The UConn Problem

Yesterday the top-ranked UConn Huskies snoozed through another American Athletic Conference match up, defeating East Carolina 96-35 in a game not as close as the score indicated. The Huskies are left with 17 more snooze-fests en route to another AAC Tournament Championship in the 7th best conference, according to RealTimeRPI.

Without UConn, the AAC would be ranked 8th in Conference RPI, behind the MAC, and just ahead of the Ivy League. With UConn, the AAC boasts five teams in the top 100 in RPI. The MAC contains 7, with one ranked ahead of South Florida, the AAC's also-ran. USF is ranked 34th in RPI while Ball State is ranked 27th.

This poses an issue larger than UConn in women's basketball. On the men's side, marquee games nationwide are the norm, with Duke and North Carolina facing each other twice every year with championship implications every time they meet. The same goes for Villanova and Xavier this year in the Big East, and the door is wide open for anyone in the Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC this year.

UConn is the team that brings eyes to the TV screen for women's basketball, but zero of their 29 regular season games have any serious implications in a foregone conclusion. UConn has three huge games left on their schedule in road games against Texas and South Carolina and a home game against Louisville. Win or lose, no matter how entertaining those games could be, there is no storyline to hype them. No championship on the line. No seeding implications. UConn can go 0-3 in those games, they will still finish 29-3 after their AAC tournament championship and earn a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.

It's not their fault, where they currently sit. College football conference realignment shook up everything nationwide. Connecticut needed to find a place for their football team, and the American was the answer for a fledgling program. It cost them an opportunity to join the ACC, Big East, or even the Big Ten, who are far better equipped to pose a threat to UConn in women's basketball.


UConn does what they can, what they are supposed to do, by putting together the 2nd toughest schedule in the nation. They go on the road, taking on four top-10 teams outside of Connecticut this season. But they fail in the hype. And women's basketball hurts because of it. It is time, long overdue, for the UConn women to find a new home.