSTSEASON: The NCAAs are always the goal, of course, but UConn as a young team can use as many games under Dan Hurley as it can. UConn will lose only Jalen Adams (if he returns from injury) from the starting lineup and getting games in a postseason atmosphere for the likes of Alterique Gilbert, Tyler Polley, Josh Carlton and Sidney Wilson can only accelerate their growth. The Huskies have parlayed the NIT several times over the decades to great success the next season.
No Favorite in Women’s Hoops
The story: The women’s basketball team moved up to No. 3 in the latest AP poll, behind Baylor and Oregon, and for the first time in more than a decade, there appears to be no dominant team in the country.
MANY NO. 1s: There have been a host of No. 1 teams this season with UConn, Baylor, and Notre Dame taking their turn atop the rankings. Oregon, Maryland, Mississippi State, Lousiville and Stanford have also moved within the top five, though No. 12 Oregon State knocked off the Ducks last night. It’s the most competitive women’s basketball has been in years.
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “This is one of those years where I don’t know that there’s a single dominant team out there that everybody thinks they’re the favorite to win the whole thing. I think there’s a bunch of teams that can. Whether we’re a No. 1 seed or we’re not, all these years that we’ve been a No. 1 seed, we’ve deserved it. I don’t know how many years we’ve been, but we’ve deserved it. We earn it over the course of the season. This year, if we’re good enough and we get it, good. If we’re not, we’re not.
“It’s a little more unsettled for us this year, which maybe in a way it’s good. We have a lot of deficiencies, but so does everyone else. But we also have a lot of guys that only know one thing — playing in the Final Four. That counts for something.”
Morning Reads
NO MORE FOR MOORE: After being caught in the fallout of Kevin Ollie‘s departure, Ricky Moore won’t join his teammates during the Huskies’ celebration of the 1999 national championship team on Saturday. (Hearst Connecticut Media)
WOMEN SWEEP: Napheesa Collier and Christyn Williams picked up the AAC’s two women’s basketball awards yesterday. (TheAmerican.org)
SPANOS SPEAKS: New defensive coordinator Lou Spanos wore a microphone for the Huskies’ spring practices last week. (UConn Huskies on Twitter)
AT HOME IN STORRS: The men’s and women’s soccer teams will not be moving some of their games to the refurbished Dillon Stadium in Hartford once their on-campus stadium opens in 2020, contrary to a report. (The UConn Blog)
