Maybe now the UConn Huskies will finally get their due.
UConn’s dominant 76-59 victory over the San Diego State Aztecs in the NCAA championship game Monday night capped an awe-inspiring run through the tournament that saw the Huskies win their six games by an average of 20 points. They’re only the fifth team to win each tourney game by 10 or more points, and the first since Villanova in 2018.
UConn now has five men’s national basketball championships, tying Duke and Indiana on the all-time list, behind only UCLA (11), Kentucky (8), and North Carolina (6).
Yet UConn has won all of those championships since 1999, the most during that period. Even more impressive, three different coaches (Jim Calhoun, Kevin Ollie, and current coach Dan Hurley) have been part of those titles.
Despite that quarter-century run of success, many college basketball fans and analysts tend to overlook the Huskies when the talk comes to basketball royalty. Teams like Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Kansas vie for the top five-star recruits, are featured in regular season matchups, and get the “blue blood” treatment.
Even former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said recently that UConn’s program hasn’t been getting the respect it deserves.
“I hate when people say there are no blue bloods in the Final Four,” Coach K told Colin Cowherd. “You have to be kidding me. … Since 1999 they’ve won four national championships. … Certainly, they’re at the level of the few teams you say are blue bloods.”
Hurley mentioned right after his team’s big win Monday that the team has been proving critics wrong all year.
“(Critics) buried us before the season, then they buried us at the midpoint,” Hurley told CBS Sports.
One would think that four national championships in the past 24 years coming into this season would have been enough to elevate UConn into the top tier of the NCAA’s elite programs, but as Hurley again alluded after Monday’s win, the fifth title sends a clear message.
“UConn … we had the four national championships coming in … we’ve been striving for No. 5 … now we got our own! Now we got our own!” Hurley told Jim Nantz.
"UConn… we had the four national championships coming in… we've been striving for No. 5… now we got our own! Now we got our own!"- Dan Hurley to Jim Nantz 🏀🏆 pic.twitter.com/ZrZKe7v3lz
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 4, 2023
College basketball fans saluted the Huskies on their fifth championship. Everyone seemed to agree that it would be ridiculous at this point not to treat UConn as a truly elite program.
Five national championships for UConn, tying them with Duke and Indiana. All six victories in this tournament came by double digits.
Blueblood.
— Brian Rauf (@brauf33) April 4, 2023
College basketball teams with the most national championships:
UCLA: 11
Kentucky: 8
North Carolina: 6
Duke: 5
Indiana: 5
UConn: 5
Kansas: 4UConn now has as many national titles as Duke and IU. More than KANSAS.
Wow.
— Jim Miloch (@podoffame) April 4, 2023
#UCLA has one title in the last 48 years.
The #UConn #Huskies have FIVE titles since 1999. #UConn's blue blood runs far deeper than #UCLA's. #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/gE9gFL6Et7
— Sports Plus (@PrepSportsPlus) April 4, 2023
So now that UConn tied Duke and Indiana (and passed Kansas) in tourney wins, can we all agree they are blue blood status now
— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) April 4, 2023
Teams with 3 or more D1 men’s titles since the field expanded to 64:
UConn: 5
Duke: 5
UNC: 4
Kansas: 3
Villanova: 3
Kentucky: 3At some point, the criteria for “blue blood” needs to be weighted more towards success since the start of this era.
— The Radical Dream (@TheRadicalDream) April 4, 2023
UConn. Officially basketball royalty.
— Adam (Sell the White Sox) (@B1GMacSacks) April 4, 2023
Winning a national championship is *really* hard. Just getting to a Final Four is something most programs never achieve. That UConn has found a way to do it five times—with periods of mediocrity interspersed—is remarkable.
— James Curle (@JamesCurle) April 4, 2023
