Remember that earlier report about how UConn defensive coordinator and blitz factory Don Brown was apparently headed down to New Haven? Well, ignore it (for now) because Desmond Connor of the Courant is reporting that Brown has actually removed his name from consideration for the job. Good for UConn! Hooray!

Well, lookie here. If it isn't a quality non-conference basketball game at Gampel Pavilion, pre-New Year's.

That's more of a happy coincidence than anything else; this is the third straight year UConn has scheduled Harvard as part of Jim Calhoun's annual "F--k You, Other New England Schools" pre-January march of terror. (The Huskies scraped by in a six-point game in 2009-10, and blew out a 23-win Crimson team last year by almost 30 points.)

It just so happens that this year's Harvard team looks to be one of the better Ivy League teams of recent history, and an apparently legitimate Top 25 team, considering Tommy Amaker's group won the Battle 4 Atlantis - AKA the early-season tournament UConn did not win - beating Florida State (in an all-time ugly game) and Central Florida (which handed the Huskies their only loss thus far) to get the job done.

KenPom rates the Crimson at #37 in his rankings, and judging by the Four Factors (eFG%, turnover%, offensive rebound% and FT rate), they are quite the nasty little defensive team (39th overall). Though it seems they've benefited greatly from the best free throw defense in America (opponents are shooting 54% from the line against Harvard).

Amaker's gameplan has involved just throwing a bunch of 6-5 to 6-8 guys on the floor, led by leading scorer Keith Wright (11.4 per). But don't sleep on Laurent Rivard, which is the most Harvard name ever, who is shooting 40% from 3 this year.

As for the Huskies, this will be the final game before their 10-day winter break for finals, meaning basically this is the last night before the season really begins. Ryan Boatright has been a revelation in early action, Andre Drummond is starting to figure out where the beast mode switch is, and Jerebazz Lampier continues to rock our collective worlds while not even planning to call us back in the morning.

So let's see if the Huskies can't beat this bunch of eggheads before hitting the books.

It's a rare UConn-Mid Major game on ESPN2 tonight; tip is at 7 p.m., and this will be your open thread. Use it wisely.

Go Huskies.

I'm sorry I can't provide much of a preview today, law school remains a consistent presence in my life, which is usually rather grand, but becomes very troublesome when my professors decide I should have to take "exams." But, in short, here is what's at stake today:

The football team is travelling to Cincinnati for a shot at a .500 record and bowl eligibility. More importantly it'd leave me (and hopefully a lot of you) feeling pretty good about the first year of the Paul Pasqualoni era. Sure, there were disappointments along the way, but a win today means the Huskies will have won three of their last four regular season games and have a nice boost going forward.

As for basketball, the team has had a week off after escaping Florida St. in overtime and today they're taking on Arkansas in the Big East/SEC challenge. So far the Big East has been doing well, and hopefully UConn continues that trend. Worth noting: this is Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson's first year with the program. You'll remember him as the coach of the Missouri team that UConn played in the 2009 Elite 8. He calls his system the "fastest 40 minutes in basketball" and it involves lots of pressing and lots of running. The Huskies will almost certainly have to go small to counter it. Expect to see a lot of Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright playing together, but watch out late because fatigue could easily become an issue.

Football kicks off at noon, basketball tips at 3:30. Both games are on ESPN. I'll be in and out, but leave your thoughts in the comments. Go Huskies.

In 2008, Dan Orlovsky started seven games for a Lions team that went 0-16 and recorded one of the biggest NFL lowlights of all times, which you can see above. That track record might make Orlovsky the foremost expert on going winless in the NFL, but just to make sure the 0-11 Indianapolis Colts are now counting on the former UConn great(and I mean that seriously -- he was awesome here and I'd kill to have him back) to lead them from under center for the season's remaining five games.

His career numbers aren't great, but they aren't egregiously terrible either. He's got about a 56 percent career completion percentage and has an even TD to INT ratio. Here's hoping he scraps together a win for Colts and is able to get his name associated with more than one very, very bad safety.

FTC disclosure: This contest is sponsored by Gameday Depot and SB Nation.

Congratulations to Samuel Greenberg for finishing first in this week's UConnBlog Pick'Em Pool. He gets the $10 gift certificate. Remember, you can get either (1) officially licensed UConn Huskies hoodies, jackets, t-shirts and more at the The UConn Blog licensed store, or (2) your very own custom tees at the The UConn Blog custom store. Samuel , send me an email (andrew.porter34@gmail.com) for instructions on how to claim your prize. The rest of you, there is one week left to make a push for the $50 gift certificate for finishing first for the entire season.

We only have one week left in the contest, and fcmonk is holding a one-point lead over jimjoe and jcaprio90, so we should get a good finish.

This week's top ten and the season top ten are below the jump. You can view the full standings at the Yahoo! group page.

Continue reading this post »

Once upon a time we had a feature on this site known as "Rutgers Hate Week," but seeing as UConn has ended each and every Rutgers Hate Week by losing to Rutgers we've abandoned the idea in favor of pretending football doesn't exist at all. Still, as much as we may want to deny it, Rutgers football is a thing that exists and therefore UConn must play them today.

I'm traveling and don't have a lot of time for a preview, but I did have a little chat with Jerry over at nj.com, head over there to see my thoughts on the game. Of note: Rutgers still has a longshot chance at the BCS. UConn can spoil those dreams with a win today (it'll also keep UConn alive in the race for bowl eligibility, which is a plus).

Finally, after yesterday's disappointing matchup with Central Florida, the men's basketball team (now with 100% more point guards) will try to get back on track against Florida St. That game, which tips at 2, is on Versus, and you should discuss it in the comments.

UConn and Rutgers kickoff at noon on ESPN2. Join us in the comments. Go Huskies.

FTC disclosure: This contest is sponsored by Gameday Depot and SB Nation.

The Columnist arises above the chaos to win this week's UConnBlog Pick'Em Pool. And by "rises above the chaos" I mean he lucked out a lot. JimJoe was the only person in the contest to go above .500 this week, but since he has won in the last 30 days the prize goes to The Columnist by default. As a reward for being  extremely lucky, he or she gets the $10 gift certificate. Remember, you can avoid the crowds this Black Friday and get either (1) officially licensed UConn Huskies hoodies, jackets, t-shirts and more at the The UConn Blog licensed store, or (2) your very own custom tees at the The UConn Blog custom store. The Columnist, look for a confirmation email with instructions on how to claim your prize. The rest of you, remember that there is still a $50 gift certificate up for grabs to whoever finishes first for the entire season, so keep playing.

This week's top ten and the season top ten are below the jump. You can view the full standings at the Yahoo! group page.

Continue reading this post »

So.... football. It's a thing, I guess. I know we've kind of abandoned the sport for basketball but the Huskies have somehow, someway put themselves in a position to control their destiny in the Big East. Sure they're two wins away from bowl eligibility, but three wins will guarantee them a share of the Big East title. 

They're playing now, it's on SNY and ESPN3. Join us in the comments to talk about it. Go Huskies.