At the start of the season, there were doubts about how well UConn could replace key players from last year's championship run.
All doubts had been cleared up long before Selection Sunday.
The second-ranked UConn team (31-3) will be the overall top seed in the NCAA Tournament, leading the East Region bracket close to their home. They have dominated many games this season, looking like a strong force and aiming to win their second consecutive title in 17 years.
They will begin with their first top regional seed since reaching the Final Four in 2009, and it's their sixth time overall. The team with five championship titles will start playing on Friday against Stetson, seeded 16th, in New York.
Coach Dan Hurley said after UConn won the Big East Tournament title on Saturday night, “I know we’ve never gotten a No. 1 overall seed in program history,”, said coach Dan Hurley. “So this is a group that seems to be making history in a place that it’s hard to make history.”
Hurley went on to say that UConn has “clearly been the best program in the country this year.”
It's difficult to disagree.
UConn is leading in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency rankings, with 126.6 points per 100 possessions, the best since 2018 champ Villanova (127.8). They are also ranked in adjusted defensive efficiency (94.4), one of three teams ranked in the top 15 in both categories, along with Arizona and Auburn.
The team lost key players from last year's title run, but new players like Tristen Newton and Donovan Clingan have stepped up, and additions like Cam Spencer and Stephon Castle have helped the Huskies continue their success.
UConn is leading in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency rankings with 126.6 points per 100 possessions, the best since 2018 champ Villanova (127.8). The team also ranks in adjusted defensive efficiency (94.4), one of three teams ranked in the top 15 in both categories, along with Arizona and Auburn.
“There’s just not a lot of weaknesses in the way that we play,” Hurley expressed.
Since December 20, UConn has only lost once, with their last eight wins having an average margin of 21.2 points. The Huskies are likely to regain the No. 1 ranking, which they will hold until a final edition comes after the NCAA championship game in Glendale, Arizona.
The question now is whether UConn can become the first team to win back-to-back championships since Florida in 2006 and 2007.
THE MAIN COMPETITORS
Iowa State, ranked seventh, secured the No. 2 seed as the top challenger, defeating Houston in the Big 12 Tournament's title game for the second time this year.
The Cyclones (27-7) have the best defense in KenPom, allowing only 87.1 points per 100 possessions. They start their first game on Thursday against South Dakota State, seeded 15th, in Omaha, Nebraska.
The other top contenders are No. 13 Illinois (26-8) as the third seed and 12th-ranked Auburn (27-7) as the fourth seed. Illinois will play against Morehead State, seeded 14th, while Auburn will play against Yale, seeded 13th.
The Cyclones (Big 12), Illini (Big Ten), and Tigers (Southeastern Conference) all won their respective league tournaments this week.
FOLLOW-UP ACT
Two of last year’s surprise Final Four teams — national runner-up San Diego State and Florida Atlantic — have joined the Huskies in this bracket.
The Aztecs (24-10) are the fifth seed and will face UAB, seeded 12th, on Friday in Spokane, Washington. The Owls (25-8) are the eighth seed and will play against Northwestern, seeded ninth, in Brooklyn on Friday, setting up a potential second-round match with the Huskies.
WELCOME IN
Washington State and Duquesne have returned to the field after a long wait.
The seventh-seeded Cougars (24-9) will start against the 10th-seeded Drake on Thursday in Omaha for the program’s first trip to the NCAAs since 2008, when current Virginia coach Tony Bennett led Washington State to the Sweet 16.
As for the 11th-seeded Dukes (24-11), they’re in the field for the first time in nearly 50 years. Duquesne’s Atlantic 10 title run secured the program’s first bid since 1977 and they will face No. 6 seed BYU in Omaha on Thursday.
SHOTMAKERS
There are several top scorers in the bracket, led by Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr. He ranks third nationally in scoring at 22.6 points per game, including 40 points against Nebraska and then 34 against Wisconsin to close out the Big Ten tourney.
There’s also Drake’s Tucker DeVries (sixth at 21.8) and Stetson’s Jalen Blackmon, who is ranked 10th nationally (21.5) and had 43 points against Austin Peay in the Atlantic Sun title game to secure that program’s first-ever NCAA bid.
ROAD TO GLENDALE
The regionals will be held in Boston, about 85 miles to the southwest of the Huskies’ Storrs campus. The Huskies are the favorite to win the national title, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
