Is UConn’s dominance good for women’s college basketball?

Summary

No Offseason: The Athletic Women’s Basketball Show

Episode: Is UConn’s dominance good for women’s college basketball?

Hosts: Zena Keita, Chantel Jennings, Sabreena Merchant
Date: January 30, 2026

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EPISODE OVERVIEW

This episode explores the legacy and current impact of the UConn Huskies' dominance in women's college basketball. The hosts delve into whether UConn’s sustained excellence is beneficial or detrimental to the sport’s growth, unpack historical context, competitive dynamics, and cultural repercussions. The show also touches on Caitlin Clark's new media gig, Unrivaled’s Philadelphia expansion, and wraps with a fun game on Geno Auriemma quotes.

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KEY SEGMENTS AND DISCUSSION POINTS

1. Caitlin Clark Joins NBC Sports (01:53 – 08:33)

• Main Topic: Caitlin Clark, an active generational player, joins NBC as a special contributor.
• Insight:
  • Sabreena applauds NBC for cross-promoting its women’s basketball coverage and expects Clark’s elite insight to resonate with fans.
  • Zena, drawing on her own media experience, notes the challenges of live broadcasting for athletes:

    “Being able to say something credible, valuable, and additional…in a 60-second, 30-second snippet is really, really, really hard.” — Zena (04:23)

  • Chantel highlights how younger players benefit from better access to film and media training, making them well-suited for broadcasting today.

Notable Quote

“Caitlin doesn’t do anything lightly, it seems. So, yeah, I feel like she’ll be very, very focused and interested in growing in this space.” — Zena (08:33)

2. Unrivaled Basketball Expands to Philadelphia (08:33 – 13:50)

• Main Topic: The single-site offseason league hosts games in Philly, selling out a 17,000-seat arena.
• Insight:
  • Sabreena discusses the appeal and logistical limits of moving beyond the single-site model, noting this expansion is “splashy”—likely to remain a special event rather than a norm (09:36).
  • Chantel floats ideas for other potential host cities and creative venues, e.g., “play a game on a ship...that’s the kind of thing I can see them coming up with” (13:04).

Notable Moment

“You could do this in an outdoor venue in L.A.…ahead of the LA Olympics—all within the realm of possibilities for this league, which is obviously pushing the boundaries of what women’s basketball can do.” — Chantel (12:09)

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3. The Legacy of UConn’s Dominance (15:32 – 44:39)

A. How UConn Got Here (15:32 – 18:51)

• History Recap:
  • Geno Auriemma’s arrival four decades ago.
  • Building fanbase through creative tactics (“required students to come to games”) and recruiting legends like Rebecca Lobo.
  • UConn’s success inseparable from the sport’s wider growth.
  • UConn as a “door frame” against which all teams measure themselves.

B. The Era of Rivals and Raising the Bar (18:51 – 22:28)

• Core Thesis:
  • UConn’s dominance is more compelling when there’s a clear rival (Tennessee, Stanford, Notre Dame, South Carolina).
  • Regular “Goliath vs. David” narratives elevate interest and force other programs to improve.
  • UConn’s record dominance: Six undefeated seasons out of women’s basketball’s ten, often with shocking margins of victory.

Notable Quote

“People will tune in to see Goliath fall. And if you have someone that is a capable David, you want to see what’s going to happen, how good, how close can they get…” — Zena (20:35)

C. Is UConn’s Dominance Good or Bad? (24:24 – 44:39)

Audience Engagement and Ratings (24:24 – 26:36)

• Sabreena examines TV ratings:
  • Title games involving UConn and a strong rival (e.g. Tennessee, South Carolina) tend to draw large audiences.
  • Outright dominance (no credible foe) leads to lower ratings:

    “…one of the lowest rated title games of the last 25 years was UConn-Syracuse in 2016, which you would imagine would be, like, hugely popular.” — Sabreena (24:24)

Sustained Greatness and Context (27:17 – 30:31)

• Chantel frames UConn as the “litmus test”—beating them catapults programs to prominence and drives broader cultural reference.
• She argues the most important thing is more women’s basketball on TV, as UConn’s dominance provided context when the sport had limited visibility:

  “UConn was an entry point, like, everyone knew UConn.” — Chantel (29:19)

The ‘Doorframe’ Metaphor & Downsides (30:31 – 33:27)

• Zena: UConn is the “door frame” every team compares itself to, but dominance can “squeeze out the Cinderella stories” and sometimes spoil underdog moments.

Recent Context and Shifting Roles (33:27 – 35:02)

• Chantel highlights UConn’s changing status—recently positioned as David to South Carolina’s Goliath.

Net Impact: Balancing Good and Bad (35:36 – 41:54)

• Sabreena:
  1. UConn’s setting the bar “broadly good” for the sport, shaping its very ecosystem and aspirations.
  2. But when dominance is too pronounced, it drains competitive intrigue from the season.
  • Example: UConn’s current roster is so stacked that every regular season game feels preordained.

Cultural Relevance and Prospect Watching (42:31 – 43:37)

• Zena argues UConn’s excellence helps NCAAW fans follow the stars into the WNBA, producing crossover excitement.

Looking to the Future (43:37 – 44:39)

• Chantel wonders how we’ll reflect on UConn’s era post-Auriemma:

  “How does it change when we get further from being in this moment?...maybe Sarah Strong is that kind of player, but…how do we think about this era 10, 15 years from now when Geno’s not on the sideline?” (43:56)

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4. Geno Auriemma Quotes Game (48:10 – 55:44)

• Fun Segment: Chantel introduces a game where Zena and Sabreena must guess which legendary UConn player Geno described in famous quotes.
• Highlights:
  • The hosts’ inside jokes and near-misses with their guesses show deep program knowledge and chemistry.
  • Notable Geno quote, misattributed several times:

    “[She] would have put herself out to the highest bidder every year…been a mercenary.” (Cited as about Diana Taurasi) (54:36)

• Memorable moment: The hosts propose a future round featuring Dawn Staley quotes.

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5. Upcoming Games and Closing Thoughts (56:13 – End)

• Each host highlights a can’t-miss women’s basketball game this coming weekend.
• Show ends with reminders to fill out The Athletic’s podcast survey and spread the word about the show, mentioning the cross-generational pull of UConn as the perfect conversation starter.

