Connecticut opened the season with uncertainty about how well the Huskies would replace major pieces from last year's run to the national championship.
Any questions had been answered well before Selection Sunday.
The second-ranked Huskies (31-3) will enter the NCAA Tournament as the overall No. 1 seed, headlining the East Region bracket that runs close to home. And they've spent long stretches of this season looking like a runaway train in overpowering opponents and chasing college basketball's first repeat title in 17 years.
They will start with their first top regional seed since a Final Four run in 2009 and a sixth time overall. The five-time champions open play Friday against 16th-seeded Stetson in New York.
“I know we've never gotten a No. 1 overall seed in program history,” coach Dan Hurley said after the Huskies won their first Big East Tournament title since 2011 on Saturday night, “so this is a group that seems to be making history in a place that it's hard to make history.”
Hurley's analysis went a step further, adding that UConn has “clearly been the best program in the country this year.”
It's hard to argue otherwise.
UConn leads the country in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency rankings entering Sunday’s final pre-tournament games, averaging 126.6 points per 100 possessions for the best output since 2018 champ Villanova (127.8). The Huskies also rank in adjusted defensive efficiency (94.4), joining Arizona and Auburn as the only teams to rank in the top 15 of both categories.
The team lost Final Four most outstanding player Adama Sanogo and sharpshooting guard Jordan Hawkins from last year’s title run as a No. 4 seed, with all six wins by 13+ points. Yet Tristen Newton has elevated into a lead scorer, the 7-foot-2 Donovan Clingan remains an imposing yet nimble presence, while new additions like Cam Spencer (transfer) and Stephon Castle (freshman) have the Huskies rolling again.
UConn leads the country in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency rankings entering Sunday’s final pre-tournament games, averaging 126.6 points per 100 possessions for the best output since 2018 champ Villanova (127.8). The Huskies also rank in adjusted defensive efficiency (94.4), joining Arizona and Auburn as the only teams to rank in the top 15 of both categories.
“There’s just not a lot of holes in the way that we play,” Hurley said.
UConn has lost once since Dec. 20 with its last eight wins coming by an average margin of 21.2 points. The Huskies are poised to return to the No. 1 ranking in Monday’s AP Top 25 poll, which will stand until a final edition comes April 9 after the NCAA championship game in Glendale, Arizona.
The question now is whether UConn can become the first to win back-to-back champs since Florida in 2006 and 2007.