Category: Connecticut Huskies

UConn falls to Creighton, extends decade long road losing streak against ranked teams

The UConn Huskies have not won a true road game against a ranked opponent since 2014, a time period where they have won two national championships.

The UConn Huskies suffered their first loss since December on Tuesday night, falling on the road to the No. 15 Creighton Blue Jays in an 85-66 blowout.

It was Creighton’s first ever win over a No. 1 ranked team, ending UConn’s 14 game winning streak and coming just days after Purdue lost to Ohio State to clear a path for the Huskies to take over as the projected No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

However, the most startling fact about this loss for UConn is how common it is, as the Huskies have a long, long history of losing true road games against ranked opponents.

It’s been since UConn beat Memphis in 2014 that the Huskies have won a true road game against a ranked opponent – a decade long span that includes two national championship victories and multiple weeks spent as the No. 1 ranked team in the country.

With tons of home and neutral site wins over ranked teams, and obviously plenty of success in the NCAA Tournament, it’s hard to imagine this team being that inept in those tricky road environments, yet the losing streak was pushed to 21 on Tuesday after an uninspiring 3-16 performance from beyond the arc.

UConn was bound to lose at some point, and Creighton is red hot right now, but this loss highlights a key area where this program has really struggled for the last decade – and considering the success they’ve had in that decade it really stands out.

The Huskies will get a chance to break the streak on March 6 when they head to Milwaukee to take on the No. 7 ranked Golden Eagles of Marquette, with tip slated for 8:30 ET on FS1.

Purdue, not UConn, should be No. 1 college basketball team in country

The Purdue Boilermakers made a case to be the No. 1 college basketball team in the country over UConn with big win at Indiana.

The Purdue Boilermakers dropped from No. 1 to No. 2 in the Coaches Poll last week after falling on the road at Nebraska, clearing a path for the defending champion UConn Huskies to take over.

Voters almost always drop teams who lose and reward teams who don’t lose, which is why it wasn’t a surprise to see UConn climb multiple spots, but even at the time a comparison of the two resumes made it clear the Boilermakers should have stayed in the top spot. Both teams were 15-2 but Purdue had more Quad 1 wins (6) than UConn (4) and was favored in both KenPom and the NET rankings.

Purdue showed what they are capable of on Tuesday evening, heading to Assembly Hall in Bloomington to take on a quality Indiana program and handing them a 87-66 blowout loss.

National Player of the Year frontrunner Zach Edey dominated the Hoosiers, dropping 33 points and 14 rebounds while going 11-12 from the free throw line. Fletcher Loyer contributed 19 points on just 5-6 shooting, while Lance Jones added 17.

Purdue’s two losses are both on the road in conference play, one coming in overtime against Northwestern back in early December and the other at Nebraska last week. UConn’s losses are better, at Kansas and at Seton Hall, but Purdue’s overall resume should have kept them in the top spot last week.

A big win over Indiana and a chance to pick up another victory on the road at Iowa on Saturday could help Purdue climb back to number one, although it will depend how UConn does the rest of the week, on Wednesday at home against Creighton and at Villanova on Saturday.

UConn crushed by Seton Hall as Donovan Clingan suffers ankle injury

The UConn Huskies got ran out of their own gym by the Seton Hall Pirates to open up Big East conference play.

UConn was absolutely rolling heading into the Big East conference opener at home against Seton Hall on Wednesday, boasting a 10-1 record with wins over Indiana, Texas, North Carolina, and Gonzaga and only a narrow loss to Kansas.

40 minutes of gameplay later and the Huskies had their tail between their legs after suffering a 75-60 loss at the hands of an 8-4 Seton Hall squad whose only other Power-6 win came against Missouri.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, UConn saw star center Donovan Clingan exit the game in the second half with what is being described as an ankle sprain, and his status for his team’s next game on Saturday against Saint John’s remains up in the air.

The Huskies were stymied by Seton Hall’s trademark aggressive defense, turning the ball over a whopping 17 times while shooting just 37.9% from the field and 19% (4-21) from three point land.

For the Pirates, veteran guard Kadary Richmond led the charge – dropping 23 points with eight steals, six rebounds, and five assists.

It was a clear reminder to UConn, and college basketball fans, that winning in the Big East is never ever easy, and while the Huskies remain a favorite to win the national title they are by no means impervious to a bad offensive night.

Outside of Colorado, who is most likely to join the Big 12 in expansion?

Things could get interesting relatively quickly.

The Big 12 has been one of the more active conferences among the Power Five this spring and the beginning of summer.

Commissioner Brett Yormark has announced a partnership with the historic Rucker Park, as well as announced a new initiative that will bring exhibitions and bowl games to Mexico. At this point, if there is a conference you could bet on to make the next move in conference realignment the Big 12 might be the safest bet.

The current feeling around the collegiate landscape is that it will be when, not if, the conference expands beyond 12. The Big 12 currently has 14 schools in the fold but Oklahoma and Texas are set to join the SEC for the 2024 calendar year.

According to a report from Pete Thamel and ESPN (article requires subscription), there is one team out east that could be a strong favorite to join the Big 12.

Sources say the Big 12 has held an in-person visit with school officials at Colorado at a neutral site. And they’ve also had an on-campus visit to Connecticut. That UConn meeting has some predicting that if Colorado does jump to the Big 12, UConn is a top choice if none of the other Four Corner schools — Arizona, Arizona State, Utah — join the Buffaloes.

