We NEED to beat Maryland

[JimHurley]

With a loss against Maryland, our non-conference wins will be crap again. And that will not look good come March. We blew games against two quality teams in Cuse and Zaga. That could come back to haunt us. Maryland is a must win to give our resume a boost. MUST WIN.

 

[Ts5034]

Is asking this team to beat Maryland, Ohio St, Texas, and Georgetown too much???

 

[Rocktheworld]

Is asking this team to beat Maryland, Ohio St, Texas, and Georgetown too much???

I don't think so. We really should beat OSU, Georgetown, and Texas; all three have three losses already, all having at least one bad loss. OSU likely won't make the tournament. Georgetown and Texas both have some work to do to make the top halves of their respective conferences and get in to the tournament.

Maryland will be a serious game. Deep, skilled, experienced back courts and raw-ish front courts. Defense will probably decide the game.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Maryland will be a serious game. Deep, skilled, experienced back courts and raw-ish front courts. Defense will probably decide the game.

I'm court side for that one and if I have to get KO's T for him I will.

 

[champs99and04]

I'm court side for that one and if I have to get KO's T for him I will.

Damn, are you talking like court side, court side? I can't think of a better game to watch from that perspective.

I'll be in the very back of the house. If you see an usher leading somebody out of the lower bowls it'll probably be me.

 

[Towney007]

Based on what I've seen - we should smoke Ohio State. And I also don't think we'll be pushed that much by Texas this year, at least.

I've seen Georgetown both times and liked them a lot. They've got a ways to go - but they're good. We SHOULD beat them - but I wouldn't be surprised to get their best. Maryland's probably more of a push - but they have a lot of the same complete lapses we do. I think they're overhyped.

SO MUCH time to get back into things. We split SMU, split Cincy - beat three of the bigger out of conference opponents, we should coast to the tournament.

 

[jibsey]

A lot of ranked teams went down this weekend, and our problem is going to be the same every year which is the OOC is front end loaded as long as we are in this conference. Nothing new here except for the fact that we have better talent this year. I also expect that the cupcake games coming up will not tell us a lot so Maryland is huge. Playing them tight is just not good enough, we need to put the hammer down.

 

[huskiesnyc]

All things considered I think Michigan will end up being a very quality win.

 

[Rico444]

Maryland isn't even close to a must-win. It would be a terrific win, and help our future seeding immensely, but we're still almost assuredly going to be a tournament team win or lose.

 

[Rocktheworld]

All things considered I think Michigan will end up being a very quality win.

Agreed. LeVert will will that team to some good wins this year.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

If you listen to Cronin's post game presser after the Nebraska win he was asked about his upcoming schedule (GW, @Xavier, @VCU, Butler and Iowa State). He mentioned that tough December OOC games were necessary considering where the bottom half of the AAC is right now. Those are 5 very tough games. It will be interesting to see if Cincinnati can go 4-1. 3-2 in that stretch would be pretty good.

 

[upstater]

I'm not getting these threads at all. Are you saying UConn is a bubble team?

A loss to Maryland plus a 2nd place finish in the AAC is about a 6 seed.

The season isn't doomed. The AAC has several good teams this year,and it should be fine RPI wise. It is not a weak conference this year. In fact, it is very BE looking with 6 strong teams, a couple middling teams, and 3 DePauls.

UConn will be credited for a tough OOC when tourney selection time comes. Plus, as weak as the bottom of the conference is, UConn only has a few games against those teams. USF, for instance, is the weakest team. One game against them. No different than playing New Hampshire. The schedule is unbalanced.

 

[BFieldHusky]

Give Cincy credit they have a good OOC schedule lined up this month. SMU has some good games too with Michigan and Gonzaga. Temple has played a very tough schedule so far, but at 1-3 they are in a big hole already.

 

[BFieldHusky]

I'm not getting these threads at all. Are you saying UConn is a bubble team?

A loss to Maryland plus a 2nd place finish in the AAC is about a 6 seed.

The season isn't doomed. The AAC has several good teams this year,and it should be fine RPI wise. It is not a weak conference this year. In fact, it is very BE looking with 6 strong teams, a couple middling teams, and 3 DePauls.

UConn will be credited for a tough OOC when tourney selection time comes. Plus, as weak as the bottom of the conference is, UConn only has a few games against those teams. USF, for instance, is the weakest team. One game against them. No different than playing New Hampshire. The schedule is unbalanced.

The other thing to consider is the parity this year in college basketball. While last year was very top heavy, this year is the opposite. Is there going to be a huge difference in talent between the 3 and 6 seed this year?

 

[upstater]

If you listen to Cronin's post game presser after the Nebraska win he was asked about his upcoming schedule (GW, @Xavier, @VCU, Butler and Iowa State). He mentioned that tough December OOC games were necessary considering where the bottom half of the AAC is right now. Those are 5 very tough games. It will be interesting to see if Cincinnati can go 4-1. 3-2 in that stretch would be pretty good.

This is the AAC: UConn, SMU, Memphis, Cincy, Tulsa, Temple. Then Houston and East Carolina in the not awful middle. UCF, USF and Tulane are horrible.

So 6 teams are in the top half, and against the teams in the bottom half, UConn has 8 games, only 5 of which should hurt the RPI.

