Uconn played half a P5 regular season and went 8-0

[UcMiami]

So I was just think about the regular season and realizing that Uconn played basically half of a P5 conference season in OOC - but an extremely unbalanced one - they played:
#1 - ND
#1 - MD
#1 - SC
#2 - OSU
#4 - FSU
#6 - KS
#7 - Neb
#13 - LSU
And playing that unbalanced conference schedule they had a record of 8-0 and an MOV of 28.5 - that is a better MOV than any other team in D1 including #2 Baylor at 24.8 and #3 MD at 24.3 have for their full year including less than stellar OOC opponents.

Not a bad P5 record!!!

Another interesting tidbit -
Uconn on a cumulative basis has won each of the 4 quarters which is nice and sort of expected, but they have also more than double their opponents in both the first and third quarters of games when starters have played the most minutes.

 

[HoopsFan21]

When were ND, MD, and SC ranked #1? Didn't realize Kansas State was ranked that high when we played them.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I think those are conference rankings.

 

[Carnac]

So I was just think about the regular season and realizing that Uconn played basically half of a P5 conference season in OOC - but an extremely unbalanced one - they played:
#1 - ND
#1 - MD
#1 - SC
#2 - OSU
#4 - FSU
#6 - KS
#7 - Neb
#13 - LSU
And playing that unbalanced conference schedule they had a record of 8-0 and an MOV of 28.5 - that is a better MOV than any other team in D1 including #2 Baylor at 24.8 and #3 MD at 24.3 have for their full year including less than stellar OOC opponents.

Not a bad P5 record!!!

Another interesting tidbit -
Uconn on a cumulative basis has won each of the 4 quarters which is nice and sort of expected, but they have also more than double their opponents in both the first and third quarters of games when starters have played the most minutes.

And the UConn haters suggest that if UConn was in a P-5 conference, things would be different. Yeah, right.

 

[MilfordHusky]

And the UConn haters suggest that if UConn was in a P-5 conference, things would be different. Yeah, right.

Different, but not different enough. We'd have 5-8 competitive conference games instead of 2, and our MOV would be 34 instead of 40.

 

[UcMiami]

Different, but not different enough. We'd have 5-8 competitive conference games instead of 2, and our MOV would be 34 instead of 40.

Well if you traded out #1 MD and #1 ND and their 10 point MOVs for say #15 Clemson or #14 Ole Miss* at a 50 point MOV and #8 Iowa State* or #10 Rutgers* and a 40 point MOV you would get a more balanced picture and a 37.25 point MOV

None of the current P5 are as strong at the top as the old BE, and none have a deeper middle either, and the last three editions of the Uconn team are as good if not better than any previous ones I think. In 2009-10 the MOV for Uconn was 34.9 and in 2012-13 it was 32.5 - the year they had 4 losses and three of the four teams in the FF were BE teams.

It is all in fun, and there is no real answer - but it does show what a dominant type of team Uconn is.
Just as reference:
ND conference MOV = 19.6 (their total MOV is 19.1 so they do better in conference)
Baylor conference MOV = 17.6
SC conference MOV = 16.6
MD conference MOV = 16.3
Oregon State conference MOV = 11.8

* chose those three teams because Uconn beat LSU by 46 and LSU finished ahead of Ole Miss, and Nebraska by 42 and they finished ahead of Rutgers and Kansas State by 40 and they finished ahead of Iowa State

 

[MilfordHusky]

Well if you traded out #1 MD and #1 ND and their 10 point MOVs for say #15 Clemson or #14 Ole Miss* at a 50 point MOV and #8 Iowa State* or #10 Rutgers* and a 40 point MOV you would get a more balanced picture and a 37.25 point MOV

None of the current P5 are as strong at the top as the old BE, and none have a deeper middle either, and the last three editions of the Uconn team are as good if not better than any previous ones I think. In 2009-10 the MOV for Uconn was 34.9 and in 2012-13 it was 32.5 - the year they had 4 losses and three of the four teams in the FF were BE teams.

It is all in fun, and there is no real answer - but it does show what a dominant type of team Uconn is.
Just as reference:
ND conference MOV = 19.6 (their total MOV is 19.1 so they do better in conference)
Baylor conference MOV = 17.6
SC conference MOV = 16.6
MD conference MOV = 16.3
Oregon State conference MOV = 11.8

* chose those three teams because Uconn beat LSU by 46 and LSU finished ahead of Ole Miss, and Nebraska by 42 and they finished ahead of Rutgers and Kansas State by 40 and they finished ahead of Iowa State

It is unknowable, but I think our MOV would top ND's by 6-10. Instead of the usual 30-point win over Duke, it could have been real ugly this year.

BTW, anyone heard from Triad lately? Has he tried a new sport? Tough times in Durham, but at least he's not in Knoxville.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

And the UConn haters suggest that if UConn was in a P-5 conference, things would be different. Yeah, right.

I doubt anyone is seriously suggesting that.

Until a few years ago, UConn was in a power conference. A better conference (for WBB) than any current P5 conference. How did they do? Not bad, as I remember.

 

[HuskyBandDad]

Even ESPN has said Uconn would dominate any P5 conference this year and most years.

 

[baggerbob]

The Big 10 champ is from the ACC, and the 3 best teams in the ACC are from the old Big East, that shows how bad the other conferences are.

