UConn men will face a challenging schedule
Big things are expected from the UConn men's basketball team this season.
Hasheem Thabeet spent the summer dunking on anyone who guarded him, point guard A.J. Price is nearly all the way back from his torn anterior cruciate ligament injury, and five new faces could help the Huskies in a variety of ways.
UConn should be a nationally top 10-ranked team once the preseason polls start pouring in, and a run deep into March is very much in play. First, the Huskies must navigate a very tricky 2008-09 schedule.
Some challenging non-conference opponents, coupled with the usual Big East grind, will have UConn tested and ready come tournament time. UConn faces a deep and talented Gonzaga squad on Dec. 20 out in Seattle and hosts Michigan on Feb. 7 in the teams' first meeting in 68 years.
There's also an early-season trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam, where the Huskies will start off against La Salle and potentially play Wisconsin, Miami (Fla.), Southern Mississippi, Iona, Valparaiso and/or San Diego (the team that knocked UConn out of last year's NCAA opening round). UConn will even make a trip up to icy Buffalo on Dec. 4 for a non-conference bout with the Bulls.
And, of course, there's the Big East slate, where there's nary an easy game. UConn's toughest stretch could come in a month-long span from Jan. 21 to Feb. 16. The Huskies host Villanova, whose talented guard Scottie Reynolds has killed them in recent years; and travel to Notre Dame, which returns Big East Player of the Year Luke Harangody among several others.
After a game at DePaul (there's no such thing as an easy road game in the Big East), UConn hosts Providence, which has inexplicably beaten the Huskies four straight times on the road; travels to Louisville, where Rick Pitino has Final Four talent; hosts Michigan and Syracuse, travels to Seton Hall, then hosts powerful Pittsburgh.
If UConn emerges from that stretch relatively unscathed, the Elite Eight or Final Four could well be within its reach.
