March 19, 1998.
East Reigonal Semifinal.
Connecticut vs. Washington.
Greensboro, North Carolina

The winner to play Vince Carter and the UNC Tar Heels for a spot in the Final Four.

UConn trailed by one point with 15 seconds to play. A clearout was run Khalid El-Amin. He drove to the rim and passed to a shocked Jake Voskhul, who was bumped as his jumper went in and out.

There was a mad scramble as the final 10 seconds ticked away. Richard Hamilton even missed a short jumper. But he got a shot at redemption with 2 seconds left.

The ball fell into his hands just inside the foul line. After using a head fake, the man who never hit a buzzer-beater in his incredible basketball career, who was playing with the pressure of 4 personal fouls, launched a fadeaway.

It landed in the basket, and the UConn bench exploded onto the court, mobbing Hamilton. The victory didn't lead to a 1998 Final Four, but the pressure basket helped Hamilton lead the Huskies down the stretch to the 1999 National Championship win over Duke.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Now, almost 8 years to the day- has it really been that long, Husky fans?!?!?!- the schools will once again meet in the NCAA tournament. Same round, but an entirely different perspective.

UConn has won 2 national championships since that day. Jim Calhoun was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Washington, meanwhile, was a #1 seed last year, and knocked off last year's national finalist in Illinois to get to DC.

The (other) Huskies are led by All-American sensation Brandon Roy, a phenominal wing who can penetrate to the rim off the dribble and fill the scoring ledger. They may not be matched up defensively, but Rudy Gay vs. Brandon Roy are both wings and they may go shot-for-shot for an amazing stretch on Friday night.

The problem? That's what Washington wants. Make UConn into a one-man show. UConn has too many weapons for almost anyone, and they need to use them all. Rudy was a forgotton man in the struggle vs. Albany, but he had a great game versus Kentucky.

Philadelphia Subreigonal MVP Marcus Williams (if there was such an award, not only would he win it, but they'd name it after him) needs to keep giving Rudy AND the UConn post players the ball in positions to best exploit their big size advantage over UDub.

WHEN YOU NEED TO KNOW IT:

Game-#1 UConn vs. #5 Washington
When- Friday, approximatley 9:57 EST tip-off
Where-Verizon Center, Washington, DC
On- CBS (TV) and WHUS.org (radio)

"Dear Men's Basketball Student Season Ticket Holder:

Due to the severe cold weather conditions predicted and in the interest
of public safety, students will not be permitted to line up for the
men's basketball game against Villanova prior to Sunday morning at 6:00
am. Thank you for your understanding and we look forward to seeing you
on Sunday.

Rocky J. Silvestri
Assistant Director of Marketing"

More photos are available by clicking below!

They have been there since yesterday. Yesterday morning. The game is Sunday afternoon.

The buzz around campus for this game is unlike anything I've ever seen. Kids are offering near $100 to buy student section tickets. The amount of tents in line added to the time before the game makes the anticipation at record levels.

It's the rematch.
It's a chance for revenge.
It's for a shot at the Big East Regular Season Championship.

It's sunday afternoon at 2 PM on WHUS-FM and CBS television. Keep your eyes on the UCONN SLOG for pictures of the tent line tomorrow afternoon.

Last week, the UConn Men's Basketball Team had to go on the road for 2 huge battles. They walked out of the Carrier Dome and Freedom Hall with double-digit victories.

On Monday, they walked to class ranked #1 in the nation.

Freedom Hall is a great road venue on top of many in the Big East- the Carrier Dome, Gampel Pavillion, the RAC. Louder than them all. Amazing place.

And let's not forget earlier in the week, when the Huskies flattened the Syracuse Orange, 88-80, led by 16 blocks. That was the 2nd most in a conference game in Big East history.

UConn takes the #1 ranking for the first time this season, and will put it on the line at Gampel Pavillion on Wednesday night against St. John's. Tipoff is at 7:30 on 91.7 FM WHUS (free online at www.whus.org).

Here's what you need to know:

Boeheim vs. Calhoun. Hall-of-famer vs. hall-of-famer. 717 wins vs. 718 wins. And that's just the coaches!!!!

