Since 1999, no school has won more men’s (or women’s for that matter) basketball national championships than the University of Connecticut. In less than two decades, the Huskies have claimed four men’s titles with last season’s being the most unlikely.
Connecticut went from a No. 7 seed and a popular pick for being upset in the first round to the last team standing on the first Monday in April last year. Led by guard Shabazz Napier, the Huskies escaped a first round scare against St. Joseph’s to beat four top-4 seeds including the tournament’s top overall team in Florida before ultimately holding off a young, peaking Kentucky team for the national championship.
With Napier now in the NBA, not many expected the Huskies to repeat as national champions, but the 2014-15 campaign has been a rather large disappointment. After beginning the season ranked in the top 20 in both major polls, UCONN is just 17-13 with a RPI in the low 80s. While it’s highly unlikely that the Huskies repeat as national champions, just getting to the NCAA Tournament will be a challenge.
Connecticut will begin play in the American Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday against South Florida. To be part of the field of 68, the conference tournament is likely one that UCONN will need to win.
Though it’s true the 2014-15 season has not gone as planned for Connecticut, many believe that the Huskies still have the talent to emerge as AAC champions. Ryan Boatright has had a stellar season after being an intricate part of last season’s title run while freshman Daniel Hamilton has proven to be one of the conference’s most versatile players.
Replacing a legend like Jim Calhoun is never easy, but Kevin Ollie has shown to do his best coaching with his back up against the wall. It is also unlikely that UCONN will see a team in the conference tournament that it has not already defeated this season.
A victory over South Florida would pit the Huskies against Cincinnati. UCONN split a pair of meetings with the Bearcats this year. Connecticut also beat each of the conference’s top two seeds — Tulsa and SMU — in Storrs earlier this season.
AAC odds on Team Rankings settled. SMU 34.4% – UConn 24.2% – UC 15% – Tulsa 9.4% – Memphis 8.2% – Temple 7.8% http://t.co/VQFalG1J8o
— Bearcats Blog (@BearcatsBlog) March 9, 2015
For teams in the American Athletic Conference, Connecticut is a very scary team. The Huskies are playing for their NCAA Tournament lives and have a number of players with national championship experience. In some cases, odds-makers have given only regular season champ SMU a better chance to win the AAC Tournament than UCONN.
This disappointing season has forced Connecticut to start its national championship defense early. Anything short of a conference tournament championship will relegate UCONN to the NIT, but as past March’s have shown, particularly in recent years, anything can happen.
As basketball fans know, every team is a threat in March and especially one with the championship pedigree of Connecticut. As former Houston Rockets’ coach Rudy Tomjanovich once said, you can “never underestimate the heart of a champion.”
