A look at the Huskies’ dynasty, through the years
What a run The Uconn men's basketball team has won six national championships since 1999, that's an average of a title every four years. Here's a look back:
NO. 1 UCONN 77, DUKE 74 When, where: March 29, 1999, St. Petersburg, Fla.
What happened: Uconn proved it was no overmatched underdog against Duke, matching the mighty Blue Devils step-forstep early and then shutting things down late, stripping Trajan Langdon on the final possession to seal a 77-74 win. Looking back, the Huskies shouldn’t have been considered heavy underdogs. At 34-2 and Big East regular season and tournament champs, this was a college hoops juggernaut. But after years of coming up short, the Huskies needed to break down the door to the champions’ club to earn the national respect they deserved, and they did just that. Richard Hamilton cemented his Uconn legacy with a 27-point performance in the final and earned Final Four Most Outstanding Player honors.
NO. 2 UCONN 82, GEORGIA TECH 73 When, where: April 5, 2004: San Antonio
What happened: This was no underdog. Save for a national semifinal thriller against Duke (which was helped by some first-half foul calls against Emeka Okafor), the Huskies waltzed to the title in a season where there was little doubt they were the best team in the nation. Okafor and sidekick Ben Gordon led the way, but a loaded roster that included Taliek Brown, Josh Boone, Charlie Villanueva, Rashad Anderson, Denham Brown, and others were a cut above everyone else. Six members of that team went on to play in the NBA.
NO. 3 UCONN 53, BUTLER 41 When, where: What happened:
April 4, 2011: Houston
Kemba and the Kids completed their miracle run to the national championship, a quest that began as a .500 Big East team that arguably needed to win a game or two to cement its spot in the Big Dance. Five wins in five days at Madison Square Garden kickstarted this group’s confidence, and they were flying from there, taking out Kawhi Leonard and San Diego State, Derrick Williams and Arizona, and John Calipari’s Kentucky before outlasting Butler in an admittedly ugly title game. It was a thing of beauty for Huskies fans and for Jim Calhoun, who added a third national title to his sterling legacy.
NO. 4 UCONN 60, KENTUCKY 54 When, where: What happened:
April 7, 2014: Arlington, Texas
As if Uconn’s run in 2011 wasn’t improbable enough, the 2014 Huskies pulled off what remains their most unlikely run to a national title– and one of the most unlikely runs in NCAA history. Entering the tournament as a 7-seed, Uconn galvanized itself behind Kevin Ollie and Shabazz Napier, survived a first-round scare against St.
Joe’s, blew out Villanova and then rode the heavily pro-huskies crowd in ‘Storrs South,’ (Madison Square Garden) to the Final Four. From there, it seemed like a boulder rolling downhill. The Huskies toppled No. 1 overall seed Florida (whom they had beaten earlier in the season as well) and then out-gutted a game Kentucky squad in a hard-fought title game. Napier cemented his legacy as one of the all-time Huskies greats and Uconn had its fourth title.
NO. 5 UCONN 76, SAN DIEGO STATE 59 When, where: What happened:
April 3, 2023: Houston
Outside of Big East play, this Uconn team was, as the kids say, an absolute unit. The Huskies went unbeaten out-of-conference, and flipped a switch once they returned from a Big East semifinal loss to Marquette. Led by Andre Jackson Jr., Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins, Uconn transformed into an unbeatable juggernaut that ran through the NCAA Tournament with a near-historic margin of victory. A fifth national title seemed inevitable by the time the Sweet 16 rolled around, and indeed, it was. Huskies fans can argue about whether this team was better than the ’24 version, but at the very least, it set the foundation for a Uconn dynasty.
NO. 6 UCONN 75, PURDUE 60 When, where: April 8, 2024: Glendale,
Ariz.
What happened: Uconn dominated college basketball in a way few teams ever have. The 2024 Huskies had it all– sharpshooting wings in Cam Spencer and Alex Karaban, a dominant big in Donovan Clingan, an ingenious point guard in Tristen Newton, and boundless energy off the bench in Hassan Diarra and Samson Johnson.
Not to mention freshman sensation
Stephon Castle. This was a masterclass in coaching, from impeccable roster building to ingenious motivation tactics, to beautiful offensive design, Dan Hurley’s Huskies had it all. Not only will this Uconn team long be remembered as one of the best in program history, it’ll be thought of as one of the most dominant teams in recent memory– if not of all time.