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NOTABLE QUOTES

• On UConn’s cultural position:

  “UConn is the door frame that a lot of folks measure themselves up to…only a few teams have actually walked through the doorframe.” — Zena (30:31)

• On the effect of dominance:

  “I think it’s broadly good for the sport over the last 40 years that UConn has created a level that other teams have needed to get to.” — Sabreena (35:36)

• On the need for credible rivals:

  “UConn’s individual dominance…only works in women’s college basketball if there is a rival too.” — Sabreena (26:36)

• On context and accessibility:

  “More women’s basketball on TV is a good thing overall. It is only in the last few years that every single game of the NCAA tournament has been available…” — Chantel (29:19)

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TIMESTAMPS FOR MAJOR SEGMENTS

• 01:53 – Caitlin Clark joins NBC: media value and athlete-to-broadcaster transition
• 08:33 – Unrivaled’s Philadelphia expansion: implications for women’s hoops
• 15:32 – UConn’s rise and “doorframe” metaphor
• 18:51 – UConn’s legendary rivals and historical context
• 24:24 – Is UConn’s dominance good or bad? TV ratings, context, Cinderella stories
• 48:10 – Geno Auriemma quotes game (plus laughs and deep cuts)

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EPISODE TAKEAWAYS

• UConn's sustained dominance irreversibly shaped women's basketball, driving excellence but posing challenges for variety and underdog narratives.
• Their legacy is most culturally resonant when balanced by worthy adversaries.
• As the landscape continues evolving—with rising stars, new leagues, and burgeoning audiences—the next era may see a more democratized field, but UConn’s “door frame” standard endures.
• Ultimately, more visibility and access, not less dominance, might be the key to continued sport-wide growth.

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Recommended for:

• Anyone curious about women’s basketball history, the “dynasty effect” in sports, or how dominant teams shape culture, business, and the game itself.
• Fans interested in WNBA, NCAA stars, and behind-the-scenes stories.

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Transcript

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[Zena Caida]

Hello everyone and welcome to no Off Season. I'm Zena Caida.

[Chantelle Jennings]

I'm Shantelle Jennings.

[Sabrina Merchant]

And I'm Sabrina Merchant.

[Zena Caida]

And today on the show we're asking the question, is dominance always a good thing? Can it get boring seeing the same team win over and over and over? Or does it actually bring more excitement and attention to the sport? We're going to take a look at UConn's reign over women's college basketball and debate how helpful it is. Or are we tired of the same thing? But first, Caitlin Clark is taking her basketball brilliance from the court to the studio. She's going to be joining NBC Sports as a special contributor for Basketball Night in America. She's one of the most influential players of her generation. She brings elite basketball IQ, competitive insight and undeniable star power to NBC's coverage, but we haven't actually seen her in front of the camera other than through interviews. Now, from what I've seen in those sideline interviews, I feel like she'll be a great contributor. But you never ever know. With Sunday night basketball launching across NBC, Peacock and Telemundo on February 1, 2026, Sabrina Chantel, what are your thoughts on NBC bringing in an active generational player like Caitlyn as a contributor?

[Sabrina Merchant]

I mean, personally, I like hearing Caitlin talk. I think she's very good with media. You know, she has to do a lot of it, admittedly, but it's been about you know, six months where we haven't heard a ton from her because she was injured. She did have her USA Basketball stint, but it's been a relatively light Caitlin period, so to speak. So I think it's nice for her to be back, you know, in front of the audience. I love when NBC does like the cross promotional stuff when they remember that yes, we, we do carry the wnba like it's, it's nice for them to acknowledge that all of these leagues are part of their program. Yeah, I just, I mean, Caitlin is obviously a fantastic basketball player and every time she talks about the game, it's interesting and selfishly it's going to be launching before a Lakers game. So I'm interested to know what she says about my favorite team.

[Zena Caida]

There you go. Okay. I like it. Chantel, you, you excited about this? You looking forward to it?

[Chantelle Jennings]

Yeah. I think anytime you can get former players, and I'm not in the camp of like, you have to have played the game to talk about the game as someone that, you know, was a decent high school basketball player and still writes about talks about the game. And I love hearing people that are much smarter than me talk about the game. But I think there's also something when you have someone who's made those passes, who's been in those huddles or who can like question coaches calls or like read body language in a way that's just different that they've been there. I really, really love that. But Xena, I'm curious what you think because you've done what she's doing and.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Like player to broadcast your transition.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Yeah, the player to broadcaster transition. Like what was the hardest part? What do you feel like you've changed the most since your first game? Like, what can we expect?

[Zena Caida]

That's a good question. One thing we can absolutely expect is way better basketball insight than anything I could provide. Okay. Caitlin Clark can be able to provide some really good in time like insight and things that she's picking up on because she played at the high level and she's playing at the high level. So I feel like that's automatically going to be a boost for Basketball Night in America from that perspective. But the only thing I am curious about is it is different to do media being, you know, sideline interviewed, being in front of a media scrum, you know, answering questions one on one, versus being on a panel, having to play off of other analysts, being able to be versatile and also being able to be succinct. You want to talk about the hardest part? I'm a yapper. Why do you think I'm in this role? Being able to say something credible, valuable, and additional. Right. Something that adds to the insight for the audience in a 60 second, 30 second snippet is really, really, really hard. And a lot of folks don't realize I've had a lot of friends that have, like, come on to shows that I've been on, and they're like, holy, there's an entire episode happening in your ear and it's like, yeah, producers are talking. There's all this sound, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, et cetera. Like, it's. There's a lot going on. And so being able to focus on that and then also say what you have to say, not feel r, not speak too quickly. All of these things are really important. And they have nothing to do with your basketball insight and your basketball knowledge. And so it's always. You can tell there are some folks that like, have it. They have the pizzazz, they have the energy for it. And then there's some folks that just, like, you clearly just know basketball. But we appreciate you being here. So I'm very curious as to what camp she's gonna fall into, knowing that she's been pretty animated, I would say, and, like, lively in general. I feel like she's gonna be great. And also, this generation is way better trained than any of us were. So that's for certain.

[Sabrina Merchant]

I mean, you look at the other people on the Indiana Fever who have stepped into this space, right. Aaliyah Boston does work for NBC, like, on Big Ten stuff. I think she's been very good in the studio.

[Zena Caida]

Absolutely.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Stephanie White, obviously been at this a lot longer, but I think one of the better broadcasters. So if there are people that, you know, Caitlin needs to go to for advice and just a little bit of tips on how this works, I think she has a lot of in her immediate corner. And then I love the fact that she's commenting on the NBA because she's not going to have to hold back at all. Right. Like, it's not like you have to be diplomatic about players who you might see in a couple months on the court, like, she can just go at it and say exactly what she's thinking. And I hope that that, you know, leads itself to a more interesting conversation 1000%.

[Zena Caida]

And it can bring eyes right to the WNBA. When the time comes, people are going to be like, whoa, I like her insight. I like how she looks at the game, how she plays the game, and hopefully, Chantel, it'll translate to folks being interested in what she has to say and what she has to do out on the court.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Well, and I think just this generation, like Sabrina mentioned, Aaliyah Boston doing work, Caitlyn doing work. This group, it just feels like with more access to film recently and, you know, 15 years ago, like, they didn't have iPads in everyone's locker to just constantly be watching film whenever they wanted. And so I think it's just.

