The best teams meeting for a fiery non-conference game is always breaking news. And with three months still left on the current slate for UConn, they have just confirmed a 2026-27 non-conference game. Former Husky Rebecca Lobo, now a long-time reporter at ESPN, reported on A Touch More: The Podcast with Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe that Geno Auriemma’s UConn and Kim Mulkey’s LSU will face off against each other next season in a neutral location in Nashville, with ESPN broadcasting the event. Never one to pass up an opportunity, Auriemma quickly ribbed his alum the moment she made the announcement.

“People join the media, and they can’t keep a secret, not that it’s a secret anyway,” Auriemma joked at his pre-game press conference. “You’re starting to get more of (those games) on a regular basis now. That’s kind of the way it goes, and it’s a game that I think players look forward to as well. I haven’t gotten the date of that game yet, but I hope it’s one of those. January, February games.”

Well, Auriemma can take that jab, considering the bond he shares with Lobo and their long-standing history.

Lobo had offers from over 100 colleges out of high school when she was breaking through the ranks. However, it was Auriemma and UConn that were the ultimate choice despite not having won the national championship at that point. Even Tennessee, the team at the top, had its offer ready for Lobo. As a star senior in 1994-95, Lobo led the program to its first national championship.

A victory that not only put the Huskies and Auriemma on the map. But it also set the first building block in creating the program’s dynasty in college women’s basketball. Since then, the rapport has continued as Lobo transitioned into a career in media, and revealing a UConn non-conference slate with LSU was obviously a big deal, with Auriemma going up against Kim Mulkey.

Mulkey is now in her fifth season as the LSU boss. But this will be the first time she will be facing off against Geno Auriemma’s Huskies with the Tigers. Auriemma and Mulkey clashed nine times when she was at Baylor, with UConn holding a 5-4 advantage in the series. While the fans smack their lips regarding that mouthwatering clash next season, Geno Auriemma has explained how the non-conference scheduling has changed today.

Geno Auriemma Criticises Overloaded Conference Calendar

Geno Auriemma has been a fixture in the college basketball circuit for several years now. He has lived through the rise and has been a major reason for it. However, not all changes have been good for Auriemma. Like the expanded conference schedule that plagues UConn and other teams in today’s day and age.

“With all these games, you have to start the season earlier because you’re trying to cram so many in before conference play begins. Now we’re even playing conference games in November, which never used to happen,” Auriemma said. Coaches used to b**** about playing them in early December—now it’s the first week of December, and you’re already in conference play. A lot has changed, and that LSU scenario is a perfect example of it.”

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Big East women’s basketball has now moved to a 20-game double round-robin league schedule in 2025-26. Last year, each team played 18 games, and a few years before that, the number was 16. That was despite having 16 teams in the conference as opposed to today’s 11. That is because the Big East experimented with an unbalanced schedule to give flexibility. But ultimately returned to the home-away format this season.

This expansion has caused marquee non-conference games like UConn-LSU to be difficult to organise. However, we are seeing a comeback of rivalries as UConn is also slated to face South Carolina in a similar neutral setup next season.