Gameday

After a three-day hiatus the NCAA Tournament resumes tonight with four games on the slate. The UConn Huskies will face off against the Purdue Boilermakers in Glendale, Arizona in a Sweet Sixteen matchup in about 4 and a half hours. UConn rolled through Chattanooga and Texas A&M last week and will look to continue their scorching hot play tonight. 

Over the past day or so UConn has been on the front page of every sports website but not for on-the-court issues. By now everyone knows about the Yahoo! Sports story that broke yesterday morning involving possible NCAA violations in UConn's recruitment of Nate Miles. Jim Calhoun said in his press conference yesterday that he hopes this will not be a distraction and he thinks his team is focused, but we will see tonight whether all of these issues have had an effect on the team.

I personally think this situation may help the Huskies focus. This group of players has dealt with a great deal of distractions since they've been at UConn and this is just another one that will help to motivate them and prove the doubters wrong. I'm not denying that Purdue is a very good basketball team that can play with the Huskies. But after watching the team live in Philadelphia last week, they truly look like they are on a mission. A.J. Price is the unquestioned leader of this team, and if Adrien, Stix, and Thabeet join the senior point guard in bringing their game to the next level, the 2008-2009 UConn Huskies can accomplish their ultimate goal.

The pursuit of a championship continues tonight at 7:07 p.m. with a win advancing UConn to the regional final on Saturday. Look for complete coverage on the blog during and after the game.