And the Spring Sports are almost here?

The fact that the Spring Sports are almost here is scary to me. I can't really believe it. Hockey is almost over. The Women have a few more games to play in the postseason and hopefully they qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

Basketball is obviously not over. One team is making post season play and the other one we don't quite no about.

Here is my take on the Spring Teams at UConn and a little bit on my expectations for them. I don't think any spring team is a favorite to win a National Championship. I think a team might have an outside shot.

Team Most Likely To Win a National Championship
Women's Track and Field.

UConn Women's Track and Field has some amazing athletes and this team is the only team that is ranked of all the spring teams, which by default makes them the most likely to win a National Championship.

Non Track Team Most Likely to Win a BIG EAST Championship
Baseball

I, and many other people, are very optimistic about the chances of UConn's Baseball team this year. The team had a lot of players drafted and lost some quality pitchers, but the three best players on the team remain. George Springer is an amazing talent and is someone that every UConn Sports Fan needs to go see play. Pierre LePage is a great second baseman and Mike Olt should have a big year after battling some injuries last season. Mike Nemeth is a very good first baseman.

A big key for the team will be pitching, as is most often the case in baseball. The team will also need to replace the offense that came from Peter Fatse.

I think the baseball team has the best chance of winning a BIG EAST Tournament of all spring sports but the track teams.

Team most likely to stay good.
Men's Track and Field. The Men's Track and Field team is solid and always puts together good performances. They should have another good year.

Team that should improve
Women's Lacrosse

M.E. Lapham and Kiersten Tupper showed a lot of promise last season. Both players are sophomores and both are attackers. Lacrosse was playing it's best towards the end of last season. After starting out 0-9 they won 3 of their last 7. They also played really well against Top 5 ranked Syracuse last season. I like the coaching staff and the direction of the program. It is unreasonable to expect a team that lost two top scorers and a team that is bringing in a large amount of new talent to be competing for a national championship. I think a much more realistic goal should be to get the team closer to .500. I think that can be accomplished. I think they will win more games than last season and I think that the team will be in a very good position to be nationally ranked again (as they were in 2007) once their young talent becomes juniors and seniors.

And...
Softball

I have been a big supporter of softball and I expected the team to have a great year last year. They almost hit my expectations of a 30 win season last year, but injuries slowed them down. I think that this teams goal should just be to make the BIG EAST Tournament. I think that is a realistic and achievable goal. I don't think any team at UConn lost more talent than the softball team did. Jillian Ortega and Micah Truex were two amazing players. Danielle Del Ponte was another big loss. Sarah Neuschwander and Rachael Crossin were two more big losses. Erin Burtner was solid in pretty much every way. This team has a lot of question marks and freshman will need to make an impact.

Julie Towers is a great talent and she should have a big year. Tricia Sullivan will hopefully return to form from her injury. Justyne Roy is a great fielder at first base.

I can't say I know what to expect from softball, but I hope for the best.

Tennis, Golf and Rowing are sports that I don't feel qualified to write anything about. I wish those teams good luck.