‘NET’ gains
UConn hopes for a win in first trip of season
The NCAA’s first NET rankings of the 2020-21 season were released on Monday, and UConn checked in at No. 48.
What does it mean? Hard to say, really. For one, the Huskies have played just five games. Many teams have already played 10, 11, 12 contests. Also, the NET formula heavily weighs how a team plays away from home. Its two components this season are Team Value Index, which rewards teams for beating quality opponents — especially away from home — and a team’s efficiency rating, which is adjusted for the strength of an opponent and the location of a game.
UConn has yet to play a true road game this season, and has played just one at a neutral site.
That all changes over the next week, beginning on Tuesday, when UConn (4-1, 1-1 Big East) travels to Milwaukee to face Marquette (9 p.m. FoxSports1).
“It’s been a while,” coach Dan Hurley said. “It was just nice to pull into a city and get out on the road together as a group, get on a plane. I think it’ll be really good for the chemistry and the mental state, too.”
It’s the first of a three-game road trip through the Midwest for the Huskies, who’ll play at Butler on Saturday and at DePaul on Monday. UConn will fly home following Tuesday night’s game, then fly out to Butler on Friday and drive to Chicago after Saturday’s game before flying back home following the DePaul game.
The Huskies’ road-trip protocol won’t differ a whole lot from what it typically has been pre-pandemic. The one difference: Hurley typically likes his team to get into town a little earlier in the afternoon the day before a game and get over to the arena to get a few shots up before heading to the
hotel. But the Huskies got in a little later than usual (about 6:30 p.m. local time) on Monday. Their only pregame visit to FiServ Forum (where UConn has never played) will be for Tuesday afternoon’s shootaround.
“I think a lot of it is the same, just trying to stay distanced during meals and different parts of the actual transportation,” said Hurley, who noted that the team is using two buses instead of one.
It’s interesting that the NET, which serves as the primary sorting tool for the selection and seeding process for the NCAA tournament, will factor in road wins so heavily this season. Most games — including the games at Marquette and DePaul, but not Butler — will be played without fans in attendance. A raucous, sellout crowd can pump energy into a home team and give it the push it may need to victory. It also, unquestionably, can influence the referees, either subliminally or otherwise.
Without much of that this season, what exactly is home-court advantage? And how much credit should a team really get for pulling off a victory on what is essentially a neutral court?
Either way, the Huskies are in for a challenge on Tuesday night. Marquette
(6-5, 2-3 Big East) has had some struggles, losing three straight league games before edging lowly Georgetown on Saturday. But the Golden Eagles also boast victories over No. 7 Creighton (on the road) and No. 8 Wisconsin. They’re a wellbalanced team with four players averaging between
11.4 and 13.5 points per game, including Big East preseason Rookie of the Year Dawson Garcia, who leads the team at 7.4 rebounds per game. He joins senior Theo John in an imposing front line. Meanwhile, fellow senior forward Jamal Cain is coming off a career-high 25-point night in the win over the Hoyas.
“If you want to play at the tippy-top of this league, then obviously you’ve got to win games like (Tuesday),” said Hurley.
For UConn, it kicks off a busy month of January, in which the Huskies are scheduled to play nine games over a 26-day span. Of course, one of those games already appears in jeopardy: Villanova has postponed its next three games due to COVID-19 issues within the program. That does not include the Wildcats’ slated Jan. 15 game at UConn ... yet. However, given that the Connecticut Department of Health convinced UConn to postpone a game with DePaul a couple of weeks ago, since the Blue Demons were still within 14 days of having a positive test, it would seem unlikely that the Huskies will be hosting Villanova in 10 days.
RIM RATTLINGS
UConn junior swingman Tyrese Martin was named to the Big East Honor Roll on Monday after notching a double-double (22 points, 10 rebounds) in a Dec. 30 win over DePaul.