UConn men’s basketball starts its 2025-26 season Monday night at Gampel Pavilion, as the Huskies take on New Haven in the Chargers’ first-ever Division I game. With the season about to begin, The UConn Blog staff has assembled an impressive array of content with another exciting season on the horizon. If you don’t already, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to stay up-to-date all season long.
As is tradition at the blog, our preseason roundtable features our best guesses, hottest takes and overall thoughts on what to expect for the upcoming year. It’s also usually a pretty funny piece to return to when the season is really humming along. For part two, our staff shares some of their favorite games on the schedule this season and try to predict how the Huskies will fare come March. If you have takes of your own, be sure to share them in the comments!
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Favorite matchup of the season
Zach Carter: Kansas intrigues for two reasons. Darryn Peterson is the obvious first, with the freshman phenom already fielding an expectation to be the No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA Draft. The second reason is due to the venue. UConn won’t have to leave the East Coast much this season, with its trip to Allen Fieldhouse a rare exception. The Huskies have never won there before and will face an always-prepared Bill Self squad.
Patrick Martin: Illinois. With MTE’s now a Hurley bugaboo, this is UConn fans’ Feast Week. The two teams are inextricably linked in college basketball lore for that Boston massacre back in 2024. Brad Underwood has a bunch of talented Balkan ballers ready for revenge on Black Friday. Do they have bears in Croatia? The versatile and skilled 7-foot Ivisic twins will be a great test for Tarris Reed. Peja’s kid Andrej is your favorite hooper’s favorite hooper. Both teams have tough matchups to get through before this showdown and will have the wrinkles ironed out. There’s something about afternoon games, too, that dial up the vibes, and there’s no stupid college football to get in the way. Wake up, work out all the turkey, and hit the couch by noon. Elite Friday.
Dan Madigan: The BYU game is a modern day college basketball pipe dream come to life. It’s understandably being billed as an AJ Dybansta homecoming game, but Alex Karaban’s hometown is awfully close to TD Garden as well, and I am sure Hurley has put that thought in Karaban’s head plenty of times as a chip on the senior’s shoulder. I expect an excellent turnout in Boston from the UConn faithful and a quality game between these two teams.
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It’s also the first barometer for this team after three cupcakes to get the season. We will find out really quickly whether the Huskies are ready for an upcoming gauntlet of non-conference games or not based on how they handle BYU in Boston.
Best UConn win
Carter: The Huskies will go into Storrs South and avenge their NCAA tournament exit last year against Florida. Maybe it’s too good to be true, or maybe it was Dan Hurley’s plan all along.
Martin: The Dec. 2 tilt against Kansas is right around the end of Mullins’ six-week ankle injury timetable. That’s one more weapon at Hurley’s disposal heading into Allen. I saw Kansas take Louisville apart in an exhibition. While Daryn Peterson looks the part as a future no. 1 pick, I have questions about other areas of the roster as it pertains to the matchup vs. the Huskies. UConn probably drops a game prior to this, but rights the ship with a historic win at Kansas.
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Madigan: If everything plays out as expected, Feb. 6 versus St. John’s at Madison Square Garden feels like the game of the year in the Big East. Anecdotally, I feel like UConn is usually able to get the job done versus the Johnnies at MSG, but not always at home. I feel like this will be the case again this season, as Rick Pitino’s teams usually peak later in the season.
Trap game/toughest game of the season
Carter: Seton Hall could trap an unsuspecting UConn team in the second-to-last game of the season, mainly because I see the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament coming down to that final week. Maybe it’s the bad taste left in my mouth from UConn’s loss to the Pirates last year, but even if (when) Seton Hall is way out of contention at that point, they will surely be motivated to have a hand in where the chips fall come March.
Madigan: This feels a little bit like cheating, but the Jan. 31 matchup at Creighton feels daunting. It took a legendary performance from Liam McNeeley to lift UConn over the Bluejays in Omaha last season, and while Steven Ashworth and Ryan Kalkbrenner are gone, Creighton is a legit darkhorse in the Big East this season. With three presumed snoozers in a row against Georgetown, Villanova and a home game against Providence, I could see UConn waltzing into a rowdy CHI Center in Omaha and getting punched in the face early.
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Big East finish/pick Big East Champion
Carter: St. John’s is an incredible team that is only building on its momentum from last year’s Big East crown. UConn’s non-conference is so brutal that the Huskies might not have the juice late in the conference slate to steal two wins from the Red Storm. St. John’s finishes first, but UConn will best them in the conference tournament and reclaim its throne.
Martin: I’m flipping Zach’s prediction. The point guard buzz around St. John’s is hard to ignore. While maybe more talented than last year’s, the fightin’ Pitinos may be inconsistent as they figure out who’s running the show, and that means some games dropped here and there. UConn has the depth to bring home the regular season crown, but falls in a heartbreaker to the Red Storm
in the Big East tournament. Pitino says something slick that takes the rivalry to a new level. Colben Landrew stuffs St. John’s in a locker next season.
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Madigan: St. John’s will be a very good team this season. The frontcourt of a healthy Bryce Hopkins and Zuby Ejiofor might be the best in the country. But I think the Red Storm will need a lot of time to really jell — even in this era of constant turnover, the Johnnies have a lot of new faces. I think UConn’s culture and continuity lets them do just enough to split with St. John’s in the regular season and win the regular season title, but the Red Storm take the tournament championship. Don’t sleep on Creighton though. I think they will give both UConn and St. John’s a serious run for their money in conference play.
Postseason Fate
Carter: I can’t say whether UConn will win the national championship, because who can? I will say this team is deep, disciplined, and motivated. But then again, so are Purdue, Florida, Houston, etc. I don’t see UConn grabbing a one seed in the tournament, which means they’ll have to play a top team, barring an upset, if they even want to get to Lucas Oil. The Huskies will make the Elite Eight, but that’s as far as they go. Give me Purdue, Florida, BYU, and Michigan going to Indiana, with Florida running it back.
Martin: Indy baby. As a Cincinnati resident, it was a treat to watch this team get put together knowing they had a crack at the Final 4 down the road. It won’t be a carbon copy of 2023 or 2024 though; maybe some more early struggles and a different dynamic (deeper, see my Houston point above). But there’s just not enough weaknesses around this roster, and more importantly, too many flawed teams out there. The Huskies make their third Final Four in four years, joining Kentucky, Arkansas, and Houston for a storyline-laden time at St. Elmo’s.
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Madigan: The hype around this team feels legit. With the three-peat buzz in the rear-view mirror, it feels like fans and pundits alike are more focused on the team taking in the floor instead of what previous UConn teams accomplished. I always say anything after the second weekend is absolute gravy, and I stand by that. These are college kids! Who knows what they can and will do. I think anything less than a Sweet 16 trip, assuming everyone stays healthy, would be a bummer. This team has the talent to get to the Final Four in Indianapolis, and if the path works out, can certainly get there and transform the legacy of Karaban and Hurley.
