Friedlander: UConn is as close to a dynasty as you can get in the NCAA Tournament's post-expansion era
GLENDALE, Ariz. – Because of the NCAA Tournament’s 1-and-done format and the pressures associated with winning 6 straight games amid the madness of March, the best team doesn’t always win college basketball’s national championship.
This time it did.
For the 2nd year in a row.
As if there was any question about UConn’s dominance of the sport before Monday’s title game against Purdue, it was answered emphatically with a 75-60 takedown of the Boilermakers at State Farm Stadium.
It was a surgical procedure that saw the Huskies allow Purdue star Zach Edey to get his obligatory 37 points and 10 rebounds while using their superior depth and talent to clamp down on everybody else and pull away to become the 1st repeat national champion since Florida won back-to-back titles in 2006-07.
That’s not the only history UConn has made during its 2-year rampage through the tournament. All 12 of its NCAA victories on the way to its twin titles have come by double-digit margins, a feat no one else has ever accomplished.
Not even those great UCLA teams of the 1960s and early ‘70s.
Those Bruins won 10 national championships in a 12-year span, including 7 straight from 1967-73.
It’s doubtful anyone will ever come close to challenging that dynasty because of changes that opened the tournament to more than 1 entry per conference, balanced the regions and nearly doubled the size of the bracket to its current 68 teams.
But that only makes what UConn has done since 1999 all the more impressive.
You can debate all you like about whether the Huskies are a traditional blue blood in the mold of UCLA, North Carolina, Duke and Kentucky or simply nouveau riche.
It’s just a matter of semantics.
"UConn is a blue blood" ?️
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With 6 national titles in the past quarter century – 1 more than Duke earned during a similar stretch from 1991-2015 – UConn has firmly established itself as the gold standard of the NCAA’s 4-decade post-expansion era.
“Obviously it’s a special run,” said coach Dan Hurley, who matched as a coach the accomplishment of back-to-back titles achieved by his brother Bobby as a player with the Blue Devils in 1991-92. “I mean, we’re going to try to replicate it again. We’re going to maintain a championship culture.”
It’s a culture that was put into place long before Hurley arrived in Storrs. Jim Calhoun won the 1st 3 championships in 1999, 2004 and 2011. Kevin Ollie rode the wave created by Kemba Walker to a surprise title in 2014 before passing the torch to the program’s current leadership.
This newest breed of Huskies, who entered Monday’s game as a 6.5-point favorite according to ESPN Bet sportsbook, may just be the alpha of the litter.
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Not only were they ranked No. 1 for a good portion of the season, but they won their 6 NCAA Tournament games by a combined 140 points.
The largest margin ever.
Their dominance, especially under the pressure of being the top overall seed, is what made this championship different from the 1st.
“Maybe this feels a little better knowing how great his team has been,” he said. “We’ve worn the ‘everything’ shirt the whole year.”
Still, Hurley hedged his bets when asked if his current team ranks among the best of all time. He couldn’t even bring himself to say that the 2024 version was better than the one that cut down the nets in 2023.
Doing so would be like admitting he loves 1 of his 2 sons more than the other.
Instead, he gave a nod to both sets of champions by saying “I just think it’s the best 2-year run in a very, very long time because of everything we lost from last year’s team.”
Final Four Most Outstanding Player Tristen Newton, big man Donovan Clingan and forward Alex Karaban are the only Huskies to play prominent roles in both title runs. Otherwise, the only similarity between the 2 champions is the name UConn stitched across the front of their jerseys.
It’s an element that sets them apart from the 2 most recent teams to win consecutive championships.
“To me, it’s more impressive than what Florida and Duke did because they brought back their entire teams,” Hurley said. “We lost some major players.”
There will undoubtedly be more turnover this time around. But when your sales pitch to transfers such as starting guard Cam Spencer and recruits like freshman Stephon Castle includes the ability to play for a program in which winning isn’t just a hope or expectation, but a reality, it’s not that difficult to reload.
And set your sights on a 3-peat, which Hurley unabashedly has.
The results speak for themselves.
As much as I loved Corey Brewer and watching that Florida team those two years, I I believe this was the more impressive back to back. No one came within double digits of this team that last two tournaments. Just insane.
agree and for multiple reasons. that uf team earned those two titles, but considering what all had come back in defending their title, maybe just me, but i had expected more from that ’06-’07 team. certainly less than 5 losses.
The back to back accomplishments by uf and uconn are like apples and oranges. both great feats on their own, but totally different. uf returned their entire starting 5, while i believe uconn had 4 different starters in this year’s squad from the previous.
it’s nice to speak of uconn as a whole and considering a potential build of a dynasty, but all attn should be directed to hurley. amongst a hc and players, hurley was the only central figure deeply tied to the accomplishment of both title runs, though the fact that he had his entire coaching staff for both champs shouldn’t be overlooked either.
UConn has five national championships so far this century. UCLA has zero. These blue blood debates are pretty ridiculous.
10 in 12 years or 7 straight is pretty unbelievable. It easy to forget how dominating UCLA was. Hard to imagine anyone ever coming close to that accomplishment.
They were paying big bucks back then before it was legal.
UConn did not become dominant until two years ago when Hurley hire Luke Murray to run the offense
You really can’t compare teams a couple of decades apart. That Florida team was very fun to watch. This UConn Team is very dominant.