[Zena Caida]

We don't even have to go back that far.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Like, you know, usually it's like, oh, you want someone to be a vet, someone who's really played in the game and, like, who's been around it for so, so long. But it's like with how much film is available and how much basketball, presumably all of these even rookies have watched at this point, it's like it doesn't have to be the system they've played in, either now or in college or whatever to comment on. It's just their mind and how much film they've watched and consumed. And, you know, because as we know from talking to a lot of college players, not all of them watch the W growing up. A lot of them do watch the NBA growing up. And so commenting on that, too, It's. I'm really excited to see how it goes and sort of how they. Everyone plays off one another. And like you said, just from game one to game three to game five, it's like, even as a player, even as a commentator, like, how they grow, how they change the approach. I'm sure she'll take it seriously. I feel like there was that clip of her and Lexi hall where she was, like, commenting on baseball or something. And like, she even took that seriously.

[Zena Caida]

Exactly. Just walking. Like they were walking somewhere from, like, smoothies or something. I don't even remember, but it was like, it was very casual and she was taking it very seriously. That's one thing. You're right. I think you're about to say this, but Caitlin doesn't do anything lightly, it seems. So, yeah, I feel like she'll be very, very focused and very interested in growing in this space. And then speaking of Growing Philadelphia, get ready. Unrivaled is about to grow into your area. They are officially in the building. Xfinity Mobile arena will be hosting back to back matchups tonight with the Breeze taking on the Phantom tipping off at 7pm Eastern, followed by the Rose facing the lunar owls at 8:45. Sabrina, this is a big statement, in my opinion, for Unrivaled to be in Philadelphia when we know there will soon be a WNBA team there. There's already clamoring for just having that women's basketball presence there. How big of a statement is it to you? What does it tell you about where this league is headed that they're already, quote, unquote, expanding? I want to say, quote, unquote, they are expanding.

[Sabrina Merchant]

They did add two new teams. They added a lot of players. There you are. You know, when we think about Unrivaled, we've talked about how it's changed from year one to year two, like what the future of Unrivaled looks like. I think part of the appeal of Unrivaled is that it is a single site that players don't have to travel during the offseason, that everything is taken care of under this one hub. But there are limitations to being there, right? Like they only have an arena that seats about a thousand people. They're playing in the Philadelphia 76ers arena that seats 17,000 people and they've sold out this night. So there clearly is a demand for people to want to watch Unrivaled. But how do you balance what Unrivaled is trying to accomplish with growing the game and taking it on tour and making players travel and adding wear to the part of the season when they're supposed to be nominally taking it easy. So I think it's great that they've added this stop that there has been so much interest in people wanting to see the product. I think it's going to be a great atmosphere in Philly. I'm interested to see what it looks like. The smaller court in an NBA arena should be noted that Unrivaled announced this before the WMA announced their Philadelphia expansion team. So the market has been there. But I also wonder just what it means for, for the league broadly, because I can't imagine that it's super helpful to have like four or five of these stops every season because it adds a lot of operational costs and, you know, just travel wear and such. So I think it's good that this one is happening. But I, I would imagine this is probably going to be a relatively infrequent thing, like once a season. Unless they, you know, significantly want to change the model of what this league is.

[Zena Caida]

Yeah, it feels like it is a splashy event, but not necessarily something that should become a part of their operating system, like just normally. Chantel, if there were other cities in future years that unrivaled would go to Any come to mind for you? And I'm thinking there is an opportunity from a college basketball perspective going to cities that already have big college spaces or big college names, but don't necessarily have the professional presence.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Yeah, I mean, I think Sabrina mentioned it, but selling out an arena with 17,000 people like that, I think playing the unrivaled game, which, you know, is the full court, three on three, in front of a new audience, bringing people in, making them television viewers, that's probably a part of it. But also just for the players, like the opportunity to play this game in front of 17,000 people, like, I would bet that they will say the one flight there and the flight back is going to be worth it. It's not exactly like a WNBA travel schedule that they've got going on. It's like, you know, just around trip flight. So, you know, I'm biased. They should come to Minneapolis. But who. Who wants to come to Minneapolis in January? Probably no one who's spending their winters in Miami.

[Zena Caida]

But I don't.

[Chantelle Jennings]

I don't think Philadelphia is super warm right now either. But I could see South Carolina being an obvious stop. Maybe they use that as a way to convince Asia Wilson to play. Like, hey, we're going to be playing in Columbia. Like, come back to Colonial Life Arena. Like, this will be really fun. Everyone can see you play again. Or maybe, you know, she can even like jump in for a game. I don't know. I'm just throwing out ideas here. I think, though, they want to probably keep it in warmer locations. I think LA would be really, really fun. I think, you know, Nafisa and Stewie have been really smart about everything they've done with this. So going to Philly a women's sports, you know, bringing women's sports to that sports craze city made a lot of sense, but I could also see them getting creative with it. Like, could you do this in an outdoor venue in la? Like, could you, you know, ahead of the LA Olympics, like, all of those sort of things I' are within the realm of possibilities for this league, which is obviously pushing the boundaries of what women's basketball can do.

[Zena Caida]

Yeah, what they're doing from a marketing perspective, like I. I imagine unrivaled doing something crazy like playing their game on a ship right on the bay, you know, somewhere. Right. Like, that's the kind of thing that I can see them coming up with and then also finding like the right partner to be able to sponsor that court. And it's just like this crazy drone view of like an unrivaled court in the ocean. And that's happening.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Those college basketball games on the aircraft carriers are very good. Visuals, like the pictures from those games are always outstanding.

[Zena Caida]

Right. That's immediately what comes to mind. There was that Michigan State Unc, maybe unc. It was unc, yes. Oh, that game is unbelievable. So beautiful. Of aerial shots, like. But then also from the ground looking up. These men look like giants.

[Sabrina Merchant]

They look enormous.

[Zena Caida]

Yeah, they look just huge. Yeah, that would be so fire Unrivaled. Call me. We got ideas. We'll work together. Okay. Up next, we're going to dive into the legacy of dominance on the basketball court. Not aircraft carriers, but on the court by UConn. Don't go anywhere.

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[Zena Caida]

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[Chantelle Jennings]

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[Zena Caida]

So when you talk about women's college basketball, one name always comes up. UConn. For decades, the Huskies have set the gold standard, winning national championships, racking up win streaks and Producing some of the best players the game has ever seen. From Gene a legendary coaching to stars like Diane Taurasi, Brianna Stewart, Paige Beckers. Don't know if you've heard of them. UConn hasn't just won, they have dominated. Watching UConn play isn't just seeing a team win. It's witnessing excellence on display year after year after year. So, Chantel, before we dive into whether UConn's dominance has been good or not so great for women's basketball, can you give our listeners who may not be familiar a quick overview of how that dominance came to be?

