This week, the opponent it Baylor.  While not the most prestigious team in their conference, the Bears are a Big VII team none-the-less.  Baylor is 2-1 and is yet to play a close game this season.  They opened with an ugly 41-13 loss  to Wake Forest before blowing out Northwestern State 51-6 and Washington State 45-17.   This game will be Baylor’s first real test of the season and their first road game.  The Huskies are a 2-touchdown favorite in this one at home winning over the spread in front of an ESPN2 audience should go long way towards getting the unbeaten Huskies some national attention.

The 2nd Friday night ESPN2 game will be even more difficult-their Big East Conference opener at Louisville.  The Cardinals will be looking to avenge their loss last season in Hartford that was highlighted by the controversial fake fair catch that directly resulted in a UConn touchdown.  Louisville is 1-1 so far this year with a 27-2 loss to Kentucky and a dominating 51-10 win over Tennessee Tech.  They will get another good test this weekend against the Big VII’s Kansas State before hosting the Huskies on September 26th.

A pair of wins would have the Huskies looking like a real force in the Big East Conference and could possibly boost them into the top 25 polls along with conference foes South Florida and West Virginia.  The key point of UConn’s schedule will be when they face the other 3 of the Big East’s top 4 contenders (West Virginia, South Florida, and Cincinnati) in a four week span, but right now is their time to really start making some noise on a national stage.

It’s sad to see this happen to anyone, especially Jim Calhoun, but it’s great to know that he is going to be okay and will be ready to start the 2008-09 season with the Huskies. It would not bother me at all even if Coach Calhoun missed some time early to guarantee a good recovery. The players need their coach, but it’s most important to make sure their coach is 100% healthy. Championships are not won in November.

Calhoun is showing a lot of strength in recovering from this and returning to basketball so quickly. I’ve never had cancer myself, but from what I’ve heard it takes a lot out of people. The radiation is also very difficult to go through, causing sickness and loss of strength. It takes a strong will to fight through that and still coach division one basketball. I have no doubt that Calhoun will be able to keep the Huskies successful while going through this and he will in no way use it as an excuse. Calhoun coaches his basketball teams to be strong, outwork their opponents on the court and make no excuses, and their is no doubt he will do the same in his fight with cancer.

“I am excited about the opportunity to stay at UConn and continue the mission that we started this season,” said Thabeet. “I also want to thank my family and close friends for all of their help and support. As a team, we took a step in the right direction this year, but I look forward to us working together to win a BIG EAST Championship and making a run at a national championship. I really enjoy being here, getting a great education and spending time with my friends and teammates.”

With all the key parts of this years’ team eligible to return next season, the question that hung out there was, “who would?”.

Well, the 2008/2009 roster is starting to take more and more shape.  While Doug Wiggins and Curtis Kelly have decided to part ways with the Huskies, Calhoun and team heard the words they wanted to hear from the monster in the middle.  The National Defensive Player of the Year will be back to defend that title next season.

With A.J. Price (if his injury allows), Jeff Adrien, Jerome Dyson, Thabeet, and Stanley Robinson all back next year, id this team a challenger for the Big East title and beyond?

This time, it was the Jersey Girls looking for revenge, and it looked early like they may return the favor of the rout, building their lead up to as many as 14 points.  However, the resilient Connecticut team was to battle back and cut the large deficit down to 5 points heading into the break.  UConn then opened the second half with a 7-2 run to draw even at 34.   The 27 first half points was the lowest first half total of the season for the Huskies.

The Rutgers defense did a great job denying freshman phenom Maya Moore the ball, holding her to just 7 points in the game, but they lost her in one crucial situation.  With less than three minutes remaining, Moore got enough space to drain a tie-breaking three pointer that put the Huskies ahead for good.  They hit all of their free throws down the stretch to increase the lead to the 10 point margin of victory.  Moore was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Greensboro Regional.

