File photo by Brian Pohorylo

Senior guard Jerome Dyson, lost late last season with a knee injury, is back and healthy and ready to lead UConn to the Promised Land.

However, historically speaking, the early (i.e. pre-conference) portion of UConn’s schedule is normally loaded with 11 or 12 “gimmes” vs. teams like LaSalle, Quinnipiac, Buffalo, Sacred Heart and Delaware State; competitive mid-major programs, but few—if any—real threats to a Division I powerhouse like the mighty Huskies. The pre-Big East schedule, then, has been designed to virtually assure an NCAA bid at season’s end, while allowing the starting unit to cruise through the first one-third of the season without so much as breaking a sweat—saving themselves for the Big East wars that loomed just around the corner.

This season, UConn’s early schedule is far more competitive. Off to a 3-0 start with wins over powderpuffs William & Mary, Hofstra and Colgate, a Final Four team last year that lost three key starters (Hasheem Thabeet, A.J. Price and Jeff Adrian), the Huskies were thought to be in a “re-building” mode—a notion reflected by the fact that for the first time in recent history, no UConn player was named to the preseason All-Big East first team. (UConn starting guards Jerome Dyson and Kemba Walker were second-team selections, while the athletic and talented, but always enigmatic 6-9 senior forward Stanley Robinson earned honorable-mention recognition.)

Furthermore, skeptics had a field day when the Hofstra Flying Dutchman held a nine-point second-half lead over UConn before the Huskies rallied for a nine-point win.

But on Wednesday night, UConn’s critics were silenced, at least for the time being, when the Huskies took on LSU, a national power that has won or shared nine SEC titles and made nine Sweet 16, six Elite Eight and four Final Four appearances. The No. 13 Huskies responded with a resounding 81-55 victory over the previously undefeated Tigers.

What the naysayers seem to have forgotten is that this year’s version of the Huskies sports two returning seniors (Dyson and Robinson) to offer veteran on-court go-too leadership, and a marquis talent in Walker who, although just a sophomore, is a sure-fire NBA draft pick somewhere down the road. Less we not forget: Dyson was lost for the season last February when he went down with a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee. His absence is thought by many to be the difference between UConn making the Final Four and winning the national championship in 2009.

Against LSU in the semi-final game of the NIT Preseason Tip-Off Tournament, that veteran leadership was apparent as witnessed by 20 points each from Dyson and Walker to go along with Robinson’s 14 points and 11 rebounds. This year’s version of the Huskies is a huge team that can rotate Robinson, 6-10 senior Gavin Edwards (15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocked shots vs. LSU), 7-0 junior Charles Okwandu (5 rebounds, 2 blocked shots) and 6-9 freshman Alex Oriakhi (9 rebounds, 2 blocked shots), capable of wearing down an opposing frontcourt. The Huskies held a 47-34 advantage off the boards against the Tigers and blocked 10 LSU shots—an area UConn was thought to be deficient in after 7-1 Tanzanian shot-blocking machine Thabeet opted to leave UConn after his junior year to commence his NBA career alongside former UConn star Rudy Gay in Memphis.

While UConn’s win vs. LSU was an impressive early-season showing, it doesn’t get any easier for the Huskies who must face seventh-ranked Duke tonight at the Garden in the Preseason NIT championship game. Then, after brief respites against BU (Dec. 2 at the XL Center) and Harvard (Dec. 6 at Gampel Pavilion), the Huskies head back to Madison Square Garden to take on John Calipari and his No. 5-ranked Kentucky Wildcats in the Big East/SEC Invitational on Dec. 9.

One thing is certain: By the time UConn opens its Big East schedule vs. Cincinnati on Dec. 30, the Huskies will be well-tested. And that’s a good thing, because the most recent  AP poll sported three Big East teams in the Top 10 and seven in the Top 25.

"Four years ago we were 11-0 and it didn't mean anything," said Calhoun after the LSU game. "If we're 11- 0 [this year] and have beaten two good teams here [LSU, Duke] and Kentucky it will mean a lot. It will mean we're good."