UConn is in “advanced discussions” with Virginia about playing a neutral-site men’s basketball game in the 2026-27 season, College Hoops Today reported Thursday morning.

Per the report, the two sides have settled on meeting Dec. 20 at Madison Square Garden. Nothing has been signed, but the schools have a verbal agreement, per College Hoops Today.

All UConn fans can say to this news is “wow.”

This breaking news comes on the heels of multiple reports Wednesday that laid out what head coach Dan Hurley currently is planning for next season, and the addition of Virginia would give the Huskies a murderers row of opponents. 

It’s already been announced that UConn and Duke will play Nov. 25, the night before Thanksgiving, in Las Vegas. It will be a rematch of the teams’ epic Elite Eight game in the NCAA Tournament in March, and also one of three Duke games that Amazon’s Prime Video will have exclusive rights to under an agreement with the university.

But reports of Wednesday also added these games:

UConn vs. Michigan , Nov. 6 in Boston. The Wolverines defeated the Huskies 69-63 in the national championship game in Indianapolis on April 6.

UConn vs. Illinois, Dec. 4 in Chicago. The Huskies beat the Illini twice last season. First in the regular season, then in a national semifinal.

UConn vs. Ohio State in Connecticut, with date to be announced, the Columbus Dispatch reported. 

A schedule that includes Duke, Illinois and Michigan would mean that UConn would meet the three other Final Four teams from the 2026 NCAA Tournament in the regular season.

In the final Associated Press Top 25 rankings of the 2025-26 season, Michigan was No. 1 and UConn No. 2, followed by Arizona, Duke, and Illinois. Virginia finished No. 17.

The Huskies were 34-6 (17-3 Big East) on the season. Their non-conference schedule included Arizona, Illinois, Florida, BYU, Kansas and Texas.

UConn was 5-1 against those opponents, all of whom the Huskies played in a tight window from Nov. 15 through Dec. 12. The only loss in the group was to Arizona, by four points.

Ohio State wasn’t ranked but earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament with a No. 8 seed, losing 66-64 to No. 9 TCU in the first round of East Region play.

Hurley has been dreaming of a schedule light on “buy” games and heavy on the heavy hitters of college basketball. (A buy game is one in which a better team pays a lesser fee to play on the better team’s home court.)

He told CBS Sports last December that he wanted more than the six high-major games he booked in the most recent non-conference season.

"It's gone so well, next year we may go to eight of these big games, and three buys, because I hate the buy games," Hurley told CBS Sports after UConn's 77-73 win over Florida on Dec. 9.

"When I wake up the day of a buy game, I just want to go die. The anxiety, the fear that your team is -- the wrecking of a loss, or just how mad you get at your team when they underestimate a scrappy, loaded mid-major team. I hate those games."

And just think about this. There appears to be room for Hurley to add more top-flight opponents.

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