Coming into focus
A checkup on where Huskies’ schedule stands
The UConn men’s basketball team’s 2022-23 schedule won’t be finalized until around September, after the Big East has finished putting together its schedule.
Here’s what we know of the Huskies’ schedule as of now:
Nov. 24-27, PK85 Tournament:
UConn will be among the teams in this loaded 16-team tournament to be held in Portland, Ore. The field will be separated into two brackets, with UConn in a bracket that also features defending national runner-up North Carolina, as well as Alabama, Iowa State, Michigan State, Oregon, Portland and Villanova.
Villanova, you say? How did two Big East teams wind up in the same bracket? Well, when the field was originally formed, shortly after the inaugural PK80 Tournament in 2017 concluded, UConn was still in the American Athletic Conference. Two Big East members were invited, Villanova and Xavier, with the understanding that they would be separated into different brackets.
Once UConn joined the Big East, the tournament elected to keep the field as it was and put the Huskies in the same bracket as Villanova. It’s likely the teams will be placed on opposite ends of the bracket, but there still remains a chance that they could meet in what would be a non-conference game.
That would mean they’d face each other three times in the regular season alone — and possibly again in the Big East tournament.
Villanova, of course, is no longer coached by Hall of Famer Jay Wright, who retired last month. Kyle Neptune, Wright’s former assistant, has taken over as head coach.
Either way, UConn is in a very strong bracket, with half of last year’s Final Four (North Carolina and Villanova) awaiting as two of the Huskies’ three possible opponents.
Dec. 7, at Florida: According to public records obtained by The D1 Docket, a blog dedicated to Division I men’s college basketball scheduling, this will be the second part of the homeand-home series with the Gators. UConn upset thenNo. 15 Florida 62-59 in the first meeting on Nov. 17, 2019 — the final game of freshman James Bouknight’s three-game suspension. The rematch in Gainesville has been put off due to COVID-19 and other factors, but it appears it will be played this season.
Florida just picked up talented point guard Kyle Lofton out of the transfer portal from St. Bonaventure and should field a good team led by Lofton and big man Colin Castleton.
Big East/Big 12 Challenge:
UConn will participate for the second year in a row, though it’s not known where or against whom the Huskies will play. It seems highly likely they’ll play at home, however, since UConn went on the road to play West Virginia last season on Dec. 8.
According to one source, it appears Kansas may be playing Seton Hall this year, so it doesn’t appear the defending national champs will be visiting Storrs or Hartford. The matchups should be announced sometime after mid-June, after the matchups for the Gavitt Games have been revealed.
Speaking of which, for the second straight year UConn will not be playing in the Gavitt Games. The Games, which pit Big East teams against Big Ten teams in eight different matchups, are limited to teams that were in the Big
East when the contract was finalized. UConn was still in the AAC at that time.
That leaves only six more non-conference games to be scheduled. Don’t expect them to be high-level opponents. With likely three P5 opponents in the PK85, along with a game at Florida and (likely) at home against a Big 12 team, that’s five tough games to go with UConn’s already strong slate of 20 league games.
While it’s possible UConn could try to get another high-level team on its slate, the more likely scenario is another diet of the Coppin States and CCSU’s of the world. After all, wins — particularly blowout wins — are a lot better than even a close loss to a high-major team, per KenPom and NET rankings.