The No. 4 Huskies face No. 16 Michigan at TD Garden in a rematch of April's national championship, which the Wolverines won 69-63.
UConn gets its first shot at Michigan since losing the national championship game, and the Huskies are not waiting long to look for payback. The two teams meet Friday night at TD Garden in Boston for the TNT Sports Hall of Fame Series, seven months after Michigan beat UConn 69-63 for the title.
Dan Hurley's team already looks sharp this season, opening with an 86-46 win over Gardner-Webb behind 20 points from Braylon Mullins. UConn has national championship ambitions again and a nonconference slate built to test them, with Arizona, Duke, Illinois and Kansas still on the schedule. Friday offers an early measuring stick against the team that beat them when it mattered most last season.
Michigan starts its title defense with a different roster than the one that won in April, adjusting to a new look while trying to prove last season was no fluke. For UConn, this is a chance to show it belongs in the same conversation as the defending champions before the long grind of the regular season begins.