[Chantelle Jennings]

Yeah. Gino Auriemma took over the UConn program nearly four decades ago. And it was, you know, when he was on campus to, you know, figure out if he was going to take the job or not, he didn't even see the basketball arena. And then kind of after he was offered the job was like, oh, yeah, didn't see that. Early years, he and Chris Daly literally taught a gym class in which they required students to come to the games to sort of build this fan base. Rebecca Lobo was his first All American he recruited, and I think she's often sort of cited as such a huge turning point for the program and helped them win their first national title. Now they have so many others, but I think you look back at it, and I think there's a lot of pieces of this program's journey that mirrors the growth of women's basketball. But it's also, you know, it feeds each other, right? Like the way that UConn has grown and how we think about the last 40 years of women's basketball? Like, you can't untangle those two things. Like, is women's basketball where it is right now? Without the last 40 years of UConn and Geno and Ceedee and all of these amazing players who are now littered across the WNBA and, you know, alums of the W and European basketball that, you know, we just think of when we think of women's basketball.

[Zena Caida]

It's so true that when you think of a superpower, whether you're thinking about it from the world access perspective or you're thinking about it, women's college basketball, when there is a Goliath, people will tool up to figure out a way to take them down, and it will impact the playing field, it will produce more stars, produce better teams, produce better investment, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And so I like the way you put that. If not for UConn's last 40 years would we have the other superstars, the other super teams that have been created to in their wake? I feel like I'm already getting into it, Sabrina, about if it's good or bad. So let me just back up a little bit once more. When we're thinking about from Lobo to Taurasi to Stewie to Beckers and now Sarah Strong. I know that Becker's era just was like right there, but still I'm going ahead and passing it off. What would we say about the field of play from back then and the competition? Because the way that we look at these eras of UConn, it feels like there was always a foe that they were going up against.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Yeah, I think that's exactly right. And I feel like we should include from Tarazi to Maya Moore to Stewie.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Yeah, I was gonna say, how are we this far in. We haven't talked about Maya.

[Zena Caida]

Yeah, that's true.

[Sabrina Merchant]

My favorite player to ever watch. But yeah.

[Zena Caida]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Sabrina Merchant]

No, I think that's so right. It's not just that UConn has been this perennial superpower. It's that they've always had some sort of rival that's really brought the interest in that you want to see their competition between one another. They elevate the play for both programs. Like you think about UConn in Tennessee was so instrumental to the early growth of women's basketball. And I say early as if it didn't start many, many years ago. But like within the 90s, I think UConn in Tennessee and then the early 2000s, that was a huge part of it. They met in the national championship game multiple times and Pat Summitt and Shino Orima were the biggest faces in the sport. And then you think about UConn and Stanford, right? Stanford's the one that ends UConn's 90 plus game winning streak when they had the back to back titles and they didn't end up winning a national championship there, but they had the multiple clashes in the tournament. Then you have UConn versus Notre Dame and Gino versus Muffett McGraw and all of these coaches who sort of have their head to head with Geno, but then the programs also have their head to head with one another. And now we're in the UConn versus South Carolina era, I think. And all of these different foes make UConn more interesting because it's not just UConn reigning over everyone, it's. Oh, there's actually like a challenger has entered, you know, the field of battle and they're trying to make this more difficult, and I think that's a big part of it. It's not just that UConn can, like, exist independently as the lone superpower. It's that someone is always building up to meet them at that level. And that, to me, is what makes things really interesting, is you have a credible rival that, you know, challenges that dominance. Right?

[Zena Caida]

Yeah. It brings eyeballs. People will tune in to see Goliath fall. And if you have someone that is a capable David, you want to see what's going to happen, how good, how close can they get even? It's always going to be interesting to watch something like that. It also is important to note just the dominance that we're talking about. Right. Like in those. The 90s, won two titles, but reached the semifinals three times outside of those titles. Right. Like, that's. That was where it really started. You're talking about Rebecca Lobo. And on that note, just thinking about Rebecca Lobo being the face of that UConn growth and then being the face of, like, the WNBA's growth is a wild thing. I don't know.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Is there anyone's a seminal figure in women's basketball history, just how long she's been associated with it?

[Zena Caida]

Yeah, it's absolutely crazy, but There have been 10 undefeated teams in women's college basketball history, and six of them. Six of them were UConn teams. So let's go back to our original question, and I'm gonna set up some context here before we ask officially, this year, this team who is still undefeated, they're at 21 0, 220 after beating.

[Sabrina Merchant]

A savior the other night.

[Zena Caida]

That's right. Thank you. They are 22 0. They are averaging the most points per game in this season since their 1999, 2000 season. Okay. Which is. They're right around 89.9 at the time that I'm recording this. In that year, the 99, 2000 season, they won a title, and they went 36 1. That one loss came at the hands of Stanford earlier in the year. At 51 points allowed by their opponent. That is the lowest allowed since the 20152016 season, which was their last undefeated season, where they went 380 and won.

[Sabrina Merchant]

A title, their fourth in a row. We should mention their fourth in a row.

[Zena Caida]

Thank you. Very important.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Stewie's four for four and Morgan Tuck.

[Zena Caida]

And exactly. That 38.9 point differential is also. It's the highest differential that they've had since the 20152016 season. Now it's not the highest point differential margin of this year. LSU is ahead of them. But when you look at all the years of women's basketball in terms of when this point differential started being tracked, stating back to 2009, UConn holds four of the top five point margins in that time period, and they hold seven of the top eight. I say that to say they are just beating teams, y'. All. They're whooping tails like they are putting belt to butt. Okay?

[Sabrina Merchant]

And they have been doing it.

[Zena Caida]

It's not the expression, but I think kids are listening. I want to be respectful and mindful to. The children might be listening on their way to school. Okay? Y' all know what the saying is. Y' all know what the saying is. So in the top three point margins, LSU is number one right now. Number two is UConn. But back in 2014, 15, and then they're number three. This is since 2009. Okay? Just to contextualize what this team is doing, they have the highest points per game, highest field goal percentage, highest assists per game, and the highest offensive rating since that 2015, 2016 year. They're different. They're very, very good. And they're. I feel like they're different than previous UConn teams. But the question is, is UConn's dominance good or not so good for women's basketball? Sabrina, I'm gonna start with you.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Right?

