Why UConn basketball is a clear March Madness contender

UConn women’s basketball is one of the most dominant teams in the sport, but the men’s team has shown plenty of dominance of its own. The Huskies have won six national championships since 1999. They hope to win a seventh this year.

As Dan Hurley put it, UConn is “good at winning.”  The Huskies are 22-1 on the season, and a perfect 12-0 in Big East play. The only loss of the year came in their fifth game of the season, losing to Arizona 71-67. Since then, they have won 18 straight games, with ten of those games being double-digit victories. They are looking to win the Big East again in 2026. They last won the regular season in 2024, but before that, it was 2006. Meanwhile, they won the conference tournament as well in 2024, and also won in 2016.

UConn has shown dominance, led by a veteran squad. They are currently ranked third in the nation, and the play so far shows that UConn is a major contender in March Madness this year.

The defense is elite

The UConn offense has been good, but not great this year. They are ranked 25th in offensive efficiency ratings according to KenPom. Meanwhile, they are 84th in points per game, while sitting 76th in rebounds per game. Rebounding has been an issue at times for UConn this year, but they do not allow many rebounds, sitting 24th in opponent rebounds per game.

While the offense has had some struggles this year, the defense is elite. The Huskies are seventh in the nation in opponent points per game, and do not allow solid ball movement. They are second in the nation in opponent assists per game. There are not many weaknesses to attack if a team gets behind against UConn. They are fourth in the nation in opponent three-point attempts made, while being dominant on the inside.

UConn is sixth in the nation in oppopnent two point shooting while also sitting fifth in block percentage. Tarris Reed Jr. has been great in that regard,  having 1.9 blocks per game. Meanwhile, Eric Reibe has a block per game, while Alex Karaban has .9 blocks per game this season. They have also been stifling in the second half, allowing just 34 points in the second half per game. That is 15th in the nation. Having a solid defense will bring a team far in March, and UConn is one of the best on the defensive end of the court.

UConn is battle-tested

UConn has the 22nd ranked strenth of schedule according to KenPom this year. Of the top ten teams in the KenPom rankings, they are just one of five teams with a top 25 strength of schedule. The Huskies’ first major win of the season for the Huskies was over BYU, when they took an 86-86 victory. They then lost to Arizona 71-67. Arizona does not have a loss this year and has just one game with a closer margin than four points, which was a three-point win over BYU.

The Huskies also have a 13-point victory over Illinois. This is the same Illinois that has now won 12 straight games, just took their 20th win of the season, and also had a 40-point victory over Northwestern. The very next game was against another ranked opponent, Kansas. They took a 61-56 victory in that one. Since then, they have also defeated Florida and Texas in non-conference play.

UConn has six quad-1 wins already this year, which is only behind Arizona, Michigan, and Duke in terms of Q1 victories. Furthermore, their only loss of the year was to a Q1 team. The Huskies can also pick up their seventh quad-1 win this weekend on the road, as UConn visits St. John’s. If they sweep the Red Storm this year, it will give them at least eight quad-1 victories on the year.

The Huskies have a championship pedigree

Veteran leadership with winning experience is something that cannot be duplicated. They won the title in the 2022-23 season. That year had a redshirt freshman from IMG Academy playing 28.9 minutes per game, and averaging 9.3 points, with 4.5 rebounds per game. That player is Alex Karaban, who is playing 33.6 minutes per game and scoring 13.3 points per game this year. Karaban has played in the NCAA tournament three times, winning the national championship twice, while continuing to grow as a player.

The next year, when they won the tournament again, Hayden Ross and Solo Ball joined the team. Both of them are playing heavy minutes for the Huskies this year, and both saw time in that 2023-24 championship run. Meanwhile, transfers Malachi Smith and Silas Demary Jr both have NCAA Tournament experience, and fellow transfer Tarris Reed had some NIT experience from Michigan.

Most importantly, Dan Hurley is a winner. He took Rhode Island to the NCAA tournament in 2016-17 and 2017-18. They had not seen the NCAA tournament since 1998-99. He then came over to UConn. At UConn, he is 187-70 as the coach and has been to the tournament five straight years. Further, he also had his two national championships. Hurley has produced champions, and he has a team with champions on it. That experience is something that almost no other team in the tournament can say, and wit ill be difficult to contend against.

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