The most exciting thing about UConn this weekend … Well, I would love to say that I was most excited to see Pistol Pete making his first start on the road, but since that is not an option now, I have to think a little differently. So, now I am most excited to see how this team reacts to adversity. Last year’s team was one of the greatest I have ever seen at UVa when it came to dealing with adversity – whether it was one of the NCAA record close wins, or injuries to Cedric Peerman , Chris Cook , or Kevin Ogletree .

This Saturday night, the 2008 Hoos will have a chance to show whether or not they learned lessons from last year’s team. I hope that Clint Sintim , Vic Hall, Eugene Monroe , and John Phillips can lead the way for their teammates and help everyone seize this opportunity to develop a cohesive team that will be better prepared for the rest of the season than they might have been otherwise.

I am also very excited to see how much this veteran-laden Connecticut team tries to revenge their heartbreaking 17-16 loss at Scott Stadium last year. Were it not for two bad shotgun snaps in that game, that team may have very well finished at 10-3 instead of 9-4. I am sure the returning players remember that game and have circled it on their early season calendar. This will be the first of many teams getting a shot at getting retribution for a close loss last year, so I am interested to see how those teams approach their game with us.

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