Despite arguably the most dominant March Madness runs since the NCAA Tournament field was expanded to 64, it almost felt like voters in the AP and coaches polls reluctantly gave the Connecticut Huskies a No. 3 ranking in their preseason polls.
At least the folks setting the college basketball futures have a little more confidence in Dan Hurley and his gang becoming the first team to win three consecutive NCAA titles since the days of John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins more than half a century ago.
Just the third team to win two titles in a row since those UCLA squads of the 1960s and 1970s, the Huskies have a big target on their backs as every opponent tries to take down the 2-time defending champs.
Can March Madness Success Carry Over?
Saying Connecticut dominated its six opponents in the run to the NCAA Tournament title last season just doesn’t adequately cover it. The Huskies embarrassed their opponents by winning all six games by double digits, including taking down four top 5 seeds to finish up.
The closest of those wins was a 14-point margin against Alabama in the Final Four just before beating two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey and Purdue by 15 in the championship.
The run left the Huskies 6-0 ATS at the top-rated sportsbooks for a second consecutive year, with ‘under’ bettors also returning to the window all six times last March.
Hurley is now dealing with new faces after losing four of his top five scorers from last year’s roster. Two of those players combined for about 66 minutes of floor time, and all four – Tristen Newton, Cam Spencer, Donovan Clingan, Stephon Castle – are now wearing NBA jerseys.
Alex Karaban is the lone top 5 scorer to return, and the 6-8 junior has been stuffing his stat sheet in the early going to justify being on the early Player of the Year watch list. Solo Ball appears poised to step into the opening at point guard, while Michigan transfer Tarris Reed Jr. and freshman Liam McNeely clean the glass.
Supporting that quartet are a pair of sophomore forwards that could really make a difference. Jayden Ross missed the opener with an ankle injury but scored 14 in the second game while displaying incredible quickness.
Jaylin Stewart is also working his way into the rotation, and Hurley believes the trio of Ball, Ross and Stewart will be the difference makers on this year’s team.
Non-Con Schedule Toughens at Maui
It has been a cupcake of a schedule to begin this season, and that may be putting it kindly. The two wins over Sacred Heart and New Hampshire were eerily similar with scores of 92-56 and 92-53 that were good enough to cover huge spreads of 35.5 and 36.5. And just like their results at the Big Dance last season, both wins have stayed ‘under’ the NCAAB odds.
The Huskies won’t be tested much in the next couple of weeks. They’re favored by 38 in their third game against Le Moyne and will be favored by at least that many points when East Texas A&M visits Storrs.
Hurley’s cagers will begin to see more worthy opponents at the Maui Invitational during the final week of November. Connecticut opens the event against Memphis and will face either Colorado or Michigan State in the second game. If they can reach the Maui Championship, that matchup would be against North Carolina, Iowa State, Auburn or Dayton.
The non-conference slate closes in December with three tough matchups: at home against Baylor, in Austin against Texas and at Madison Square Garden against Gonzaga.
Who Are UConn’s Top Big East Challengers?
Those games out in Hawaii and shortly after will go a long way toward preparing Hurley and the Huskies for the conference slate. The Big East should be a little deeper than a season ago when it got three invites to the dance, and every league foe will be out to beat Connecticut.
Marquette has been in the last to Big East Tournament Championships, winning it in 2023, and Shaka Smart has a lot of talent in Milwaukee led by senior guard Kam Jones, another Big East player on the early Naismith watch list.
Speaking of players on that list, Ryan Kalkbrenner leads a Creighton team that many believe will be UConn’s stiffest competition in the Big East. Greg McDermott has taken the Bluejays to the Sweet 16 in three of the last four years, and the addition of Pop Isaacs to the backcourt alongside Steven Ashworth could be the secret to doing it again…if not deeper.
St. John’s is in its second season under Rick Pitino, and ready to reclaim a spot among the Big East elite after the additions of Kadary Richmond (Seton Hall) and guard Deivon Smith (Utah) to the backcourt. Xavier and Providence round out the top contenders.