It really isn't as bad as people are making out. In the old BE, UConn's had 3 or 4 such games.

 

[upstater]

The other thing to consider is the parity this year in college basketball. While last year was very top heavy, this year is the opposite. Is there going to be a huge difference in talent between the 3 and 6 seed this year?

Exactly. A 6 seed isn't the worst thing in the world. On the other hand, if UConn scuffles and just scratches itself into the tourney, it doesn't want a 8-9 seed.

 

[BFieldHusky]

This is the AAC: UConn, SMU, Memphis, Cincy, Tulsa, Temple. Then Houston and East Carolina in the not awful middle. UCF, USF and Tulane are horrible.

So 6 teams are in the top half, and against the teams in the bottom half, UConn has 8 games, only 5 of which should hurt the RPI.

It really isn't as bad as people are making out. In the old BE, UConn's had 3 or 4 such games.

The American is interesting this year. We figure UConn/SMU/Cincy are all Top 25 teams. I put Tulsa outside of that, but I think they are a tournament team. Then you have Memphis and Temple, who are think are NIT teams, but could still have decent RPIs, esp. Temple because of their strong schedule.

Houston is the wildcard in this. Outside of hosting LSU, they really don't play anyone non-conference. But a lot of people are high on their talent, and Kelvin Sampson is a good coach. Could they turn out to be another solid team in the league?

 

[upstater]

The problem is that the entire AAC will begin to suffer RPI wise once they begin playing the league dregs. UConn's RPI will fall when it plays the bottom. It will also fall again as the RPI's of its opponents (even the good AAC teams) begins to fall when they play the bottom.

But again, the bottom is only 3 teams. Every conference not named ACC and B1G has those dregs. B12 does too with TCU, Texas Tech and KSU. The P12 with ASU, WSU and Colorado. These will be low RPI teams.

 

[Jerry1714]

Saying Maryland is a must win is as dumb as worrying about UConn's NCAAT hopes.

 

[huskymagic]

Saying Maryland is a must win is as dumb as worrying about UConn's NCAAT hopes.

Jerry let others worry about Maryland as you have already indirectly conceded a loss for UCONN. Of course, the Maryland game is very important not only as a good win on the resume, which we won't have many opportunities, but also for our national reputation and brand. We need to play like we are above the AAC not like we should be forever stuck in purgatory. Of course, for people like you the same thing was true last year when we lost all those close game to Texas and others out of conference.

UCONN needs to take care of business so as not to put unnecessary pressure on the team during the AAC tournament. Don't think that the AAC is in the bag as teams like Cinci, Tulsa, and Memphis are capable of beating us. We need to book the NCAA tournament well in advance that's why people think Maryland is a must win.

 

[upstater]

Jerry let others worry about Maryland as you have already indirectly conceded a loss for UCONN. Of course, the Maryland game is very important not only as a good win on the resume, which we won't have many opportunities, but also for our national reputation and brand. We need to play like we are above the AAC not like we should be forever stuck in purgatory. Of course, for people like you the same thing was true last year when we lost all those close game to Texas and others out of conference.

UCONN needs to take care of business so as not to put unnecessary pressure on the team during the AAC tournament. Don't think that the AAC is in the bag as teams like Cinci, Tulsa, and Memphis are capable of beating us. We need to book the NCAA tournament well in advance that's why people think Maryland is a must win.

UConn could win its 3rd championship in 5 years this year and it still won't make a difference in terms of moving to a P5.

 

[Ts5034]

Its probably not that big of a deal but Im happy they get to play Sacred Heart Wednesday so they can hopefully work things out and get some confidence back with what should be a very easy win. Then they have almost a whole week to rest up and prepare for Maryland. Losing those close games back to back like they did probably wears on you more mentally than anything.

 

[Jerry1714]

Jerry let others worry about Maryland as you have already indirectly conceded a loss for UCONN. Of course, the Maryland game is very important not only as a good win on the resume, which we won't have many opportunities, but also for our national reputation and brand. We need to play like we are above the AAC not like we should be forever stuck in purgatory. Of course, for people like you the same thing was true last year when we lost all those close game to Texas and others out of conference.

UCONN needs to take care of business so as not to put unnecessary pressure on the team during the AAC tournament. Don't think that the AAC is in the bag as teams like Cinci, Tulsa, and Memphis are capable of beating us. We need to book the NCAA tournament well in advance that's why people think Maryland is a must win.

Man I could tell by the Adams posts that you were not that sharp but you are even duller then I thought.

Love to hear how I conceded a loss for UConn Mr. Magic.

 

[mauconnfan]

Man I could tell by the Adams posts that you were not that sharp but you are even duller then I thought.

Love to hear how I conceded a loss for UConn Mr. Magic.

Jerry in case you haven't figured it out yet the only chance we have to beat Maryland would be for Jalen Adams to start and for Gibbs to sit, he blows. Also we will need to AB to get 20/15 but hey the 2nd best player should be able to throw those numbers up against a front court which isn't all that good right?

 

[intlzncster]

Damn, are you talking like court side, court side? I can't think of a better game to watch from that perspective.

I'll be in the very back of the house. If you see an usher leading somebody out of the lower bowls it'll probably be me.

Have your smart phone ready. That'll make a great vine.