The Huskies’ Final Four opponent will be the Stanford Cardinal, who upset Maryland in their elite 8 game.  UConn defeated Stanford 66-54 earlier this year.  The Tennessee Vols are the only Final Four team the Huskies did not play this season, as UConn also beat their Final Four opponent, LSU, 74-69 in Louisiana.  The Tigers and Cardinals will be looking to break up the match up that many people hope to see and nearly everybody expected to see since day 1:  Another UConn- Tennessee Classic for the National Championship.

None of the three games in the season were close.  The Huskies opened the series with a dominating 12-1 shellacking of the Wildcats.  The Cats answered by handing UConn a 7-2 loss in the second game, but Connecticut bounced back with an 8-3 victory in the rubber game.

The Huskies return to action on April 1st when they visit Hartford for the first of three non-conference games in as many days.  They return to Storrs to host Boston College on the 2nd and Fairfield on the 3rd.

The UConn baseball team got off to a very slow start to the season, dropping their first 6 games.  What’s worse is that only 2 of the 6 games were even close.  The final scores were:  7-1 to Missouri, 4-2 to Stetson, 11-1 to Michigan State, and 18-1, 15-6, and 1-0 to UNC-Greensboro.  The Huskies finally broke the losing streak in Palm Beach, Florida where they defeated the Air Force Falcons 10-6 to open the Papa John’s Palm Beach Challenge.  The Huskies went on to win 4 of their 5 Palm Beach Challenge games.  They fell 4-3 to Ohio State and routed UPenn 18-0 before taking two game from Penn State by scores of 14-6 and 4-2.

UConn’s three game win streak was halted by a 12-7 loss to Georgetown to open Big East play, but the Huskies rebounded to beat the Hoyas in the next two games, 2-0 and 9-7, to take the series.  After a 7-2 non-conference win at Sacred Heart, the Huskies returned to Big East play and dropped their first two games of their three game set at 28th ranked Louisville by scores of 14-5 and 10-7.  Connecticut was able to salvage the final game of the series, winning it 12-8.

The Huskies now stand at 8-10 on the season and 3-3 in Big East play.  Their first home game of the season is scheduled for Monday, March 24th when they host their New England rival, the UMass Minute Men in the first game of a home and home.  The return game at Massachusetts will be on April 8th.

Jeff Adrien led four Huskies in double digits with 18 points.  Hasheem Thabeet and Jerome Dyson each scored 14, and Craig Austrie added 10 points.

Gyno Pomare had a huge game for the Toreros with 22 points on 10 of 12 shooting from the field.  Brandon Johnson also scored 18 points and Rob Jones added 14 for San Diego.

The Huskies battled back from a 5 point halftime deficit to send the game to overtime, but a jumper with 1.2 seconds left in the extra frame gave San Diego the improbable victory.

San Diego now advances to take on Western Kentucky, who upset Drake earlier today, 101-99 on a buzzer beater three pointer in overtime.

First round

In all but two occasions this year (a 9 point win over Northeastern and a 12 point loss to Providence) the UConn Huskies have bounced back from a loss by putting a good beating on their next opponent.  Especially considering that their loss to West Virginia came in their first Big East Tournament game, they should continue that trend as they’ll be looking to make a statement.  A possible first round a opponent is George Mason.  If that’s the case, Jeff Adrien and Craig Austrie will have another reason to step their game up a notch.

Second round

This is perhaps the round where the Huskies are the most vulnerable. Barring an upset, this will be UConn’s last game as a favorite and that’s a role they’ve struggled in recently.  With the exception of the first game after a loss, Connecticut has been playing down to the level of their weaker opponents recently and it has resulted in games being closer than they should be and a few upset losses.  The Huskies are good at building momentum for one game, but then they seem to lose it very quickly.  For example, the UConn did not seem motivated at all in their loss to West Virginia and this was a huge disappointment after the 45 point rout of Cincinnati.  If your looking for a big opening weekend upset, this UConn could be the victim.

