I’ve blogged before about the UConn women’s march toward the UCLA men’s record 88-game winning streak. Now that the foregone conclusion of the 2010 NCAA UConn Huskies Invitational Championship is in the record books, it’s time to re-ask the question that I posed in early February:
The Huskies could tie UCLA’s record in their tenth game of 2010-11, and break it in their eleventh game. Do the folks who do UConn’s scheduling realize this? I don’t mean to jinx anything, but it’d be great to see them play big-name opponents in those potentially historic games, like perhaps Stanford in game #10, and — dare to dream — a rebirth of the Tennessee series for game #11. Make it happen, Geno & Pat! (Or, failing that, how about an early conference tilt with Notre Dame for game #11? Imagine the hype as the Irish, whose men’s team broke that other 88-game streak, and whose football team ended Oklahoma’s record streak, try to stop UConn from notching consecutive win #89.)
So far as I can tell, the exact parameters of next year’s schedule are still coming together, with a few dates set and many not. But it seems clear, from news articles and ESPN commentary and whatnot, that the Chase for Eighty-Eight is in the forefront of everyone’s mind now. And while the exact schedule is unknown, it’s clear it won’t be an easy road — and there will be plenty of marquee opponents to choose from in trying to set up those made-for-TV games #10 and #11:
Stanford will be one of the major obstacles the Huskies will face during the non-conference portion of their 2010-11 schedule. They are tentatively slated to host No. 14 Baylor in the second game next season. They will host No. 6 Duke, No. 11 Florida State and No. 12 Oklahoma. They will travel to North Carolina State and meet Ohio State at the Maggie Dixon Classic in New York. That’s three Final Four teams and two others that reached the Elite Eight this season.
So in other words, UConn is playing the entire Elite Eight except itself, Kentucky and Xavier. Wow.
Tina Charles will be gone. Maya Moore, though, will be back — assuming she doesn’t go pro. But it’s still Geno, and it’s still UConn. Perfection3, anyone?
