UConn Huskies Entering Make or Break Stretch of Schedule

It’s not often that the defending national champions fail to even make the NCAA Tournament next season, but the UConn Huskies are in grave danger of doing just that. The Huskies are 13-9 overall and 6-4 in the AAC, and right now they’re not even in serious bubble contention. UConn is about the enter the make or break part of their schedule, and they need to string together some wins if they want any chance of being a legitimate at-large contender.

UConn plays at home against AAC leading Tulsa on Thursday before heading to play SMU, the only ranked team in the conference, on Saturday. UConn desperately needs wins against the RPI top 50 and both of these games would provide one. Right now, the only wins on UConn’s schedule likely to impress the committee are Dayton, Cincinnati, and maybe Florida, none of which are near enough to make up for losses to the likes of Yale and Houston.

Realistically, the Huskies are going to have to win out to make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team. There is always the chance they could put together a run in the AAC tournament and get in that way, but that is a very challenging task in its own right. Right now, UConn needs to take it one game at a time and get the wins they need to build up their resume as best as possible.

In addition to the two games this week, UConn has potential resume builders in a rematch with SMU, two games against Memphis and a matchup with Temple down the stretch. If UConn were to win out, they would be 21-9 with probably five or six RPI top 50 wins and at best two wins against ranked opponents. They will still have the aforementioned two bad losses though, making them either one of the last teams in or first teams out.

That’s thinking a little too far ahead right now, because the Huskies have to get through the weekend by picking up two huge wins and giving themselves a fighting chance. Every game for the rest of the season is make or break for UConn’s at-large chances, and that means the pressure is on for Kevin Ollie, Ryan Boatright, and the rest of the Huskies.

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