Sweet 16

Despite being deeper into the tournament and likely facing stronger competition, the UConn Huskies are less likely to fall in the sweet 16 than in the second round.  The stronger competition is exactly why Connecticut is less likely to fall.  The same way they tend to play down to weaker opponents, they tend to really step up against the big time foes.  Schools including Marquette, Louisville, Indiana, Pittsburgh, and Notre Dame already learned this the hard way.  Only Memphis, Gonzaga, and Georgetown survived and the UConn still made it tough for all three of them.  This team thrives as an underdog and that’s exactly what they’ll be starting at this round of the tournament.

Elite 8, Final 4, National Title

The last three round are grouped together as they all bring up the same scenario.  This is the point in the tournament when anybody can lose and all of the remaining teams have a decent shot at the National Championship.  UConn will continue to be a ‘dog through all of these rounds and playing against the odds has been one of the best motivators for them so far.  The Huskies will come to play and when they do that they can beat anybody, but there opponents will be just as capable.  A lot of close game experience helps out a lot in these rounds as well.  The Huskies could fall in the elite 8 or they could take home the title.  The best way to pick these games is to look at match ups, but even so, most of these games are toss ups.  UConn will be a dark horse to advance farther than the elite 8, but they’re certainly capable of it.

-Breed:  Husky

-Description:  16 male basketball players

-Last seen:  Wednesday, February 13th at the Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut against Notre Dame.  There was also a reported sighting on Sunday, March 9th when the Cincinnati Bearcats visited the Gampel Pavilion, but it is unsure as to whether or that was a true sighting.

The Huskies have struggled mightily lately, losing 3 of their last 6 games and playing below their level in 5 of them.  Connecticut.  The biggest problem seems to simply be motivation.  UConn is constantly getting out-hustled and out-played. The only reason they are still in position for a good NCAA Tournament seed is the fact that they have managed to still win some games simply because they have more talent.  The talent wasn’t enough on Thursday against a hungry West Virginia team that sent the Huskies home after their first Big East Tournament game in the quarter finals.  The Mountaineers’ greater desire to win is clear in the rebounding statistic.  Connecticut is easily the bigger and better rebounding team, but West Virginia dominated the boards, out-rebounding UConn 37-24 overall and 14-5 on the offensive end.  The Huskies were being beaten to the ball all day and that is why they were beaten in the game.

A.J. Price led the Huskies with 22 points and 6 assists in the game.  Jeff Adrien and Stanley Robinson each added 11 for UConn as well.  Hasheem Thabeet did not have a very strong game, finishing with just 6 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

The West Virginia Mountaineers were a one man team, being carried the entire way by Joe Alexander.  The entire team was running hard after the ball and pulling down rebounds, but Alexander lit up the scoreboard with a career high 34 points to propel them to the victory.  West Virginia now advances to the Big East semifinals where they will face the Georgetown Hoyas tomorrow.

Connecticut now has to just sit and wait for Selection Sunday where they will find out their NCAA Tournament seed and first round opponent.  They will most likely have a 4 or 5 seed but could possibly fall as low as 6.  Connecticut has been good at bouncing back from losses this year, but has recently been unable to sustain momentum.  After their last loss to Providence, the Huskies rebounded with a 45 point rout of Cincinnati, but then fell right back into the bad habit of lackadaisical that resulted in this loss to West Virginia.

Was this your last game in this building?
It was my last game this season. There are a couple more seasons to come, so I’m looking forward to that.

Of course, many players have said during and immediately after the season that they plan to return, only to change their minds later. Nobody knows yet how Thabeet will react when shown the money that comes with being a lottery pick in the NBA. He came very close to leaving last season, and after being even better this year, the NBA will surely be tempting for him.

Jim Calhoun said that defensively, Thabeet is ready to turn pro, but offensively he is not.

Thabeet has had a fantastic year and could be even better not only for him, but for the whole team if he chooses to stay. Hasheem Thabeet recorded his 94th block in Big East play this season in the game against Cincinnati which broke Alonzo Mourning’s Big East record of 93.  With another season at Connecticut, Thabeet could be in position to break Emeka Okafor’s career record for blocks by a UConn player, and with two more seasons he would easily shatter the record.