UConn head coach Dan Hurley tries to pump up his team during the second half on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley told reporters on a conference call Saturday that his staff is making future plans to play against Kansas.

“We are in conversations with Kansas to do a two-year, potentially, or a four-year home-and-home type of thing,” he said. “They’ve been communicating pretty openly with us about potentially doing that.”

The Huskies and Jayhawks faced off at Allen Fieldhouse last season as part of the annual Big East-Big 12 battle, with KU taking a 69-65 win over the eventual national champions.

UConn got assigned Baylor as an opponent for this year’s edition of the competition — reportedly the last one ever — with KU traveling to Creighton on Wednesday, prompting some chatter in the college basketball world about why KU didn’t get a return date at Gampel Pavilion. CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander recently said on the Eye on College Basketball Podcast that “Kansas was seeking a different game” for the matchup because of its road date at Missouri soon afterward, while NJ Advance Media cited an anonymous source saying KU coach Bill Self “clearly didn’t want” the game at UConn.

However, even beyond referencing the ongoing cooperative home-and-home discussions, Hurley said he didn’t think KU tried to avoid playing at UConn.

“We were never told we were playing Kansas,” he said. “We were told, I think, or we were assuming that we would play a Baylor or a Kansas or one of the top teams from the Big 12, like Houston.”

Self had said prior to KU’s trip to Creighton that he wasn’t surprised the Jayhawks got sent to Omaha, Nebraska, given that they had hosted the Bluejays at Allen Fieldhouse in 2020.

“I kind of figured that’s where the return game would go, but I didn’t have any say-so on that,” he said.

Self has praised the value of home-and-home series, while also saying there’s only space for a few on any given schedule.

“I believe you need to play enough quality to make sure your season-ticket buyers get the bang for their buck,” he said in November. “We try to do that every year … Then after that, how do we generate as much money for our institution and our athletic department that we possibly can?”

The Jayhawks will play return dates at North Carolina and N.C. State next season, while the previously home-and-home series between KU and Missouri will shift to the T-Mobile Center. The Jayhawks will also play Duke in the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden and reportedly participate in a multi-team event in San Diego.