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conference schedule will keep UConn from slipping from prominence
STORRS -- The jerseys might have read UConn and Louisville,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], but we've seen the script a thousand times: the Little Guy sticks around behind an inspired crowd before the overwhelming size disparity becomes glaring. That's when the Big Bully pulls away for good.
Louisville, ranked No. 1 at the time,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], played Big Bully that night. And UConn, which has lived that role for THE past 15 years, has assumed an entirely new identity: Mass defections in the frontcourt have forced these Huskies -- ranked among the preseason top five just a season ago -- to become a small, gritty group that cannot afford to sleepwalk through any stretch against any team. As once said, " isn't walking through those doors."
There were years, as recalled just before his retirement, when UConn had eight pros on the court in a given practice. This season, the Huskies don't have a sure-fire first rounder. The talent level on this team is befitting of a strong mid-major, not the national powerhouse that's been the norm in Storrs.
And that's interesting because UConn,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], barring an invite to the ACC or BIG 10, will soon compete in a mid-major league. So there's a genuine concern for the Connecticut fa
If conference affiliation is any indication,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], it seems to be a legitimate question: Excluding Memphis -- which was not only relevant, but dominant under -- 72 of the past 80 Elite Eight qualifiers have come from power conferences. Only two mid-majors (Xavier and Butler) have reached the regional semifinals twice in the past decade. Only a handful -- Memphis, Xavier, Gonzaga and,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], recently, Butler -- are considered nationally-relevant on an annual basis. Although Butler and Memphis came dangerously close, no mid-major has won the national championship since UNLV in 1990. Clearly, the odds of briefly excelling in a mid-major league are low, even with the parity of modern college basketball.
"We don't view ourselves as a mid-major,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]," Gonzaga athletic director said by phone earlier this week. "We don't have that mindset. Our attitude is that we can compete with anyone in the country, regardless of how anyone else wants to term us."
UConn's current situation -- truly unprecedented -- is far more complex: Neither Gonzaga nor Memphis previously belonged to a power conference, so they each had to break through from the bottom (well, the middle). UConn was once king of America's top league, which will essentially dissolve by 2014,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], and is just two years removed from a national championship.
The Huskies don't need to break through. They need to stay on top in a sinking conference,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych].
From an administrative standpoint, UConn can take some cues from Gonzaga and Memphis. In a wide-ranging interview with Hearst Connecticut Newspapers earlier this month,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], former coach Jim Calhoun,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], now the special assistant to the athletic director,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], indicated that the Huskies may have to change the way they schedule in the non-conference.
"If we play in a league that isn't as strong as what we've been in, we've got to schedule up on the outside," Calhoun said. "Much like Memphis did with (John) Calipari."
For years,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Calhoun loaded UConn's plate with non-league gimmes -- Maine, Fairfield,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Vermont,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Central Connecticut, etc. In the future, with a schedule that includes Tulane, Central Florida and Southern Methodist, UConn must secure big-time non-league opponents on national television.
Take Gonzaga this year, for example.
"We're 5-0 in the Big 12," Roth said with a laugh. "I think Kansas just tied us, but we were the leaders in the clubhouse for a while there."
Roth also arranged Gonzaga's home-and-home with Butler, which this season turned into an instant classic, a primetime ESPN buzzer-beater that likely won't be topped.
Although Calhoun said the non-league schedule is set for the next few years, UConn can kill a few birds with a single stone. By inking Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Villanova, the Huskies can preserve longstanding rivalries and, in turn, help preserve their national brand.
There are other steps, too: Calhoun has recently pushed for students to surround the lower section of Gampel Pavilion, a la Pittsburgh and Michigan State. Such a format would elevate the Gampel atmosphere, which is by no means considered one of the most intense in the country.
But the real difference between prominence and mediocrity is in the coaching staff. After was forced out in 1992, UNLV never established continuity. was let go in 1994, and his replacement -- -- lasted just seven games. Conversely, when Gonzaga's bolted for Minnesota following the 1999 Elite Eight run, former assistant stepped in. He's averaged 28.5 victories over the past 12 seasons.
"You look at our sustained success going on these 15 years and you look at other schools that have had intermittent success and haven't sustained it, well, they usually lose their coach," Roth said.
Kevin Ollie has said he'll come to the Gampel office until his keys stop working. Given his UConn roots, you have to believe him.
And given his 13-year NBA career and the program's storied history, you have to believe he'll pull in high-profile recruits, especially if the administration can facilitate quality non-conference matchups.
Ultimately, though, the administration can only help so much. This task,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], as unusual a circumstance as you'll find in college hoops, is mostly on Ollie and the players. The formula to sustained success is quite simple: Win in the NCAA tournament and win those big-time regular season games (like Louisville at the ). The recruits will come and the talent level will be upgraded.
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