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Tennessee Lady Vols: Five things that happened since last facing UConn

By Caleb Calhoun

TAMPA, FL - APRIL 08: The Tennessee Lady Volunteers celebrate with the trophy after their 64-48 win against the Stanford Cardinal during the National Championsip Game of the 2008 NCAA Women's Final Four at St. Pete Times Forum April 8, 2008 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL - APRIL 08: The Tennessee Lady Volunteers celebrate with the trophy after their 64-48 win against the Stanford Cardinal during the National Championsip Game of the 2008 NCAA Women's Final Four at St. Pete Times Forum April 8, 2008 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images
Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images /

4. UConn Huskies moved from the Big East to the AAC.

Honestly, this wasn’t too big of a change, but it was relevant. In the early 2010s, with Pat Summitt already retired, the Big East was in a period of major transition. The basketball schools in the conference decided to break off and take the name with them, leaving the entire league in complete chaos. This was more related to the men’s basketball programs.

However, they regrouped and formed the American Athletic Conference, and on the women’s side, it made things tougher. The UConn Huskies went from a team that would almost always play an easier schedule than the Tennessee Lady Vols to a team that began playing a schedule that was on their level. That wasn’t always happening before.

The crazy part, though, is the changing hasn’t stopped. UConn is now moving back to the Big East, which depletes the value of the football program, which will become independent, but it will keep the women’s basketball program at a high level given the changes in the conference landscape. That is all set to happen later this year.

So the changes aren’t even done, but this is everything that’s happened to this point when it comes to UConn conference changes between the last time they met the Lady Vols and now. It’s difficult to know exactly where they will end up, and things have been pretty consistent for Geno Auriemma’s program no matter where they went. But conference changes are always a big deal.