Dan Hurley has a flair for drama. After his No. 3 Huskies lost 71-67 at home to the No. 4 Arizona Wildcats, Hurley tore up the stat sheet and said his team “punked out.” The Huskies looked timid in the physical battle, and Hurley was livid. Regardless, the Huskies recovered soon after with a dominating win over Bryant.  After that win, the coach expressed some disdain regarding how college basketball is covered on ESPN. 

“We’ve just gotta market it better,” he said. “It’s gotta get covered more, it’s gotta get covered better. Morning talk shows should be talking about, ‘Who’s the current best team in the country?’ You can’t take 10 minutes, 15 minutes with these morning talk shows on FS1 or ESPN? You can’t take 10 minutes away from talking about the backup quarterback on the (Detroit) Lions?”

ESPN notably gives preference to its NFL coverage. The reason is quite simple: the NFL is the single most valuable property for the network. In August, their relationship strengthened. The NFL and ESPN reached a landmark deal to acquire NFL Network and other media assets from the league in exchange for the NFL taking a 10% equity stake in the sports network. Predating this deal,  NFL viewership is way ahead of college basketball’s. 

Across the 2024–25 regular season, NFL games on ESPN/ABC averaged roughly 15.0 million viewers per telecast, with big playoff games like Chiefs‑Texans on ABC/ESPN reaching 32.7 million. In comparison, the 2024‑25 regular season averaged 968,000 viewers per game, its best number in six years, but still under 1 million on average. “You don’t want to talk about college basketball and some of the great players in this amazing freshman class? Get excited about college basketball before March Madness. It’s like, the f— best s–t,” Hurley said. 

ESPN doesn’t have the March Madness or NCAA tournament rights, as TNT and CBS have acquired them. That reduces the incentive for ESPN to focus and build the hype for March Madness, as Hurley said. The UConn coach further praised TNT for their extensive focus on college basketball. 

“TNT and truTV, I love what they’re doing with college basketball,” Hurley said, complimenting two of the Big East Conference’s newest network broadcast partners. “They’ve got legitimate studio shows, I think they’re doing a great job covering the sport. They’re talking to players postgame on the court, and I love how they’re covering the game.”

The situation between the TNT family and ESPN is very different. ESPN has a wide variety of games on its roster in the regular season, while TNT only has the Big East and the Players’ Era Festival. So TNT can afford to be more focused on the specific parts of basketball. They are rebuilding their basketball portfolio after losing the NBA to ESPN. 

With multiple big-ticket programs on the docket, it’s difficult for ESPN to provide the kind of coverage Hurley wants. His next clash against Illinois will be broadcast on TruTV, and Hurley would like a severe improvement from their last-ranked game. The Illini have one of the nation’s top offenses with over 94 points per game, while also ranking top 20 in defensive efficiency per KenPom. Their defence will be tested, and Hurley will rely on Alex Karaban and Silas Demary Jr to step up. Hurley’s challenge to the sport’s mentality is about to be mirrored by his team, as a close‑to‑full‑strength UConn steps into a clash with an Illinois offense that hasn’t met a defense it can’t pressure.

Dan Hurley Provides Positive Injury News Ahead of Illinois Match-Up

Dan Hurley has had two key pieces recovering from serious injuries: Tarris Reed and Braylon Mullins. Reed suffered an ankle sprain in the lead‑up to UConn’s game against Arizona and has not seen action since. Reed was averaging 20 points and 9.3 rebounds before this setback. Mullins injured his ankle during a UConn practice in late October and was projected to be out for 6 weeks. 

The freshman, a McDonald’s All-American and the highest-ranked freshman in the Huskies’ 2025 recruiting class, was also named the Big East Preseason Freshman of the Year. He is a key part of the puzzle for UConn for a deep run in March. Fortunately, Hurley revealed both of them could be ready to play against Illinois. 

“For the first time in a while, we had 15 guys in practice, which was a good sign. Some guys are a little bit nicked up,” Hurley said. “So it’s been good to get some people back into practice. Tarris and Braylon will still be game-time decisions because it’s just because you can you know, practice for a couple of days if you’ve been out as long as Braylon’s been out. Just got to figure out this game for him, and then it’s Tarris, is he healthy enough to play.”

UConn’s depth is being tested early in the season. Without their key pieces, they have gone 5-1 with the only loss against  No.4 Arizona, which is among the contenders. They have managed to win against the other ranked opponents in BYU without Mullins. Hurley will need a full roster for their upcoming games beyond Illinois, as they face Kansas and Florida. The priority will remain their long-term health. But a full roster back in this stretch can give Dan Hurley a big boost.