Busting Brackets
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Big East Basketball: Ranking best homecourt advantages for 2020-21 season

By Max Marmitt

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 16: The Big East logo before the Championship game of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 16, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Porter Binks/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 16: The Big East logo before the Championship game of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 16, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Porter Binks/Getty Images) /
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STORRS, CT – DECEMBER 02: University of Connecticut Huskies (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
STORRS, CT – DECEMBER 02: University of Connecticut Huskies (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) /

10. UConn Huskies Homecourt(s): Harry A. Gammel Pavillion/XL Center

While Creighton, Butler, and Xavier were new additions to the Big East in 2014, Uconn will be returning to the Big East after a 7-year absence playing in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). While the program and fans are ecstatic to be back “home”, this is not “a happy to just be here team”. UConn will be a Big East contender immediately in the 2020-2021 season.

It’s been a little bit of an inconsistent road for Uconn with an extreme range on both ends of the totem pole. In 2014, Shabazz Napier led 7th seeded Uconn to an unbelievable NCAA Tournament Championship, beating a Julius Randle led Kentucky team in the championship to cap off a very tough road to even get there. Their only other March Madness appearance was a Round of 32 exit in 2016. UConn had a below .500 record the two seasons after that but after hiring Dan Hurley in 2018 the program quickly bounced back in the right direction and they were already supposed to qualify for March Madness this year before all of college basketball folded.

As far as their home court advantage goes, we will have to wait and see how effective their home court advantage continues to be against Big East Competition. The AAC has been consistently ranked as the 7th best college basketball conference by Kenpom, but the difference between the AAC and the Big East is drastic. The AAC isn’t a bad conference by any means, but the Big East is a different animal.

UConn has gone 86-30 at home in their past seven seasons, including three seasons with at least 14 home wins. UConn is one of multiple Big East teams that has an intimate, yet intimidating atmosphere in a rowdy pavilion. With a capacity of 10,167, it’s still a much higher capacity than most college basketball stadiums, which is a bad mix for opposing teams. Ranking 52nd in the nation in average attendance during 2019 (no data is available for 2020 yet), Uconn has a passionate fanbase that will be even more present in their Big East return. UConn should have one of the better home-court advantages if fans are allowed to attend as early as this year.

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