Best CBB Finals Last 30 Years | The Boneyard

Best CBB Finals Last 30 Years

Somebody spoil it. Where do ours fall on their list?
We've run the gamut on the quality of games in our seven appearances.
99 was obviously incredible, 14 was competitive, 11 was beautiful to UConn fans only, 04 a blowout, 23 and 24 had their moments but not many, 26 was in doubt with a few minutes to play.
 
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upstater said:
I can.
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Me too. What’s the expression “a face only a mother can love?” I loved the way we totally took Butler’s will away. Just ripped their spirit right from their souls. Just wish Kemba had a better day for the “cherry on top” of his run - but I think holding the trophy works well too.
 
RuffRuff said:
So do it
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UConn shot 50% in the second half. We had our full contingent out there.

A ridiculous display of fouls in the first half caused us to close out the last 7 or 8 minutes with our starters on the bench and we went 10 deep in the NC game. That's when all the clanging happened.

Meanwhile, on defense, Calhoun had his finest defensive moments as a high octane offensive team in Butler was clamped down in a way no one had ever seen before. This same UConn team had totally destroyed the competition in previous games as no team shot better than 30% against them. Kentucky was similarly clamped down even though they had a zillion future NBA stars.

The ugly shooting %s were a result of the horrendous amount of fouls in the first half. Go check out the final part of the half when UConn didn't have a starter out there and we didn't hit a single bucket.

It felt like we were Illinois in '24 or St Johns at Hartford this year.

But then you look at the guys on the floor and you understand why.

Like I said, 50% shooting in the second half for UConn until the final minute when they ran clock and threw stuff up there at second 29.
 
upstater said:
UConn shot 50% in the second half. We had our full contingent out there.

A ridiculous display of fouls in the first half caused us to close out the last 7 or 8 minutes with our starters on the bench and we went 10 deep in the NC game. That's when all the clanging happened.

Meanwhile, on defense, Calhoun had his finest defensive moments as a high octane offensive team in Butler was clamped down in a way no one had ever seen before. This same UConn team had totally destroyed the competition in previous games as no team shot better than 30% against them. Kentucky was similarly clamped down even though they had a zillion future NBA stars.

The ugly shooting %s were a result of the horrendous amount of fouls in the first half. Go check out the final part of the half when UConn didn't have a starter out there and we didn't hit a single bucket.

It felt like we were Illinois in '24 or St Johns at Hartford this year.

But then you look at the guys on the floor and you understand why.

Like I said, 50% shooting in the second half for UConn until the final minute when they ran clock and threw stuff up there at second 29.
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Here's the issue - you're being defensive as a UConn fan.

Now put yourself in an outsiders POV - the game was gross. Wasn't well played, tons of missing, slow.

It's deservedly dead last on that list.

The score was 53-41 for God's sake. You cannot defend it, at all. It was the worst game, and not sure it's even close.
Gurleyman said:
Me too. What’s the expression “a face only a mother can love?” I loved the way we totally took Butler’s will away. Just ripped their spirit right from their souls. Just wish Kemba had a better day for the “cherry on top” of his run - but I think holding the trophy works well too.
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Yeah, seeing it from a UConn fan's POV. If we were making this list with that perspective, it would be the 6th best.
 
The Butler game was ugly, but the 10 games leading up to that point were pretty awesome. I always say, who cares we won.
 
Dutch Boyd said:
The Butler game was ugly, but the 10 games leading up to that point were pretty awesome. I always say, who cares we won.
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Super satisfying, and a great run - it's just that NC game was not exactly a classic. Title is a title.
 
RuffRuff said:
Here's the issue - you're being defensive as a UConn fan.

Now put yourself in an outsiders POV - the game was gross. Wasn't well played, tons of missing, slow.

It's deservedly dead last on that list.

The score was 53-41 for God's sake. You cannot defend it, at all. It was the worst game, and not sure it's even close.

Yeah, seeing it from a UConn fan's POV. If we were making this list with that perspective, it would be the 6th best.
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No.

The defensive run UConn went on was unparalleled. It wasn't just one game.

Go look at what they did in previous games to get a sense of how monumental that was.

And then realize that outside a freakout by the refs in the final 10 minutes, UConn shot well.

You can always say, as a fan who doesn't know, "that was so ugly!" But in fact, we had independent media back then write about the historical defensive run UConn went on and why it should be appreciated. That's not a UConn fan.

This is like watching the 2021 Super Bowl Bengals vs. Rams and saying it was a great game because it was close. For me, it was the worst Super Bowl of the last 30 years until this recent one (2025-2026). Why? Because the teams played pattycake. They didn't execute. The game had excitement because the teams were close, but the level of play was the worst I had ever seen. It was both teams playing soft.