Rudy Gay, Hilton Armstrong, and Marcus Williams look to erase the memories of their last road trip. A disasterous 94-79 loss to Marquette in Milwaukee. That was Williams' first game back from a semester suspension involving the sale of stolen laptops. The jeers will never be more numerous or louder for him to deal with than on Monday night, where a crowd of between 25 and 30 thousand are expected to pack the Loud House. Jim Calhoun is 21-21 all time versus the Cuse, who beat UConn in the Big East Tournament last season.

Williams will need to be just as effective cutting up the vaunted Orange zone on Monday night as he was last year, when the Huskies won at the Carrier Dome 74-66.

Saturday night: #4 UConn @ #11 Louisville
Where: Freedom Hall, Louisville, KY
When: 9 PM
Radio: 91.7 FM and free online at http://www.whus.org

The jeering won't get any easier for Williams when the Huskies travel to Freedom Hall for College Gameday's season debut. It will be the second all-time meeting between UConn and Lousiville, with the Huskies winning the only other meeting. Now they are conference foes. Jim Calhoun (then at Northeastern) and Rick Pitino (then at BU) had a fierce rivalry in the 80's, when both of them were up-and-coming coaches in the city of Boston.

Louisville nearly beat Pitt on Sunday. You can bet that Freedom Hall will be rocking with a crowd of over 20,000 to cheer on the Cardinals, who appeared in the Final Four a season ago. The key will be the Huskies' ability to shut down the perimiter attack of the Cards, and neutralize Scott Padgett inside.

Will it be Rob Ambrose, currently the Quarterbacks coach? He did quite a job molding Dan Orlovsky and getting 3 QB's in 2005 to play at a respectable/good level with little time to prepare for 2 of them.

How about Terry Richardson, currently the Running Backs coach? Under his watch, Terry Caulley, Cornell Brockington, and now perhaps Lou Allen have all shown an ability to be among the best backs in the Big East despite having little national attention in high school.

Will it be somebody else? Within the staff, or from another school? A promoted I-AA coach? What's your opinion? Let us know, leave a comment below!

It's gonna be cold. Some tips:
-Wear layers.
-Bring those $2 hand warmers, and plenty of them.
-Madison Square Garden manages Rentschler FIeld- how about having more than a quarter and a half's worth of coffee and hot chocolate?

Picks inside!

LSU has endured an amazing season, with more trials and tribulations than any other team in college football history, save for the 1970 Marshall Tragedy. But they've won 2 games this year because of missed FG's by their opponents. And it's being played in the Georgia Dome- you know LSU will bring an amazing number of fans, but UGA will outflank them. Not to mention that with a healthy D.J. Shockley, and if not for a big Auburn finish in the last minute...we may be talking about UGA trying to secure a spot in Pasadena.

These are 2 of the best defensive teams in America in terms of scoring defense.

The Pick: UGA 14, LSU 10

USC vs. UCLA

I think UCLA will keep this close for 3+ quarters, they are a very good football team. I think Reggie Bush gets 300+ all-purpose yards, and that makes the difference as the Trojans stay LA champs for the 7th year in a row.

The Pick: USC 35, UCLA 21

Big XII Championship- Texas vs. Colorado

Colorado may have the best kicker in America in Mason Crosby.

The Pick: Texas 45, Colorado 9

ACC Championship- Virginia Tech vs. Florida State

Florida State is limping into this game. They've lost 3 straight. But can you see them losing 4 straight? Don't buy it based on logic? Fine...look, we have yet to see that big BCS buster result. Maybe Miami losing to Georgia Tech, but that's minimal. I've said I don't see USC losing. I don't see Texas losing. Something has to screw it up, it wouldn't be the BCS otherwise.

The Pick: FSU 17, VT 14

Army vs. Navy

They've both beaten Air Force. They will play for the Commander in Cheif's Trophy in Philadelphia. This week, Army stole it from the Navy campus. Today, they will get it for real. GO ARMY! BEAT NAVY!

The Pick: Army 24, Navy 17

Ok, it's Big East time...

West Virginia @ South Florida

USF couldn't get out of it's own way last week. Bad coaching, bad descisions by Pat Julmiste, and a UConn defense that neutralized Andre Hall. The fans are calling for the head of the OC (www.firerodsmith.com). They had to spend a week wondering if HC Jim Leavitt would be going to Kansas State. And now they have to play a really good West Virginia team. The team that needs to focus the most in the Big East hasn't been able to do it this week, so...

