UConn released its non-conference regular season schedule on Thursday, and apart from the games we already knew about, there’s nothing special on there.
That’s fine. In his first year at the helm, head coach Dan Hurley was already locked into games in the 2K Classic against Syracuse and either Oregon or Iowa (plus the regional games against UMKC and Morehead State). Villanova and Arizona were also scheduled far in advance. The one major addition that came after he was hired was a game in Newark against Florida State — the third of four games that the team will play in the New York City area. We don’t need to rehash for the 30th time why that is so important, but it is good to see that the new coach acknowledges it.
As far as the home games go, there’s Arizona and a whole lot of meh. That might not be ideal for ticket sales, which would be a major concern in the short-term, but it makes sense within the context of where the program is at the moment. The team will, and should, always say publicly that the goal is to get to the NCAA Tournament and do damage once it gets there. And while that’s what this group should strive for, it seems much less likely than usual that this is a real possibility. So instead of trying to game the RPI in order to boost yourself a seed line or two in March, why not schedule a bunch of teams that you could beat, increasing your team’s confidence and allowing it to absorb a few losses against the stronger teams on the schedule? It’d be good for morale, and if UConn can steal one of its five games against high-major teams, that’d be a 9-4 record heading into an 18-game conference slate in a league that is expected to be down this year.
Something else that’s interesting, and possibly intentional: A lot of these supposed cupcake teams are returning most of their contributors from last year. With the exceptions of New Hampshire and Manhattan, the teams on this schedule boasted surprisingly few seniors in 2017-18. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see most of them post better seasons, giving UConn’s numbers a bump in the process.
Anyway, here’s the whole thing with opponents’ finishes in KenPom last season in parentheses.
NOVEMBER
Thursday, 8 – Morehead State (273)
Sunday, 11 – UMKC (276)
Thursday, 15 – vs. Syracuse (41)
Friday, 16 – vs. Oregon / Iowa (75/88)
Tuesday, 20 – Cornell (265)
Saturday, 24 – New Hampshire (278)
Tuesday, 27 – UMass Lowell (287)
DECEMBER
Sunday, 2 – Arizona (28)
Wednesday, 5 – Lafayette (275)
Saturday, 8 – Florida State (27)
Saturday, 15 – Manhattan (216)
Tuesday, 18 – Drexel (251)
Saturday, 22 – vs. Villanova (1)
