UConn Proved Once Again that it is an Elite Basketball Program
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The UConn men's basketball team finished its wonderful season with a title last night. They dominated from start to finish. Sure there were moments that SDSU made it close. I tuned in the entire game because it got as close as six points. But in reality I think we all knew that UConn was going to finish this thing off. And they did, in convincing fashion.
The Huskies were clearly the best team in the men's tournament. They proved it over and over. They won every game by double figures. No team really got close in the second half, with SDSU being the lone exception. This was also the first time I watched UConn closely and they really impressed me. But that is not the main focus of this blog today.
During the game last night the announcers gave the viewers a stat that really impressed me, and I bet a ton of other watchers. This title marks the fifth title that the UConn men's basketball team has won since 1999. In the past 24 seasons they have 1/5 of the men's college basketball titles. That is dominant. They are so good. I mean, all the basketball watchers know how dominant the women's team is. They are an incredible dynasty. They are akin to the UCLA teams from the 70's. But no one mentions the UConn men's team as a dynasty.
The narrative out there says the majority of these five titles are considered "lucky". They won with Kemba Walker only after making the tourney due to his heroics in the Big East tournament. The Shabazz Nappier team grinded out a title over an 8 seeded Butler team. Emeka Okafor was so dominant that no one could beat them. There are seemingly a million excuses for why UConn continues to win titles. No one says this about Duke. They have three titles in the same span of time. Kansas won it all twice in the same time span. North Carolina has as many as Duke. Michigan State has one. Florida has two. Arizona has zero. Gonzaga has zero. Baylor has one. Oregon has zero. UCLA has zero. I could go on and on.
It is time that UConn be considered the bluest of blue bloods. They may have down years, but they always regroup and end up winning titles. I guess they don't get the love because they don't have a bunch of lottery picks, or high profile coaches or recruit a ton of one and done guys. They go out, play old fashioned basketball and win titles every five seasons or so. I was endlessly impressed by this number. I thought about it a bunch last night and even more this morning. UConn is a big deal. They may be the best men's and women's basketball programs in the country. Seriously. If you use numbers, they have the most titles. If you look at wins, they have the best totals. If you look at style, they clearly play a winning style. The Huskies are great. The Huskies should be the college program others strive to be. They are better and more prolific than any other program. Duke, Michigan State, UNC, Michigan, Gonzaga, they all wish they could be where UConn is right now. They all crave that winning tradition and dominance. They all want to be them. It is that simple.
While all the Duke fans will claim to be the best, or the UNC fans or the MSU fans or the UCLA fans, I say go look at UConn's brilliance over the last 24 years and tell me that I'm wrong when I say they are the premiere college basketball program. Congrats on yet another title. I guess we will see you all here again relatively soon.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.