The Pick: WVU 34, USF 14

AND THE BIGGIE

Louisville @ Connecticut

Hoooooooo nelly they're gonna have a good one in East Hartfoooooooooord toniiiiiight. Ok, so Keith Jackson isn't calling the game (Zack Singer, Gary Arruda, Mike Guerrera- WHUS.org, 7:45 PM EST), but it has all the trimmings of a conference championship- for UConn, anyways. Win. Or. Stay. Home. UConn will be without Matt Bonislawski, but more importantly, Lousiville will be without Brian Brohm. UL is in the Gator Bowl. Nothing to play for but pride. They will have Michael Bush back, but the REAL key is somebody, ANYBODY stopping Elvis Dumervil, who has gone far too long (2 games) without a sack (20 on the year).

The Rent will be rocking. UConn's backup is more experienced than UL's, and is at home. It's senior night. On ESPN. Playing for a bowl game. Dare to be stupid...

The Pick: UConn 21, Lousiville 20, Temperature 15

Empty seats. Why is that?

UConn didn't sell out for the 2nd Round Preseason WNIT game against Indiana State. Or the game against BC. That broke a string of 70 consecutive Gampel Pavillion sellouts since 1997.

Do you have an opinion on the empty seats? Is it the corporate big-wigs not showing up to support the Huskies? Do the students hold some blame as well? Look at how empty the student section is for all but the biggest games.

Whatever your opinion is, let us hear it! You can use the comments section below, or click the link here on the Slog to contribute an article! We look forward to hearing from you!

(Image Courtesy of Google Images- It's not a picture of a Gampel Pavillion seat.)

Meanwhile, the men are hosting the 2005 Big East Men's Soccer Championships. Friday at 6 p.m., UConn takes on St. John's in a rematch of their 0-0 tie from earlier in the year. UConn/Big East Students are admitted FREE to Morrone Stadium for the men's game, which is also available live on CSTV!

The winner of UConn-St. John's will take on the winner of South Florida-Providence on Sunday at Noon for the Big East Men's Soccer Championship. All of the UConn Soccer action is also available on 91.7 FM, WHUS.

The teams were locked in a scoreless tie at halftime, after a rather uneventful first-half that saw relatively even posession for both teams, but a 2-0 shots on goal advantage for the Huskies.

In the 54th, UConn Freshman and reigning Big East Rookie of the Week O'Brian White stole the ball from WVU 45 yards from the goal. Charging straight on, he deked out 2 seperate Mountaineers before rocketing a shot past Nick Noble from 18 yards out to give UConn a 1-0 lead.

And then everything changed for White. In the 61st minute, he became tangled up with a WVU player at midfield. The referee blew the whistle, having called a foul on the Mountaineers and perhaps ready to issue a yellow card. White, angry at having been double-teamed all night long, retaliated by kicking the WVU player and was issued a red card. UConn had to play a man down for the rest of the match.

WVU unleashed a massive attack on the Huskies in the final two minutes of play. Goalkeeper Nick Noble, of all people, unleashed a desperate bicycle kick in the final minute of play that just missed the frame. UConn was able to survive and escape Morgantown with the 1-0 win.

UConn finishes up the regular season Saturday night at 7 PM versus Georgetown. You can catch the action at Morrone Stadium or online at http://www.whus.org

Plus, they were expected to dominate a young Bearcats squad playing their first-ever Big East Conference home game.

As has been the mantra of the UConn program since 2002, expect the unexpected. But, for once, it wasn't in a good way.

But adding insult to injury was UConn suffering injuries to several key players...including Hernandez. True freshman Dennis Brown, from Miami, wil start the Homecoming Game versus Rutgers on Saturday (3 p.m., WHUS.org).

Hernandez may be back in time for the game 2 weeks from tomorrow at West Virginia. Likely out for the season is kick returner Larry Taylor, who suffered a knee injury. Ernest Cole is also done with a broken arm. Linebacker Taurien Sowell is also expected to be out for an extended period of time with an ankle injury.

So, UConn attempts to go on with a freshman at QB. The last time they did so? 2001. Versus Rutgers. Uconn won 20-19.

His name was Dan Orlovsky.