 

[easttexastrash]

Why is UCONN avoiding Baylor?

 

[easttexastrash]

And the UConn haters suggest that if UConn was in a P-5 conference, things would be different. Yeah, right.

Who has suggested that? I don't know of anyone who has remotely suggested that UCONN would not dominate any conference they were in. There is no need to play the victim when you are the best in the country and everyone knows and recognizes it. However, if you had to play ND, Baylor or SC more than once I cannot say that there might not be a loss somewhere along the way.

 

[easttexastrash]

The Big 10 champ is from the ACC, and the 3 best teams in the ACC are from the old Big East, that shows how bad the other conferences are.

Hopefully we will see UCONN in a power conference soon, and it would be awesome if it were the Big 12. But if we were in the same conference I would probably have to quit posting here, and I know that nobody would want to see that.

 

[baggerbob]

Hopefully we will see UCONN in a power conference soon, and it would be awesome if it were the Big 12. But if we were in the same conference I would probably have to quit posting here, and I know that nobody would want to see that.

Actually the Big 12 adding UConn, Temple, Cincinnati, and USF would give West Virginia teams in their time zone. It would also irritate the SEC, and Big 10, and pay both back in some ways for stealing teams from the Big 12.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

And the UConn haters suggest that if UConn was in a P-5 conference, things would be different. Yeah, right.

I don't know anyone that thinks that. I think the belief is that if UCONN doesn't get in a P5 conference that your stock will fall considerably after Geno retires.

 

[EricLA]

I don't know anyone that thinks that. I think the belief is that if UCONN doesn't get in a P5 conference that your stock will fall considerably after Geno retires.

We have at least 5 years before that happens, and maybe longer. The way UCONN is recruiting, and the top level stars we are looking at landing in 2017, 2018, and 2019, it will be had for Geno to ever retire.

 

[SCGamecock]

Actually the Big 12 adding UConn, Temple, Cincinnati, and USF would give West Virginia teams in their time zone. It would also irritate the SEC, and Big 10, and pay both back in some ways for stealing teams from the Big 12.

Well actually, the SEC didn't steal teams (schools) from the Big 12.

1. A&M approached the conference about membership after the creation of the Longhorn Network, which A&M considered a slight.

2. Sensing the demise of the Big 12 and looking for a quick landing spot (at the time, it really seemed like the conference was falling apart... it obviously didn't), Mizzou also approached the SEC after unsuccessfully "inquiring" about joining the Big 10.

Both of those teams left their former conference on their own accord.

Also, I'm not sure why UCONN, Temple, Cincinnati and USF joining the Big 12 would irritate the SEC... none of those schools are targets for future conference expansion. If the SEC expands again, a strong IF here, it'll be by somehow acquiring a school from the ACC.. particularly a school in NC and VA, because those schools make sense culturally and geographically. It also makes sense for the conference to add 2 more schools and be done with expansion. 16 is more ideal than 14. None of those schools you listed make sense, therefore the SEC isn't concerned with them. Finally, the SEC is at a point where it's only interested in acquiring large flagship universities with large athletic programs... If you look at the schools the conference has added (Arkansas, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Missouri), they're all large flagship universities in their respective states.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

^I have to agree; other than UCONN, none of the aforementioned schools are flagship universities and 3 of the 4 don't have large fan bases. UCONN belongs in the ACC with the Big 10 a very distant second.

 

[SCGamecock]

I agree, I think UCONN is a natural fit for the ACC. UCONN is very similar to the schools of the northern half of the league..

 

[HoopsFan21]

I don't know anyone that thinks that. I think the belief is that if UCONN doesn't get in a P5 conference that your stock will fall considerably after Geno retires.

There's going to be a huge drop off when Geno retires either way. Look at what Tennessee is going through. Getting a Pat or Geno is like catching lightning in a bottle. Just like next year we're going to see a pretty steep drop off (by UConn standards anyway) simply because as Geno says how do you replace the talent of Stewie, Mo, and Tuck and the answer is you can't.

 

[UcMiami]

There's going to be a huge drop off when Geno retires either way. Look at what Tennessee is going through. Getting a Pat or Geno is like catching lightning in a bottle. Just like next year we're going to see a pretty steep drop off (by UConn standards anyway) simply because as Geno says how do you replace the talent of Stewie, Mo, and Tuck and the answer is you can't.

It isn't just getting Geno or Pat, it is the timing as well - They arrived in WCBB when the field was wide open and the competition was in its infancy and by taking a really serious approach to women's athletics they got the march on the rest of the country. Tara and Sylvia and CViv all arrived early as well, and their career records are impressive even if they didn't climb the mountaintop quite so often - mostly because Pat and Geno were up there already throwing down boulders in their way.

Kim and Jeff and Muffet and Dawn are all doing amazing things but they arrived ten or twenty years too late to have a chance for the kind of overwhelming success that Pat and Geno were and are experiencing. And it is because Pat was and Geno is still around and they have to contend with each other and a number of other great recruiters and coaches as well. With Kim's current haul of recruits, she may get a few more NCs in the next four years, but Muffet, Dawn, Tara, Geno, etc. aren't going to role over for her, and she could just as easily lose in the FF to another really good team all four years.