[Sabrina Merchant]

So I was starting to look at just some TV ratings for national title games to see, like, how people tune in for these big games this last three years. When the title game moved to network television on ABC versus cable television on espn, the highest number actually came in a Yukon Oklahoma game during supers last season in college. That was their title game. And then the second highest one is yukon Tennessee from 2004, which would been Diana Tarazi's last game. So when there are credible rivals for UConn, which I never thought I'd put Oklahoma in that discussion, but there they are. Even UConn, South Carolina was a pretty high, highly rated south title game in 2022. People tune in for those. It's when you mentioned Those ridiculously dominant UConn teams, like the 2015-16 team, the 201415 team, part of that four year run of national titles that the interest dips a little bit. Like one of the lowest rated title games of the last 25 years was UConn Syracuse in 2016, which you would imagine would be, like, hugely popular. This completed the 4p. Right? Something that's probably never going to be accomplished Again. And yet it's the third lowest rated title game of this century. So I think that there are levels to this, right? Like, people want to see UConn be good, because dominance, I think, really plays. Right? We've talked about this in other sports. Like, I think the Aces being good for the wnba. Like, having a dynasty obviously brings in people. I think, you know, the Kansas City Chiefs having a mini dynasty in the NFL brings in people. Or, you know, in the NBA, right? Like the Golden State warriors. Having dynasty brought in a huge generation of fans there. I think that only works in women's college basketball if there is a rival, too. Like, people don't want to watch UConn beat up on a random team. They want to see something historical at play. They want to see like, a UConn Notre Dame or a UConn Tennessee or, like. Like, South Carolina. Right? Those big names. So it's not that UConn's individual dominance, I think, is good or bad. It's like, is somebody meeting the challenge of UConn in that particular season. Because we know that there's that constant with UConn. It's just who is gonna pop up to actually make things interesting in that particular year.

[Zena Caida]

I agree. And, Chantel, I really do feel like if there's not a credible foe, you're now looking at it as, oh, I already know who's gonna win. I don't wanna tune in, and I don't need to tune in. And as much as we love watching Maya Moore and Stewie and Paige Beckers and these stars that we've seen over the years, is that enough for it to be a good thing that they are so dominant that that is the product, not necessarily someone challenging them, but them just being excellent. What are your thoughts? Good or not so good?

[Chantelle Jennings]

I'm thinking back to a press conference that Diana Taurasi had in Paris before the 2024 Summer Games. And someone asked her about her age, and she said, you know, only is this much experience considered a bad thing. Like, only in women's sports would me being, you know, 40 and being in my sixth Olympics be somehow a detriment to Team USA. We had a meeting. We knew we were going to talk about this. I've been thinking about this the last few days, and I also think that this is. This is like, the perpetual conversation in women's basketball, because UConn has been the standard for so long and so much of other teams, you know, they arrive once they beat UConn, sort of a thing. Like, they are Sort of the litmus test to a lot of other teams. And I'm not saying 100% of the time, but a lot of the times it's like, oh, this team has. Have they replaced, you know, UConn in that way? And, you know, I think of it more broadly. Like, what we're talking about is sustained greatness over several decades with several different teams playing through several eras of college basketball. And I think, you know, is it good or bad? It's definitely the eye of the beholder, but, like, you've got to respect it. And so much of UConn, what they do is. Is providing the context, right, of, oh, you know, this team or that team or whatever. Like, I don't know, I just think of, you know, when people find out that I write about women's basketball and they have questions for me, at some point, they'll be like, oh, is this team better than UConn? And it's like, they might have not have watched a game, you know, is. Is South Carolina going to beat UConn this year? Because South Carolina has become that other team that has been the recent foe for UConn. And it's like, you know, that becomes the conversation, that becomes the context. And I just think, like, you know, all of this, the tldr of my argument, and it's actually ironic that I'm wearing my put women's sports on TV shirt today.

[Zena Caida]

Like, there you go.

[Chantelle Jennings]

I'm like, are they good or bad for, you know, is their greatness good or bad? It can be up to whomever. We just need more women's basketball accessible on tv. Like, that's the long and short of it. I think even in the years where you had utter, utter dominance, the 111 game win streak, if more of those games were on tv, that would have been a good thing overall. More women's basketball on TV is a good thing overall. It is only in the last few years that every single game of the NCAA tournament has been available across the country for everyone to see. And so it's like, you know, at a time when women's basketball, you think 10 years ago, 15 years ago, when it wasn't as accessible as it is now. And I'm still saying there's a ways to go here, right? But UConn was a sort of entry point, like, everyone knew UConn. And I think it's also that legacy and that dominance and that Goliathness of this team. It's also something that other sports like talk about, you know, whether you can go to a US Women's national team game. You can go to the Lakers. You can go to whomever, and you can say, you know, like, uconn level dominance, and people know exactly what you're talking about. And I think that's. That's important for women's basketball.

[Zena Caida]

Growing up, did you all ever get your. Your height measured on the door frame?

[Sabrina Merchant]

Oh, I didn't live anywhere long enough for that to happen, but, yeah, I know what you're talking about. Yeah.

[Chantelle Jennings]

I was never very tall, Xena. I was always very short. So this was not something I.

[Zena Caida]

Short person.

[Chantelle Jennings]

I don't think we even talked about this on the pod. I had a big growth spurt in seventh grade, but until then, I was 4 foot 10. So this was not. Not something I aspired to do. I avoided those things.

[Zena Caida]

Well, I mean, Sabrina, I was, like, very similar to you, but I always wanted it. I wanted it. I saw it in movies all the time, and I wanted to be measured up against a house beam where over the years, you could see, oh, this is where I was when I was seven. This is where I was when I was eight. And Chantel, as you were talking about how UConn is kind of the underlying thread that has been written or laid out underneath the story of women's basketball as it's come to its prominence, that's how I look at it. I feel like UConn is the door frame that a lot of folks measure themselves up to. And if we looked at a door frame that had little markers in it, it'd be. You know, certain years, Tennessee would have their markers in orange, Right? And then certain years, Baylor would be like, we're all the way up here. Like, we. We didn't even have to play you guys in the. In the final, Right? Like, there'd be so many different teams that measured themselves up against that marker. And also this metaphor of the door frame, like, you walk through that door, that's when you can come up against UConn. And only a few teams have actually walked through the doorframe. Tennessee being one of them, Stanford being another one of them, South Carolina being another one of them, and Notre Dame. Right. That have consistently posed threats. But with that all said, I feel like there's only a few not so great things that we've kind of already laid out. It's not so great to bore the audience, right? It's not so great to bore an audience with dominance. And it kind of squeezes out the Cinderella stories when you're so, so, so good. Like, you feel as if, is there a mid major that could ever like, have that Cinderella moment where they beat a UConn. I think about what was that year when Harvard beat Sanford as the 16th seed in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Like, extenuating circumstances with two of their starters out with Torny Seals.

[Zena Caida]

Fair. Yeah, fair.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Vandover would like to jump in here.

[Zena Caida]

Fair. But like, even like those moments are few and far in between when you've got such a level of dominance. I will cut myself off and say, well, this pool right now, I don't think is so far, so far removed from the conversation of UConn. Yes, this UConn team is excellent and they're so different, but I still think that there is a great pool of other teams that could be squashing the Cinderella stories. I don't think it's solely UConn like it has been in years past.

