UConn Basketball: 3 key storylines heading into 2020-21 season

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 18: Head coach Dan Hurley of the Connecticut Huskies helps up Jalen Gaffney #0 during a college basketball game against the Villanova Wildcats at Wells Fargo Center on January 18, 2020 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

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19 Feb 1996: Guard Ray Allen #34 of the Connecticut Huskies Georgetown defeated UConn 77-65. /

1. New Conference, Old Rivalries

The biggest storyline for the Huskies this season is their return to the Big East. After leaving for the AAC in 2013, the Huskies return to their old conference after a few underwhelming seasons.

Firstly, this makes sense geographically. The AAC is a geographic mess with teams spread from Tulane in the Southeast, Houston in Texas, and UConn stationed in the Northeast. The closest team to UConn was Temple in Philadelphia; after that, maybe East Carolina or Cincinnati? The Big East is spread out with Creighton in Nebraska and Marquette in Wisconsin, but there are a solid amount of teams within driving distance of UConn. Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall, and even Villanova are all close by, which is especially important during the grueling conference play schedule.

Also, UConn can rekindle some of their old rivalries that they just didn’t have in the AAC. UConn has a famous rivalry with Georgetown that goes back decades, and the Huskies have played loads of heated conference games versus all of the other Big East teams from before 2013. And even the new teams joining, the Huskies edging Butler in the 2011 National Championship which leaves some history there as well.

However, in the AAC there were few games that could match the intensity of UConn’s former Big East games. Important games versus Houston and Wichita State were only important because it was a matchup between two good squads. When UConn started to fade in quality, the intensity of the matchups left as well.

While the Huskies will be moving to a better conference, they need to be ready for the quality and intensity of a rough Big East schedule. Now, we’ll look at how the Huskies backcourt will look next year.