UConn Huskies coach Dan Hurley fired up his rivalry with St. John’s Red Storm’s main shot-caller, Rick Pitino, when asked about his conference’s preseason polls. In a video on the ‘Storrs Central’ YouTube channel on Tuesday, Oct. 21, Hurley was having his preseason media availability for the Big East conference ahead of the 2025-26 college basketball season.
Just as he sat down to address the media, Hurley was posed a question that instigated his rivalry with Pitino. This is because in the recently revealed Big East preseason rankings, St. John’s was listed higher than the Huskies. Hurley said he ignores these narratives and would stick to his program’s development.
“Oh, come on; trying to start sh*t. Yeah, for me, I think just focused on trying to get our defense fixed and get a little bit healthy here with some guys that just have been banged up, so, and get ready for the season. I think there’s nothing, probably, more useless than preseason polls and picks and the 23 team not being ranked in the preseason, and then starting, you know, the dominant run,” Hurley said (0:05).
“So, preseason polls are pretty meaningless. I don’t even do mine, I think I told Luke to go do that sh*t,” he concluded.
Hurley and the Huskies have been ranked the second-best Big East program heading into the new campaign, just behind Pitino and the Red Storm. UConn garnered 94 votes in total, three less than St. John’s tally of 97. They are followed by the Creighton Bluejays, the Providence Friars, and the Marquette Golden Eagles to round out the top five.
Read More: UConn HC Dan Hurley Makes Feelings Clear on Facing Rick Pitino’s St. John’s
Dan Hurley Believes His Rivalry With Rick Pitino Is A Positive For College Basketball
During the same discussion, Dan Hurley was asked about his rivalry with Rick Pitino and how it affects the Big East conference and the overall men’s college basketball landscape.
Hurley believes the rivalry is ‘great’ and elevates the pace of play of the sport. However, he asserted that rivalries are supposed to be run by opponents of the same stature.
“I think it’s great for college. I think it’s great for college basketball to have rivalries, to have, you know, programs that are both legitimately top five, top 10 caliber. It’s the only way you can do a rivalry. You can’t do a rivalry if one team is at the top of the sport and has won six national championships since 1999, and other programs haven’t had any level of success like that. It’s pretty hard to have a rivalry,” Hurley explained (1:00).
Also Read: UConn Basketball Recruiting: Dan Hurley In Line To Secure 5-Star Recruit As UNC, St. John’s Interest Cools Down
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