Furniture store risks entire future with $50m UConn Huskies NCAA National Championship gamble

The University of Connecticut men’s and women’s basketball teams are doing their very best to live up to Storrs, CT’s name of being the “Basketball Capital of the World.”

The Final Four portion of the NCAA Tournament – more commonly known as March Madness – is set to tip off on Friday night for the women’s tournament, and Saturday night for the men’s.

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UConn have seen both their Division I basketball programs advance to the 2026 semi-finals, with the No. 1 seed women’s team led by Geno Auriemma set to take on No. 1 seed South Carolina at the PHX Arena in Phoenix, Arizona.

The reigning National Champions’ route to the Final Four seemed like a lock, entering the NCAA Tournament with a 34-0 undefeated record, before proceeding to eliminate their last four opponents by an average of 32.5 points per game, with Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong leading the way.

The winner of their matchup against the Gamecocks will face either UCLA or Texas in the National Championship game.

While it has so far been all plain-sailing for Auriemma’s team, Dan Hurley’s team to the Final Four has been much more of a rollercoaster.

A dramatic last-gasp three-point attempt from Braylon Mullins sealed the come-from-behind victory over the Boozer twins and No. 1 seed Duke in the Elite Eight, summing up their tournament run to this point.

As the No. 2 seed, the Huskies will battle No. 3 Illinois Fighting Illini at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for a chance to play for the 2026 National Championship against either No. 1 Arizona Wildcats or No. 1 Michigan Wolverines.

In celebration of being the only college basketball program in the nation having a representative in both Final Four’s, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont announced that the weekend of April 3 through to April 6 will officially be known as “Connecticut Is the Basketball Capital of the World and the UConn Basketball Student-Athletes Are the Best and Most Talented in the Nation, So Let’s Support Our Huskies in Bringing the NCAA Championship Trophies Back Home Where They Belong Weekend”.

Bit of a mouthful, but a great honor nonetheless.

“I am so awestruck by the UConn basketball student-athletes for their elite-level performances that are setting a new standard in college sports and bringing an enormous amount of pride to Connecticut,” Governor Lamont said.

“It is beyond impressive to have one university deliver so many talented athletes and be so dominant at basketball like UConn. I urge everyone in Connecticut this weekend to support these teams, wear white and blue, and remind the nation that this is the state where champions are made.”

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This success at the collegiate level comes in the wake of the announcement that the state would be losing their professional WNBA team, after the Connecticut Sun were purchased by NBA franchise Houston Rockets‘ ownership group in a deal worth $300 million.

The Sun will therefore relocate to Houston, Texas, where the iconic Houston Comets‘ – the WNBA’s original dynasty – name is set to be resurrected.

Jordan’s Furniture’s $50m bet on the Huskies to win it all

While many people put money on the March Madness tournament, one furniture store in Massachusetts is putting $50 million on the line.

Earlier this season, Jordan’s Furniture launched a promotion after recently opening stores across the state in Connecticut.

Their promotion stated that they would refund all purchases made between Jan. 20 and March 1 – equating to approximately $50 million in revenue – if both UConn men’s and women’s programs reach the National Championship game.

With both teams now just one win away from securing their places in the title game, some would think former Jordan’s Furniture president Eliot Tatelman, who has since handed the family company down to his sons, would be actively rooting against the Huskies.

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But it turns out that it’s quite the opposite.

“People think, ‘Oh, Eliot doesn’t want them to win,’” Tatelman told Front Office Sports. “Of course I want them to win! We buy insurance!”

Jordan’s has a larger sponsorship deal with the school’s athletic department, with the retailer also being the official furniture store of Huskies athletics.

Tatelman believes that the promotion being run has boosted business in their favor also, due to viral social media posts and interview opportunities seeing their market value soar.

“If they lost the first game, would it be as strong? Probably not, because nobody cares,” Tatelman added. “But now, as it’s getting close to the end, and they’ve only got two more games to win, and they’ve won the others, this is getting very exciting, and it’s putting us more on the map.

“Everybody’s watching it. And everybody that bought furniture and this happens—if this happens, and they get free furniture, every person is gonna tell everybody they know. ‘I just got a whole new living room for nothing!’”

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Should both Connecticut teams emerge victorious and win titles, it’ll mark the third occasion that they’ve won championships in the same seasons (2004, 2014).

No other school has ever achieved such feat even once.

Therefore, it seems that everyone in and around the state of Connecticut will be chanting ‘Go Huskies’ this weekend, even Jordan’s Furniture in the neighboring state of Massachusetts.

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