The potential addition of the UConn Huskies is an interesting possibility and not exactly one that is coming out of left field. The Big 12 has been exploring adding both UConn and Gonzaga, both known for their basketball prowess. This would also get the Big 12 into a new market. The conference has won two of the last three NCAA men’s basketball championships and adding the defending champions would only increase their profile as a premier basketball conference.

Adding Colorado has been the main target it seems since the reports surfaced that the conference was targeting the Pac-12’s four corner schools. The Buffaloes left the Big 12 for the Pac-10 prior to the start of the 2012 football season. They joined Utah as the new members that made up the Pac-12. Since hiring Deion Sanders as the head coach of the football program, the Buffs have become a more enticing target.

Deion in the Big 12 would be interesting to say the very least.

Get more Colorado news, analysis, and opinions on Buffs Wire

Women’s Sweet 16: game predictions, who advances to the Elite Eight?

Only two No. 1 seeds remain in the women’s tournament and this is the first time since 1998 that the Sweet 16 will be without two of its No. 1 seeds.

Only two No. 1 seeds remain in the women’s tournament and this is the first time since 1998 that the Sweet 16 will be without two of its No. 1 seeds. We have a No. 8 seed in Ole Miss and a No. 9 seed in Miami matched up against No. 5 and No. 4 seeds respectively. This tournament is about to heat up and it feels like upsets are on the brink.

Sweet 16 games begin Friday, March 24 with four matchups on Friday and four matchups on Saturday. The frontrunners in the tournament are still the top-seeded teams, but lower-seeded teams are peaking at just the right time and anything can happen in March.

Here’s everything you need ahead of this weekend’s Sweet 16.

2023 NCAA women’s Sweet 16: Latest bracket, schedule, and how to watch

There are few surprises with Miami, Colorado, and Ole Miss in the mix of teams, but stalwarts are also accounted for in South Carolina, Iowa, and UConn.

The Sweet 16 is upon us and games begin Friday, March 24. There are four matchups on Friday and four matchups on Saturday. There are few surprises with Miami, Colorado, and Ole Miss in the mix of teams, but stalwarts are also accounted for in South Carolina, Iowa, and UConn.

Sweet 16 Schedule: (All game times are eastern)

Friday, March 24 — Sweet 16

  • No. 4 Villanova vs. No. 9 Miami | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN
  • No. 2 Utah vs. No. 3 LSU | 5 p.m. | ESPN
  • No. 2 Iowa vs. No. 6 Colorado | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN
  • No. 5 Louisville vs. No. 8 Ole Miss | 10 p.m. | ESPN

Saturday, March 25 — Sweet 16

  • No. 2 Maryland vs. No. 3 Notre Dame | 11:30 a.m. | ESPN
  • No.1 South Carolina vs. No. 4 UCLA | 2:00 p.m. | ESPN
  • No. 2 UConn vs. No. 3 Ohio State | 4 p.m. | ABC
  • No. 1 Virginia Tech vs. No. 4 Tennessee | 6:30 p.m. | ESPN2

Only two No. 1 seeds remain in the tournament and this is the first time since 1998 that the Sweet 16 will be without two of its No. 1 seeds.

[lawrence-related id=7005]

[pickup_prop id=”32284″]

[mm-video type=video id=01gvp0s2e7yk714c05h5 playlist_id=01gq2fszf7mxxc88k4 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gvp0s2e7yk714c05h5/01gvp0s2e7yk714c05h5-4730602d5d0dc62fcbe09f909a1513ba.jpg]

Contact/Follow us at the College Wire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of College Sports news, notes, and opinions.

Power ranking the 16 remaining teams in the women’s tournament

The frontrunners in the tournament are still the top-seeded teams, but lower-seeded teams are peaking at just the right time and anything can happen in March.

The tournament’s second round has come and gone with upsets galore busting everyone’s brackets. Ole Miss’s upset of No. 1 seeded Stanford shattered the last bracket.

The team field is a bit diverse with only two No. 1 seeds remaining in the tournament, South Carolina and Virginia Tech, respectively. Ole Miss, Miami, and Colorado shocked viewers when they took down their opponents and made it into the Sweet 16.

The frontrunners in the tournament are still the top-seeded teams, but lower-seeded teams are peaking at just the right time and anything can happen in March.

With that said College Sports Wire tried to rank the remaining teams in the Sweet 16.

Power Ranking the remaining teams in the Sweet 16

16 teams remain in this year’s NCAA Tournament but who has looked the best so far?

The NCAA Men’s Tournament is officially moving into the second week and the field has narrowed from 68 to just 16. It’s one of the more diverse Sweet 16 teams in recent memory.

Just two No. 1 seeds remain in Alabama and Houston, coincidentally, the top two seeds in the tournament. Beyond the Crimson Tide and Cougars, seven of the remaining teams are four seeds or higher in Texas, UCLA, Xavier, Gonzaga, Kansas State, and UConn. Then you have tournament long shots in Arkansas, Creighton, FAU, Michigan State, and Princeton.

A few things are clear after the opening weekend about the 16 teams remaining but plenty still remains unclear as well. You can view some of the biggest takeaways from the first two rounds in our article from earlier on Monday.

That being said, the one thing that for certain is that the parity in this year’s tournament is quite strong. While Alabama looks the part of a tournament favorite, beyond the Crimson Tide, there are strong arguments for five or six other programs to potentially come out on top next month in Houston. That makes it quite hard to power rank the 16 teams remaining heading into week two. That being said, we gave it a go and did just that.

[pickup_prop id=”32609″]