NCAA Tournament: Looking at University of Connecticut

No matter the result of today’s American Athletic Conference Championship game, some credit has to be given to the University of Connecticut’s basketball team. The question is how much?

First off, their title last was an example of how an unexpected team can win the NCAA Tournament, especially with a few breaks.

Connecticut’s big break was playing the Regional Finals at Madison Square Garden, where they enjoyed a nice home advantage.

That stated, their improbable run to a fourth men’s title in fifteen seasons was truly impressive and will resonate in college basketball lore.

This year they are one win away as today they are slight underdogs vs regular season champion S.M.U. (coached by Larry Brown) from qualifying for the NCAA Tournament despite at best a mediocre regular season.

Playing virtually at home in Hartford Connecticut, “U. Conn” was a huge favorite in its first game, just a slight underdog in its second game, a slight favorite in its third and as cited, a slight underdog in today’s title game.

Thus their chances of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament were not that formidable but bottom line is this Kevin Ollie coached team has won 9 consecutive must win games over a two season span and that is a true accomplishment in just about any sport at any point in time.

Kevin Ollie