Connecticut's NCAA Tournament Case Is Better Than Experts Say

The Connecticut Huskies are not one of the better teams in college basketball by any means, however, they have earned the right to get more love from bracketologists. It’s the time of season where the Jerry Palms and Joe Lunardis of the world release weekly bracket projections, and as of now, UConn isn’t getting any love. That should change.

They probably aren’t a Final Four team or anything, but they are certainly among the best 68 teams in the sport. Heading into Saturday they did have a dismal RPI ranking of 65, but that should also change thanks to their win over Georgetown. They have plenty of other quality wins on the docket as well.

Wins that give UConn a good resume include Michigan on a neutral court, as well as Texas, Memphis and Houston on the road. All of those teams figure to be in the field or on the bubble the rest of the way. If it’s close, none of those teams should be in ahead of the Huskies since they’ve won the head to head. UConn’s losses aren’t exactly horrible either. They don’t have a single loss to a team that is currently below .500. They have quality wins and they’ve done it on the road and at neutral sites.

The AAC as a whole isn’t doing UConn or any of its top teams any favors, though, as they continue to struggle to gain respect as a decent basketball conference. It legitimately may end up being a one-bid league this March, so the ticket may only be reserved for the conference champion.

In the end, the talent that UConn has should lead the committee to see that they can offer potential that some teams on the bubble can’t. Rodney Purvis, Daniel Hamilton, Shonn Miller and Sterling Gibbs give UConn a chance to beat anyone if they play their A-game. They can definitely bring more to the field than some current bubble teams like Monmouth or St. Joe’s. Those teams are nice stories, but they would most likely lose in the first weekend. UConn would bring more chance for chaos and a deep run.

But the best chance for UConn is to just take care of business and win the conference tournament to earn an automatic bid. They can’t count on the committee to put them in, especially after the lack of respect that the conference has gotten since its inception a few seasons ago.