By Marc Lawrence — From the current PlaybookSports.com Basketball Newsletter: Connecticut returned to the Big East this season after a 9-year hiatus in the American Athletic Conference.
Should the Huskies cut downs the nets in this year’s Big East tourney there’s a good chance they’ll be doing the same in the NCAA tournament.
The last four Huskies’ Big East Conference tourney titles have resulted in 3 NCAA tournament championships, including 2011, 2004 and 1999.
They enter this year’s event on a 4-0 SUATS run and were 13-4 ATS in conference clashes this season.
UConn is also 8-1 SU and 9-0 ATS in its last nine Big East conference tourney tilts.
Everyone Was Afraid
What a difference a year and a day makes.
When Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 on the night of March 11, 2020, we were struggling to make sense of what was unfolding at the Jazz-Thunder game and what could be at the root of the delayed tipoff.
Tory Barron of ESPN remembers how confusion gave way to a sense of fear as the game was postponed and fans were ushered out of Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.
It was when NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the league made the world-altering decision to stop play. When the NBA shut down, it started a domino effect across sports and society, bringing the danger presented by the coronavirus pandemic into stark focus for millions around the country and the world.
To read more on the profound effect COVID-19 has had on our lives and the sports world, click here.
Trending Today
When Duke’s ACC quarterfinal contest with Florida State was canceled yesterday due to a positive COVID case within the program it ended their hopes of extending the Blue Devils’ 26-year run in the NCAA tournament.
Duke was considered a bubble team for the NCAA tourney and needed another win or two to secure a spot in the Big Dance.
The positive case now becomes an issue for Louisville, which lost to Duke 70-56 on Wednesday night.
Louisville is hoping to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and is within the NCAA required period of seven straight negative COVID-19 tests for participants next week in Indianapolis.
