The UConn men’s basketball team needs as many Quad One wins as they have been coming few and far between in the Big East so far. Friday’s matchup against No. 22 St. John’s at Madison Square Garden, the biggest game of the Big East season to this point, is only UConn’s second Quad One opportunity in the last eight weeks since league play began.
Dan Hurley, whose aggressive scheduling in the nonconference is paying off with the Huskies holding onto a top projected NCAA Tournament seed entering Friday’s game, has said he would prefer more control over the schedule in the future. He mentioned potentially playing eight high-major games in the nonleague and reducing the amount of league games from 20 to 18.
“I was a proponent of 18 conference games, just giving people more flexibility based on where their program is at, to be able to schedule in a way that’s more fitting for where their team is at,” he said on a call with local reporters Thursday night, after Rick Pitino threw out the idea of creating a floor for what teams have to spend in NIL.
“The Big East, it’s obviously getting those teams that aren’t spending their resources on their roster to spend it, but also, we’ve got to win our nonconference games. Everyone’s got to do their part in the nonconference, coming in with big nonconference wins, taking care of business. Winning games are gonna move the needle so that everyone’s coming in with the best possible NET (ranking) so we’re not just screwing each other’s NET over. Playing those Quad Threes and Quad Four games in conference are just brutal,” he said.
UConn came into league play with four of the league’s eight Quad One victories having beaten BYU, Illinois, Kansas and Florida in November and December. Those wins helped the Huskies hang onto the top resumé ranking until recently, when they were jumped by Arizona.
In league play, UConn has played seven Quad Two games and four in Quad Three. Of the remaining eight games, the St. John’s game is the first of four Quad One opportunities left (at Butler, at Villanova, vs. St. John’s), as the NET rankings stand.
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi projected the league to receive three NCAA Tournament bids this March.
UConn was projected to get the No. 4 overall seed, the final No. 1 seed, in Lunardi’s latest projection. A loss would threaten that as the Huskies, at 22-1, sit at No. 6 in the NET rankings before Friday’s game.
The game also has ramifications in the league, with St. John’s coming in right on UConn’s tail in the league standings at 10-1. Villanova, also in contention for the regular season title, only has three losses in league play.
“You play the first of two (against St. John’s) on the road, if you can get it now you have a two-game lead and the home game on the back end. So you could really put yourself in a great position there two games up,” Hurley said. “We don’t have a lot of great opportunities if we want to be a top seed in the tournament.”
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