[Chantelle Jennings]

I think that's, that's kind of the point, Xena, that I was thinking about when you were talking about mid majors. Like, I think those are two separate conversations in some ways. Because it's not like, especially in the tournament, that like the mid major is always running into UConn and then UConn crushes them. It's sort of like that's more of a women's back basketball issue overall, that there still isn't enough whatever at the mid major level for those teams to make it past the Elite Eight that we, you know, we see more often those 12, five games on the men's side than we do on the women's side, which are often sort of the mid level power conferences against the top level mid major teams that are sort of more equal in whatever. And I think part of that too has been that maybe some of those men's mid major teams have different scheduling, that they have seen that kind of competition before they get to the NCAA tournament or whatever it might be. Right. There's a lot of ways to dissect that. But what I was thinking was really interesting was that we think to UConn's most recent national title and sort of the dominance that South Carolina has had over the sport in recent years and sort of how the conversation of South Carolina and Don Staley usurping that top spot and being there and that no one really thought about UConn as a contender or elite until they beat South Carolina last year on South Carolina's home court and sort of how that was just, you know, being in the arena on that day. Such an interesting sort of flip of the script of, you know, UConn had to beat South Carolina, and they were sort of in that David spot last year versus the Goliath, which is just such an interesting recent context to this conversation.

[Zena Caida]

We can't forget that before last year, it had been eight years since UConn had won a title. And the thing was, they were in the conversation. Of course, they were in semifinal appearance, like their consistent appearances in the later rounds of the NCAA tournament. That was always there. I think that was consistently pretty much there. But it is true that UConn did need to flip the script this time on South Carolina. Sabrina, I still, I want to get more into, like, I think there's good aspects of this that we haven't touched on just yet.

[Sabrina Merchant]

I think two things can be true about UConn's dominance. One, I think it's broadly good for the sport over the last 40 years that UConn has created a level that other teams have needed to get to. Right. Like UConn not being in the title picture for the last eight years. They made the final four seven of those times when they didn't win the title. Right. And how many of those Final Fours were lost by a couple possessions here or there? You know, that is the level of success that you go into UConn with, right. That, like last year they won a title and was kind of a ho hum team, and now, like, they have that burden off of their shoulders because they don't have to worry about bringing a title back to stores. Right, Right. But then I also think that any team, and this is not just related to UConn, any team that is so far above the pack, that is so dominant in any one single season, kind of takes the shine off of the rest of the year. Right. Like you mentioned all of those numbers about UConn's individual dominance and like their. Their net rating is better than all of the recent UConn teams other than 15, 16 and 14 15. And I, you know, talked about those numbers briefly. Like, those are two of the five lowest rated title games of this century. So I think as a whole, like, UConn deserves so much credit for building women's basketball to where it is now. And yet they also kind of deserve some blame for taking a bit of the air out of this season because they've been so fricking good. And like, Sarah Strong is, you know, you look at her advanced stat numbers and they're on par with, like, Stewie in her last season and Maya Morin her best season. And that's before you get to the fact that they also have another player on their team who might be the number one pick in the WNBA draft this year. And then we have an talked about Blanca Quinones or Ali Ziebal who just set a UConn program record with ten three pointers the other day. Like this roster is obscenely loaded and I don't think it's their fault, you know, that they're this good or that they get to like play against Biggie's competition for the next two months and just have a grand old time until everybody, you know, comes to play in March. But I think there are competing elements here where like I don't think that this UConn team is bringing more interest into the 2025, 2026 season. Even if you think about since 1995, they have been so broadly beneficial for the sport.

[Chantelle Jennings]

I feel like though there is a ramp up period in college basketball, whether it's the men's side or the women's side. Like March Madness is when sort of the eyes of people who aren't consistent watchers tune into games. We aren't there yet, so we can't say for sure. But you don't feel like the idea of chasing a back to back since it hasn't been done in eight years by UConn the last time. 2014, 15, 2015, 16. Like you don't think that sort of the chase of glory of the two Pete, when people see this roster on the floor, you don't think that'll bring more eyes? Like I agree, people might not be tuning in for UConn Xavier when like six UConn players are out. I don't blame you. I don't think any of us on the podcast watch that game either. Right. Like let's be honest. But I don't know, I just feel like the fact that like Yukon got back last year and now it's like oh, can they do it again? I feel like that is gonna bring eyes.

[Zena Caida]

Listen Chantel, I did my duty watching seton hall in UConn. So I did my time. Go ahead, Sabrina. Did my duty.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Yeah.

[Sabrina Merchant]

That's why I was just you know, looking at the TV numbers from before and like obviously TV is not end all be all of how these things are rated. I just, I would have expected like UConn going for a 3 peat, UConn going for a 4p to be massive television drives and they just weren't right. And the games that really drew were like oh. Cause it was Suza's game or Diana's last game and like Paige's last game obviously a massive event last year. I don't think Azbud's last game is going to be that same level. You know, maybe when Sarah Strong eventually, you know, hangs it up in stores like that'll be a big event because she is going to be on the level of the Stewies pages. Even Nafisa Collier had a fantastic Yukon career that we don't really talk about because she only won the one title with only one. The one title.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Only one.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Stewart. Yeah.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Also did you really call a team that had Az, Paige and Sarah on at ho hum?

[Sabrina Merchant]

It was kind of ho hum during the regular season. You specifically said they weren't even in the elite conversation until they beat South Carolina.

[Chantelle Jennings]

That's true. It's just funny. Like let's save that clip. Tanika and Andy, let's save that clip. Someday when they're All WNBA All Stars, we can have Sabrina.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Those are their 12 national titles. It's among the ho hum of them.

[Zena Caida]

Listen, I'm with you. We are clearly stuck between the two. And I want to go back to your point about like taking the shine away. That is more so what I mean by the Cinderella stories and I don't necessarily even mean during the tournament, I mean during the year.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Right.

[Zena Caida]

Like even just Vanderbilt getting their first loss against South Carolina the other day, we don't quite get to appreciate, I feel like we didn't. We're not going to quite appreciate what Vanderbilt just did because it's like Vanderbilt can do it. UConn sell undefeated. Right. And I just feel like they're and I'm not saying we are doing that as people that are watching this sport and reporting on it, but the average listener, average fan or average viewer might just be like, well, you're not UConn and you're not as good as UConn. And so you don't quite get the same level of shine and the same level of adulation as we would give a team that is ho hum. No, I'm joking. That is just dominant and crushing teams every time they play.

[Sabrina Merchant]

But I think that's where it does.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Hurt them that they're in the Big east though, right? Like I think it does that they don't have the stretches where it's like, oh, they have Oklahoma, Texas, South Carolina, three games in a row. Like I think if that were the case, this conversation would look very, very different. And also their win differentials would look very different.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Might be a little different.

[Zena Caida]

Right Right, exactly. So what I'm hearing, and I agree with you all, like things that are good from UConn being dominant. 1. It forces everybody to get into the lab, figure out your recruitment, figure out your facilities, figure out the resources that you have, figure out your coaching. Like it force. It levels everyone up to try to beat UConn or be at that UConn standard of dominance. And I think that that's, that's awesome. It always helps when it comes to, I think, a narrative being built into the possibility of going up against UConn and possibly taking them down. I feel like those type of games do have a little bit of more amp. More juice to them. I don't know what's going to happen this year. I feel like this year is going to. Who do we think will beat UConn this year?

