STORRS – The path to a third consecutive NCAA Tournament title is a bit overgrown and rugged, having not been walked in over half a century.
John Wooden’s UCLA teams won seven national championships in a row from 1967-73, and the trail was a bit wider then. For this UConn men’s basketball team, which went 23-10 after losing four of its five starters from last year’s back-to-back title group, there are fallen trees, boulders and maybe a few streams to cross, only enough visibility to take it one step at a time.
Their defense failing them against Creighton in the Big East Tournament semifinal, the Huskies will begin their journey in unfavorable position as a No. 8 seed in the West Region, playing the first round in Raleigh, N.C. on Friday at 9:25 p.m.
“You could have an incredible regular season in this sport and it’s cruel in a way if you don’t play well in March, you’re judged basically just on this tournament and whether you can succeed in it or not,” coach Dan Hurley said shortly after the bracket was revealed. “You’re excited to be in it, we’ve been successful in it. I think we have a team that’s battled the whole year and I’m excited to see how we’ll play on Friday because from early in November, we’ve had to battle just to put ourselves in position to do this, whether its injury or the disastrous trip to Maui, we’ve had to battle our way to have an opportunity.”
Only two other programs – Duke (1991-92) and Florida (2006-07) – have won back-to-back national titles since Wooden. The 1993 Blue Devils lost in the second round as a No. 3 seed and the 2008 Gators missed the tournament altogether.
No. 9 seed Oklahoma will be the first obstacle in the way on Friday, with No. 1 seed Florida lingering just out of earshot. Of course, the Gators would have to chomp No. 16 seed Norfolk State to get into the next round.
Oklahoma finished its season at 20-13 and was 11 spots behind UConn in the NET rankings at No. 43. After going 13-0 in the nonconference, the Sooners went 7-13 to close their season through the gauntlet of SEC play and lost to Kentucky in the second round of the conference tournament.
The Sooners rank No. 38 by KenPom’s efficiency metrics, with the No. 21 offense and No. 70 defense.
“Porter Moser is a great tournament coach, he’s proved that in his career. Winning (the Battle 4 Atlantis) in the Bahamas was huge, they had an incredible nonference really, a lot of huge wins, and then that league is just a total monster,” Hurley said, holding a manilla folder labeled “Oklahoma” that is sure to fill up fast. “UConn-Oklahoma is a fun matchup, (point guard Jeremiah Fears) is one of the best freshmen in the country, obviously Jalon Moore is an excellent wing.”
Fears, 6-foot-4, leads the Sooners in scoring at 17.0 points per game and contributes 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists. Moore, a 6-foot-7 senior forward, is the only other player averaging double figures at 16.0 points, plus his team-leading 5.8 rebounds per game.
“They’re super well coached and it’s gonna be a battle for sure,” captain Alex Karaban said, remembering Moser from his cinderella run to the 2018 Final Four coaching Loyola Chicago.
UConn has never been a No. 8 seed in its 24 NCAA Tournament appearances since 1985, when the field expanded to 64 teams. The Huskies have only been lower than a No. 8 seed four times in that span, losing in the second round three times as a No. 9 seed and in the Sweet 16 as a No. 11 seed in 1991.
The lowest-seeded UConn team to win a national title was the seventh-seeded 2014 team, coached by Kevin Ollie.
“I think our potential is through the roof as a team and I think we have so much talent offensively and when we put it together defensively, too, I think we can be really good,” Karaban said. “We’ve shown flashes of it as a team, we’ve beaten some big-time teams and I really think that we can get there. Anything happens in March, too, so I’m just excited to get out there and see what we can do as a team.”
Last year’s team, the program’s first-ever No. 1 overall seed, tied UConn for the third-most titles all-time with North Carolina, their six behind only UCLA’s 11 and Kentucky’s eight. Karaban was part of that team, so were Hassan Diarra and Samson Johnson, and the entire Huskies’ coaching staff.
Hurley said he’ll probably pull out his championship rings, or something like that, to make himself feel better before heading to Raleigh. Karaban said he may not bring out the rings, but he’ll be watching highlights from the last two seasons.
“If you have things at your disposal where you know you’ve come through in the past in championship moments,” Hurley said, wearing the same St. Patrick’s Day themed UConn hat he’s worn on Selection Sunday the last two years. “If you’re a coach or you’re a player and if that helps you feel better at this time of year, yeah, go get your rings.”
Yale, which won the Ivy League Tournament and an automatic bid for the second year in a row, earned a No. 12 seed and will meet No. 4 Texas A&M in the first round in Denver on Thursday, tipping off at 7:25 p.m. The Bulldogs upset Auburn in the first round last season, and will be making their eighth all-time appearance.
Big East lands five tournament teams after 2024 disappointment
After landing just three bids in the 2024 tournament, five Big East teams got in this year.
St. John’s, the regular season and tournament champion, earned a No. 2 seed in the West Region, while Marquette earned a No. 7 seed in the South and Xavier, on the bubble, earned a spot in the First Four play-in game. The Musketeers will play Texas in order to get in as a No. 11 seed in the Midwest Region.
“If you’ve watched Xavier play, they’ve been playing at a high level for a long time. Since getting (Zach) Freemantle back and healthy, they’ve clearly been a tournament team,” Hurley said. “And it was just good to see us get the number we deserved this year.”
Originally Published: March 16, 2025 at 6:40 PM EDT
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