It's a frigid Saturday in the Northeast, so pull up a chair and your keyboard-less new Apple computer and talk UConn basketball. The Huskies tip off with Marquette at noon today at the Morgue in Hartford. Game's on MyTV9 (in Connecticut), SNY (in NY/NJ) or wherever quality/middling Big East network games are shown wherever you are.
You can check out a solid game preview from the Marquette viewpoint at Cracked Sidewalks, in which I learn that Marquette is a short team that has trouble rebounding. Thumbs up! Of course, Marquette is also the best 3-point shooting team in the country (43.3%), which means they will go 19-for-19 this afternoon.
Use this thread for all your game discussion, and below the jump, freak out at how many toss-up games UConn will need to win to make the NCAA Tournament after the Providence debacle.
| Today | vs. Marquette (12-8, 3-5) |
| Monday | at Louisville (13-7, 4-3) |
| Feb. 6 | vs. DePaul (8-12, 1-7) |
| Feb. 10 | at Syracuse (20-1, 7-1) |
| Feb. 13 | vs. Cincinnati (13-7, 4-4) |
| Feb. 15 | at Villanova (19-1, 8-0) |
| Feb. 20 | at Rutgers (9-11, 0-8) |
| Feb. 22 | vs. West Virginia (16-3, 5-2) |
| Feb. 28 | vs. Louisville (13-7, 4-3) |
| Mar. 3 | at Notre Dame (15-6, 4-4) |
| Mar. 6 | at South Florida (13-7, 3-5) |
Today is an obvious must-win for UConn, if you're projecting the schedule for the rest of the season. If you figure that UConn will need 20 wins to get in (or 19 with a win or two against the 'Cuse/'Nova/WVU troika),the Huskies have to win at least four of their five remaining home games, and then pick up a road win or two in Tampa, South Bend or Louisville.
Inconsistent UConn isn't going to get it done, though. The Huskies need to get on a roll quickly, or else possibly face the nightmarish prospect of having to win at Notre Dame and South Florida (and a Big East tournament game for the first time since 2005) to sneak into the tournament.
The good news is that Calhoun's teams tend to get better by February but...it is January 30th, and the team appears to be roughly as good as it was on December 30th.
Here's hoping UConn turns it around. On the other hand, if they don't, then this will be the best damn women's basketball/spring football blog in existence come March.