[Sabrina Merchant]

I think I made a prediction in our first piece at the site this year that no one will beat UConn this year.

[Zena Caida]

Yeah, yeah. See. Okay, well, there should be a little bit of excitement that in every game, every time the ball tips. Um, yeah, but one other thing that I don't think we even. We've alluded to, but we haven't exactly said. I personally think it's great, especially in this period of time where were trying to get more fans of the college game to transition to the W. Right. Because for a long time it was. I am a fan of this college team and it would kind of break.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Off and you're only a fan of the college team and you're only a fan and all those players beat on that.

[Zena Caida]

Exactly. I do like the fact that UConn plays at such a standard of excellence and such high iq, high standard basketball and creates these stars that we are able to follow through their college career and then want to continue to follow to the WNBA level. And because their standard of excellence is that way, other teams have gotten to that level as well. And so I think it has raised the bar of basketball so much so that it's not just college basketball that you're liking. You're excited to see it continue into the wnba and you're kind of seeing a dosage, a little diluted WNBA product in these high, you know, these high standard games. Towards the end of the tournament, for example, right? Like we are watching Sarah Strong and we're not saying, oh, Sarah Strong is so good in comparison to the. Like, we are comparing her to what she might do in the W. And that's cool. Like, I think that that's really cool for viewership that Fans are already thinking about what could this person's w career look like? And UConn produces a lot of those type of conversations.

[Chantelle Jennings]

I also just wonder how this conversation changes ten years from now. Like, once Gina retires. Who knows exactly what UConn becomes at that point? And, you know, like, hindsight is 5050 or what is it? Hindsight's 20, 20, 20.

[Zena Caida]

Oh, that's some good eyesight, girl. I don't know.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Maybe it's exactly the same as 2020, I'll tell you. Yeah.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Yep. But, like, you know, so that's right. How does it change when we get further from, like, being in this moment? And so, like, how will people reflect on it differently when, like Sabrina said, I don't think we're gonna see a team go four for four? I mean, honestly, maybe Sarah Strong can. Maybe she is that generational that she can lift her again. There's a lot of really good players around her, but maybe Sarah Strong is that kind of a player. But, yeah, how do we think about this era and these national championships and these players differently? 10, 15 years from now when Geno's not on the sideline anymore? I assume he's going to retire by then. Who knows?

[Zena Caida]

Yeah, I assume that too. But that all just makes me think of Geno looking at the door frame and just tapping it twice. Being very happy with all the markers that he's been able to accumulate for himself, but also what the sport has done as well in his wake. This is going to be a very interesting season to see who can actually challenge the dominance of UConn. And also, in the midst of all these eyeballs on women's basketball, how will our fans react to this? Okay, guys, let us know. Let us know in our comments. One, who do you think will beat UConn this year? Will it come during the regular season? Will it come during the tournament? And two, what will happen in 10 years time? What will the dominance look like at that point? I want to hear what you guys think. If this is good, not so good. And what will it look like in the future? All right, let's close this show out.

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[Sabrina Merchant]

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[Zena Caida]

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[Zena Caida]

All right, before we go, Chantel, you've got a fun game lined up for Sabrina and I and I think it's in perfect theme with our episode so far. Take it away.

[Chantelle Jennings]

All right, so UConn has the most national championships of all time. But also if we think of the person who has the most quotable quotes of all time, I think Gino A also falls within at least the top three and that might be a little conservative when it comes to women's basketball. And so I so I wanted to play a game where I will give you a quote that Geno has said about one of his players and I did not have to go for like, deep cuts here. So these are all players that anyone listening that has even played cursory attention to UConn women's basketball will know. But you guys have to guess which player he was saying this about. So let's start with one. This is talking about a player. And Geno said she has a way of coming into my office that I know she's only there for one reason. She wants me to tell her how great she is. I'm not kidding. He said the conversations go like this. He says, what's up? This person says, nothing. Just stopping in. Are you doing all right? Yeah, I'm good. He asks, did you learn anything today? She says, yep, we did. And he says, you know, when you play like you're capable of playing, you're the best player in the country. Right. And when you don't pay attention, you stink. Who did Gina or say this about?

[Sabrina Merchant]

This feels very Diana y, too. That's the problem. All the Diana Paige stuff.

[Zena Caida]

Yeah. They're so similar. Oh, that's a good point.

[Sabrina Merchant]

We can go, Paige. Yeah.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Oh, are you guys gonna go for consensus?

[Zena Caida]

Well, I guess.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Yeah, I'll go.

[Zena Caida]

You pick. I'll go, Paige.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Yeah.

[Chantelle Jennings]

All right. It's Maya Moore. Oh, you guys are. Yep.

[Zena Caida]

Wow. No. Well, you.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Yeah, Maya more could never stink. I don't. I don't believe. I know.

[Zena Caida]

I'm like, I don't remember that ever. Okay, cool, cool, cool, cool. Moving on. Let's keep it going.

[Chantelle Jennings]

I love that, knowing she's your favorite player. Sabrina, I was obviously going to start with the Maya one, and you didn't go for it. All right, I think this quote number.

[Zena Caida]

Two, throw us off the sink of the path.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Right?

[Zena Caida]

Smells. Yeah.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Quote number two. Some people like to put on this facade, like, I've got everything under control. Don't worry about it. Nothing bothers me. I'm immune to everything. I'm smarter than everyone else. Who did Gino say this about?

[Zena Caida]

Whoa. That is a crazy quote. Some people.

[Sabrina Merchant]

There's just too many in everyone.

[Zena Caida]

I feel like, is that Sue? Like, I don't have it. Like, who's their most poised player? I would say. And, like, sue makes sense. Yeah, sue makes sense.

[Chantelle Jennings]

You guys got it. That one is Sue. You're one for two.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Yes.

[Zena Caida]

Okay, great, Great.

[Chantelle Jennings]

All right. We will go for the next one. This is talking about a former player who, I will say this was about her. I believe, her freshman or sophomore year. By her senior year, he was much more complimentary. He said, I've started calling this player forest gump you know when he talks about how you never know what you're going to get in a box of chocolates? Well, I come to game saying, let's see what the this Player show looks like today. And you have no idea what it's going to look like. You never know when it's going to blow up or be something completely different.

[Zena Caida]

He really does say some wild stuff. What? This is hard.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Okay.

[Zena Caida]

Okay, so I know Diana was like, she had a. But we already did Diana. No, we didn't.

[Sabrina Merchant]

We didn't do Diana.

[Zena Caida]

Yeah, Diana had a rough freshman year.

[Sabrina Merchant]

So did Stewie. Actually, she came off the bench for most of it.

[Zena Caida]

Oh, that's right. Oh.

[Sabrina Merchant]

National Freshman of the Year.

