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#3 UConn at #19 Notre Dame
1/24/08
It seems like every season no matter who
Coach Jim Calhoun has playing for him in
Connecticut, the Huskies of UConn always
have a good chance of making something
happen in the Big East.
This season has been tougher than most as
the Big East is arguably the best conference
in college basketball with Syracuse,
Pittsburgh, Georgetown and Louisville all
battling for position, but besides the one
loss to G-Town the UConn Huskies are flying
high with championship aspirations come
tournament time.
With eight teams ranked in the Top 25 it
would hard to argue that the Big East isn’t
the toughest conference in college
basketball, but even though the competition
is extremely tough for the Huskies they have
played surprisingly well with only one loss
to a conference opponent.
The next big game for UConn in their
championship campaign is another Big East
head to head match up against #19 Notre
Dame. In their last two meeting, which were
decided by exactly six points both times,
the Fighting Irish got the better of UConn
in January of last year with an overtime
victory. Just about a month later in
February of 2008 the Huskies put Notre Dame
back in their place with six point win of
their own.
This season’s the outcome will not be so
close in my opinion, an intriguing match up
yes, but decided by six points not likely.
The Huskies are the better team and could be
the best team in the country atop the best
conference in college basketball when it is
all said and done. The Irish on the other
hand are a talented team who probably aren’t
that intimidated by the #3 team in the
country, but ultimately the Huskies will
prevail with their edge in few categories.
UConn will be coming into this Big East
showdown with only one loss thus far
compared to Notre Dame’s five losses this
season. Not only have the Irish let five
teams get the best of them this season, but
the Huskies are shooting almost 50% (49.6)
from the floor and have the better defense
of the two teams. As if the excellent
shooting percentage weren’t enough the Irish
are coming off two straight losses, the
first loss was to Rick Pitino’s #9
Louisville in overtime and the second was a
lopsided loss to #8 Syracuse by 19 points.
Not only were these two conference losses
devastating to Notre Dame, but a third loss
in a row to a ranked opponent could result
in the Irish getting knocked out of the Top
25 altogether.
With already losing three Big East match ups
to ranked opponents this is a must win
situation if Notre Dame wants to salvage a
season in the Top 25. UConn on the other
hand will be looking to improve their
overall and conference records as they make
a run at a Big East title and a high seed in
the NCAA tournament. This should be a
relatively easy victory for the Huskies if
they play the way have been playing.
UCONN -1 Over Notre
Dame