Geno Auriemma has won 12 national championships and spent more than four decades building UConn into a women’s basketball powerhouse. By now, every new season should feel like business as usual. Yet even after 41 seasons, the Hall of Famer is still dealing with the same nerves that nearly got him ejected in his very first game. And this time, he has a few reasons to feel anxious.

“Usually, for me, it’s a level of stress that’s either high, medium, or low, and a lot depends on what we have coming back and how I feel about the development of our team over the summer,” Auriemma said, via CT Insider’s Maggie Vanoni. “So, I’m kind of in that limbo area right now. I know what these guys were capable of doing last year, and I also know what the pitfalls are, and so I’m in that wait-and-see, and that’s not a great place for me to be usually. So, I’m a little more agitated than normal going into the season opener.”

Last season, the Huskies finished just two wins shy of a perfect 40-0 campaign. Auriemma led the team to the Final Four undefeated at 38-0, riding a 54-game winning streak. That run was ended by their fierce rivals, the South Carolina Gamecocks, who went on to lose the final to the UCLA Bruins.

A couple of things have changed in the Huskies’ roster since then, with Azzi Fudd going on to become the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft. Now, entering the new season ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press poll, Auriemma and his team are preparing for another strong run at the national championship.

Of course, Geno Auriemma knows what his new-look team is capable of, with Sarah Strong leading a group that includes returnees like KK Arnold and Ashlynn Shade, as well as newcomers Olivia Vukosa and Jovana Popovic. But no one can be sure what a new season will bring, and that uncertainty is where the nervous energy comes from.

The preseason has certainly offered some encouraging signs. The Huskies went a perfect 3-0, beating Syracuse 88-60 at Mohegan Sun Arena, Texas 83-61 at PeoplesBank Arena, and Army 86-50 at Gampel Pavilion. Still, Auriemma wants to see how his players respond once the competition becomes more meaningful. He gets that chance on Monday, when UConn hosts Cornell at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Connecticut.

“It’ll Be Burned in Our Brain”: Geno Auriemma Reveals What He’s Most Excited About After UConn’s Season Opener

Geno Auriemma’s UConn Huskies will open their season against an unranked Cornell team that is heavily outmatched. It is safe to say that Monday’s challenge will be no different from what the Huskies have already encountered in their preseason games. The game that will present the challenge worthy of this UConn team, however, will be their second and third matchups of the season.

After Cornell, the Huskies hit the road immediately for an early top-five blockbuster, traveling to Ann Arbor to face No. 5 Michigan on Thursday. Right after that, they return home for another massive matchup against No. 10 Iowa. For Auriemma, those are the games that will define what this team is.

“What I’m most excited about is after Thursday, we are going to be pretty laser-focused on what we need, and after Sunday, it’ll be burned in our brain exactly who we are, what we are, and what we’re capable of being,” Auriemma said.

Geno Auriemma is already clear about what he wants to see as the Huskies begin their season. Beyond the results, he wants the team’s identity. 

“I think one of the things that I want to see is what is the identity early on of the team, how we approach the game, what it looks like, what it feels like,” he said. “So, I think you don’t know those things until you actually play your first regular season game.”

Helpfully, Geno Auriemma will have all 13 players on his roster available for these games. Blanca Quiñonez and Marine Dursus, who missed the three preseason games while recovering, are both cleared to return.

Whether that full-strength group shows the identity Auriemma is looking for will start to become clear within a week. If the nerves are going to settle, Michigan and Iowa will do it, one way or the other.