Billy Donovan must feel uncomfortable.
This has nothing to do with what’s going on in Chicago and everything to do with what’s going on in Boston.
thursday night, university university The Huskies put on an absolute show inside TD Garden, outscoring San Diego State by 30 points in a rematch of last year’s national championship game, which Danny Hurley’s team won by 17 points. Meanwhile, 12 months on, there are some different parts of both teams. The dominant performance was the latest addition to a growing number of lawsuits over the past few months. A UConn national championship feels even more inevitable in 2024 than he did in 2023.
No team in men’s college basketball has won back-to-back national championships since Donovan’s Florida Gators did it in 2006 and 2007. Thanks to the NIL and new transfer portal rules, there has been an unprecedented level of roster turnover, and common these days, where repeating success is thought to be more difficult than at any point in the sport’s history. .
Yet here UConn is three wins away from returning to the promised land.
What’s scary, at least so far, is how easy the Huskies are making this look.
A year ago, UConn became the first team in tournament history to win six games by more than 13 points. The 72-59 Final Four win over Miami never looked like it was in jeopardy, but it was technically the toughest test the Huskies faced during March Madness. If that wasn’t enough, UConn also became the first national champion in history to win all six games by double-digit margins while holding all six opponents to 65 points or less. Ta.
Everything about UConn’s run to the program’s fifth national championship seemed to scream “a dominant No. 1 seed who has looked like a national champion all season.” But that wasn’t the case at all.
In addition to being the first team in 12 years to start the season without a ranking and finish at the top, the University of Connecticut actually made it through the NCAA Tournament in spectacular fashion over three weeks. snapped He became the No. 1 seed and national champion for four consecutive years. Meanwhile, the Huskies entered the 1996-97 season, becoming only the second No. 4 seed in history to cut the net. arizona wildcats.
College basketball teams have never had so much ownership over non-conference opponents, and UW won all 17 games it played against non-Big East opponents, winning by double digits in all 17 of those games. However, in conference play, the Huskies tied for fourth place with a 13-7 record and were bounced by Marquette in the Big East Tournament semifinals. These two facts made them the fifth National Champion in history to not win a regular season or postseason league championship.
Did UW end the season with eight losses? The most by a national champion since… UConn lost eight in 2014, which was the most by a national champion since… UConn lost nine in 2011. After that, you have to go all the way back to “Danny and the Miracle” in Kansas. ” lost 11 games before surprisingly winning the 1988 national championship.
A year later, the Huskies are a more traditional powerhouse.
UW has the best overall record of any team in the country at 34-3. They won the Big East regular season title and then swept the league’s postseason tournament. Sunday’s selection gave them the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, an honor that hasn’t translated into a national championship since Louisville made it all the way in 2013.
On paper, the only overwhelming similarity between this year’s UConn team and the national champions from a year ago is how dominant both teams have been, or still are, in March Madness .
UW’s 30-point victory over San Diego State on Thursday night was the largest margin of victory in a Sweet 16 game since 2017. The Huskies have won their three games in the Big Dance by an average margin of 28.7 points. They are trailed by a total of 28 seconds in the tournament.
“We’re bad at winning close games,” Hurley joked after the team’s latest loss. “We need to choose an alternative.”
What Donovan was trying to do at the University of Florida 17 years ago is nearly impossible in today’s college game. The top five scorers on the 2006 national title team, Joakim Noah, Taurean Green, Corey Brewer, Al Horford, Lee Humphrey, Kris Richard, and Walter Hodge, will all start over for another year in Gainesville. I decided to do so.
Hurley was fortunate to return three key contributors from the national title team, but his two leading scorers, Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins, are currently playing in the NBA. Without a key transfer addition in Cam Spencer and a freshman in long-time player Stephon Castle, a repeat likely wouldn’t be possible.
While the toughest tournament play is likely still ahead, what UW has already accomplished in the Big Dance defies recent history.
Since 2011, four reigning national champion teams have earned a No. 1 seed in the year immediately after winning the title (Duke in 2011; Duke in 2011). villanova Baylor in 2017, Baylor in 2022 and Kansas last season. He was the only one of them to survive the opening weekend of the tournament. In fact, UConn is the first reigning national champion to reach the regional finals since Florida won back-to-back titles in 2007.
I don’t think any of this is a fluke. Since the season began in November, UW has been a step ahead of the rest of the nation. They’re not perfect, but their combination of depth, experience, next-level talent, and coaching in Hurley leaves them with fewer unchecked boxes than any team in the country.
Illinois has the offense and superstar talent in Terrence Shannon to beat the best teams in the Elite Eight. If Alabama can get past Clemson, they have an offense that can run anyone out of the gym on any given night. Purdue and Houston rank right behind the Huskies in terms of not having weaknesses, and the Boilermakers just happen to have the best players in the country.
It’s not inevitable that UConn will seek its second straight national championship. But watching the Huskies on Thursday night certainly feels that way.