[Zena Caida]

Right, Right. Yeah.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Say one more time, I've started calling this player Forrest Gump. You know when he talks about how you never know what you're going to get in a box of chocolates? Well, I come to games saying, let's see what the this Player's Name show looks like. And you never. And you have no idea what it's going to look like. You never know when it's going to blow up or be something completely different.

[Zena Caida]

Yeah, I think it's Diana.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Yeah, I'm gonna go Stewie.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Gabby Williams.

[Sabrina Merchant]

Okay.

[Zena Caida]

What?

[Sabrina Merchant]

That's a slightly deeper cut.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Yeah, slightly. Okay, that was a slightly deeper cut. But I was also, as someone that, like, loves. Loves her game, both in college and now, I was like, I do.

[Zena Caida]

I'm. I'm a big fan. Big fan of Gary Williams. Wow.

[Chantelle Jennings]

All right, we will do. We'll do one more.

[Zena Caida]

Okay.

[Chantelle Jennings]

This was not adorable.

[Zena Caida]

Sorry, I'm just thinking about little Gabby Williams. So. See? Okay. Yeah, go ahead.

[Chantelle Jennings]

All right, we'll do one more. This is Gino talking about a player hitting a shot in practice. He said she's like a 12 year old who just got a quarter at the crafts fair for doing something great. She's having fun. I said, don't ever lose that. That'll keep you going for a long time.

[Zena Caida]

It's a shot. Is that easy? Foot. What?

[Sabrina Merchant]

This is so Paige. It's gotta be Paige.

[Zena Caida]

Oh, really?

[Sabrina Merchant]

It feels very Paige. Everything he says about Paige is. Oh, apparently not.

[Zena Caida]

I. I'm. Ah. Is it a deep cut?

[Sabrina Merchant]

No, it's not.

[Chantelle Jennings]

I feel like I should have covered my face for these. I'd be terrible at poker.

[Zena Caida]

Making a shot in practice.

[Sabrina Merchant]

The. The whole, like, quarter at the fair is very, like, earnest to me. I almost think it's Sarah, because I.

[Zena Caida]

Also was thinking Sarah, too. Yeah, Az or Sarah. But Then I was also thinking, like, we've seen Stewie be kind of that way, like in.

[Sabrina Merchant]

I'm gonna go Sarah Strong.

[Zena Caida]

All right. I'm gonna go Az. Fudd.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Z. You should have kept it. It's Stewie.

[Zena Caida]

Oh, it is. It was Stewie. Dang it. I was.

[Chantelle Jennings]

You're, like, so close every time, and I'm like, you got it, you got.

[Zena Caida]

It, you got it. I know, I know. But I can see, like, Stewie being competitive and, like, silly about, like, yay, I made a shot. Yeah.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Okay, wait, can we do one more? Do we have time for one more? But this one will be just. This one is just for Zena. Cuz Zena, I feel like you've gotten, like, so close all of these times, and it's like, just go with your gut. Don't listen to Sabrina. This is because. This is from Sabrina and my conversation with Gino on the pod last year. But you had to miss that interview. So I'm thinking. I'm hoping your memory is not amazing on this.

[Zena Caida]

The only thing I mainly remember about that conversation was how he was just, like, over the tennis ball kids. And I loved that quote. I use that quote.

[Chantelle Jennings]

That was also great.

[Zena Caida]

Such a great. Sorry, go ahead.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Who did he say she would have put? Her. This is about someone in Nil. He said she would have put herself out to the highest bidder every year. She would have played at Four different schools. 100. She would have been a mercenary. She would have played at UConn as a freshman and then three more schools, and she would have been a free agent.

[Zena Caida]

Would have been. This is a.

[Chantelle Jennings]

So it's someone who played pre2020.

[Zena Caida]

Right, right, right, right. A mercenary is crazy. The only person that I think about when I hear mercenary is Diana Taurasi. Swen was also really savvy with the money and could have made some deals. Ah. Is it. Is it Swin?

[Chantelle Jennings]

It's Diana.

[Zena Caida]

Dang it. I did it again. Oh, my God.

[Chantelle Jennings]

Okay, just go with your gut, Zena.

[Sabrina Merchant]

To be fair, she did bring up Swin in this conversation.

[Chantelle Jennings]

He did talk about Swin in that conversation as well. That was the second name he brought up. But the first one, he brought up the mercenaries.

[Zena Caida]

I know.

[Chantelle Jennings]

You were so right. Like, your. Your first instinct was right, like, almost every.

[Zena Caida]

Dang it. That's.

[Sabrina Merchant]

All right.

[Zena Caida]

Well. Well, I'm gonna. I hope all of you that played along had a lot of fun with that. That was so good. Chantel, we're gonna have to do that again for. I don't know if we can. I'm sure he has more quotes, but maybe next time we do some Dawn Staley quotes. We gotta find some of those out of there, but okay, before we get outta here, got a few quick games for you guys to set your screens to. I'll start. Speaking of UConn, they're taking on Tennessee Sunday at 9am PT, 12pm Eastern on Fox. What's our next game?

[Sabrina Merchant]

I'll be at Iowa, UCLA, which is also on Fox. That's at 1pm Pacific. Top of the Big Ten, two undefeated teams in conference.

[Zena Caida]

Ooh. Okay. Like it. Like it. And then there's an SEC battle shantel.

[Chantelle Jennings]

And then Oklahoma, Texas, Sunday at noon on abc.

[Zena Caida]

Boom. Lot of good basketball games coming up this weekend and we'll see what the dominance looks like if it continues against Tennessee. But that is all we've got for you today. We'll be back next week with more discussions around women's hoops. You know how we do and make sure help us go fill out that survey. Okay. Let us know what you and your podcast habits look like. We won't judge you. Don't worry. We actually want to Hear about this. TheAthletic.com survey 26. Give us an opportunity to learn about that. And as a thank you, you will be entered into the raffle to win a hundred dollars at Amazon vouchers. So definitely fill out that survey. We value your feedback. We want to implement it. Let us know. And if you haven't already, do your job. Follow our show, tell people about it. Okay. And start with conversations around UConn and see if people are like, what's UConn? And then you're like, look, I got this podcast for you. They'll break it down for you. Make sure you're subscribed on YouTube and also wherever you listen to your pods. And head on over to our partner, the Yahoo. Sports Hub, for more content. Sports.yahoo.com Womens Sports on behalf of the Athletic Chantelle Jennings, Sabrina Merchant, I am Zena Cato thanking you for listening and we'll see you next time. No Off Season is hosted by Zena Kada with Chantelle Jennings and Sabrina Merchant. It's produced by Tanika Burrell. Our executive producer is Andrea B. Scott. Our theme music is by Marcus Bagala. Monica Compton is our video editor. Shannon Ryan is managing editor of women's basketball at the Athletic. Jessie Burton is our head of audio, and Tim McMaster is director of audio operations.

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[Sabrina Merchant]

Par le to Francais hablas espanol par.

[Zena Caida]

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