Huskies hoping for preseason Top 25 ranking
A funny thing popped up last week in our e-mail in-box, as well as the inboxes of the 62 other Associated Press men’s basketball Top 25 voters.
Labeled “For your Top 25 consideration … the 2021-22 UConn Huskies,” and sent from the UConn sports information department, it featured a glossy fact sheet on this year’s UConn team. Among the information highlighted: 74.3-percent of the Huskies’ points and 89.3-percent of their blocked shots are returning this season, blurbs about each key UConn player and its No. 10-rated 2021 recruiting class, and other accomplishments under coach Dan Hurley.
A desperate plea to be ranked in Monday’s preseason AP Top 25 poll? Hardly. In fact, it’s a fairly common practice among programs throughout the season. Typically, it’s “mid-major” programs like San Diego State or Richmond that send out such e-mails. It probably means more for those schools to see a number in front of their name than it does a Kentucky,
North Carolina or Louisville.
Or UConn. In at least the last 15 years, UConn had never sent out such an email until last week. Clearly, being nationally-ranked in the preseason AP poll means something to Hurley and his team.
“It’s important to me. I would like to see that,” Hurley said on Friday. “I would love the benefits of the excitement that’s create with that. It does a lot for you, in terms of the anticipation for the fans.”
The 63 AP voters, representing 42 states along with three national voters, are all journalists (mostly print, a few broadcast) who probably wouldn’t want to admit that they can be swayed by an e-mail labeled “For your consideration …” from a college SID. But journalists on the East Coast may not know that, say, San Diego State has won 10 straight games, holding opponents to less than 35-percent shooting over that span. If a voter is torn between voting for San Diego State and a school he might be more familiar with, such an email might tip the scales.
The Huskies haven’t been