NCAA Basketball: Gonzaga, Houston lead in updated way-too-early top 25 ranking
By Joey Loose
22. Connecticut
Two straight seasons have ended in the NCAA Tournament for the Huskies, which itself marks a big step forward from where this program was just a few years ago. However, these last two seasons have also ended with upsets in the first round of the Tourney. Dan Hurley’s squad wants to make a deeper run into March, similar to some of those teams that Jim Calhoun built earlier in the century.
The Huskies lose leading scorer R. J. Cole and a talented guard in Tyrese Martin, but do figure to have a pretty talented roster again this season. They’ll add former East Carolina super scorer Tristen Newton, who led the Pirates with 17.7 points per game last year. The Huskies also will work in Nahiem Alleyne, a talented guard who was a talented shooter at Virginia Tech the last three years. Leading rebounder Adama Sanogo returns as well, giving the Huskies a massive presence down low.
Opinions will be mixed on this Huskies squad, which hopes that Newton and Alleyne can help offset some of those losses from last year’s Tourney team. Still, this program led the nation in offensive rebounding and gets Sanogo back to cause more havoc down low. The Big East is loaded with talent this season; if Hurley figures out this rotation and some of these role players stand out, then there’s reason to believe the Huskies could break through this season.