This is not the case for the '11 CG. Outside of those final 10 minutes of the 1st when our starters sat, UConn was on a good pace. Butler was not, but that makes Butler yet another victim of the greatest defensive team of the modern era.
 
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1st - (tie, listed chronologically) 1999, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2023, 2024

7th - 2026

Last (tie) - remaining 23 finals.
 
upstater said:
No.

The defensive run UConn went on was unparalleled. It wasn't just one game.

Go look at what they did in previous games to get a sense of how monumental that was.

And then realize that outside a freakout by the refs in the final 10 minutes, UConn shot well.

You can always say, as a fan who doesn't know, that was so ugly! But you'd be wrong. In fact, we had independent media back then right about the historical defense run UConn went on and why it should be appreciated. That's not a UConn fan.

This is like watching the 2021 Super Bowl Bengals vs. Rams and saying it was a great game because it was close. For me, it was the worst Super Bowl of the last 30 years until this recent one (2025-2026). Why? Because the teams played pattycake. They didn't execute. The game had excitement because the teams were close, but the level of play was the worst I had ever seen. It was both teams playing soft.

This is not the case for the '11 CG. Outside of those final 10 minutes of the 1st when our starters sat, UConn was on a good pace. Butler was not, but that makes Butler yet another victim of the greatest defensive team of the modern era.
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Butler shot 3-31 from 2 and 19% overall. Uconn shot 35%.

The game had 94 total points. Uconn didn't have some kind of juggernaut defense that year.

Butler wasn't even ranked most of the year and an 8 seed. Uconn 3.

It was, and it's not even close, the worst NC on that list to anyone not a UConn fan. An argument otherwise is totally homerish. It was an utter eyesore, yet sweet for Uconn fans.
 
RuffRuff said:
Butler shot 3-31 from 2 and 19% overall. Uconn shot 35%.

The game had 94 total points. Uconn didn't have some kind of juggernaut defense that year.

Butler wasn't even ranked most of the year and an 8 seed. Uconn 3.

It was, and it's not even close, the worst NC on that list to anyone not a UConn fan. An argument otherwise is totally homerish. It was an utter eyesore, yet sweet for Uconn fans.
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NCAA tournament UConn held Bucknell to 52 points, Cincinnati to 58 points, San Diego State to 67 points, Arizona to 63 points, Kentucky to 55 points, Butler to 41 points. UConn's defense was downright nasty and a juggernaut late in the season.
 
Sports Illustrated had a great breakdown of our title game defense. It was not just about Butler missing shots. We took them out of their game in a way that, for instance, Pitt didn’t come close to doing.

Not aesthetically pleasing, but just as impressive as if we’d won 110-95 or something
 
superjohn said:
NCAA tournament UConn held Bucknell to 52 points, Cincinnati to 58 points, San Diego State to 67 points, Arizona to 63 points, Kentucky to 55 points, Butler to 41 points. UConn's defense was downright nasty and a juggernaut late in the season.
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Definitely a sick run in the March. Doesn't make that final any better. And I'm talking about from a non-UConn fan, which is most of the universe, which may be a surprise to most here.
 
Case in point this board will argue about anything that doesn't pander to uconn...that '11 final was atrocious. I loved it because I'm a uconn fan and I would watch it a dozen times over - it could have been 25-18 final score for all I care, because we still get our NC. That was some truly great defense, but some truly ugly basketball to watch from a neutral perspective - they don't have to be mutually exclusive, it's fine.
 
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RuffRuff said:
Definitely a sick run in the March. Doesn't make that final any better. And I'm talking about from a non-UConn fan, which is most of the universe, which may be a surprise to most here.
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I was only pointing out that UConn's defense was very much a juggernaut late in the season.
 
upstater said:
No.

The defensive run UConn went on was unparalleled. It wasn't just one game.

Go look at what they did in previous games to get a sense of how monumental that was.

And then realize that outside a freakout by the refs in the final 10 minutes, UConn shot well.

You can always say, as a fan who doesn't know, that was so ugly! But you'd be wrong. In fact, we had independent media back then right about the historical defense run UConn went on and why it should be appreciated. That's not a UConn fan.

This is like watching the 2021 Super Bowl Bengals vs. Rams and saying it was a great game because it was close. For me, it was the worst Super Bowl of the last 30 years until this recent one (2025-2026). Why? Because the teams played pattycake. They didn't execute. The game had excitement because the teams were close, but the level of play was the worst I had ever seen. It was both teams playing soft.

This is not the case for the '11 CG. Outside of those final 10 minutes of the 1st when our starters sat, UConn was on a good pace. Butler was not, but that makes Butler yet another victim of the greatest defensive team of the modern era.
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Someone (Luke Winn, maybe) wrote a great piece after the '11 title game asserting that we put on a world-class defensive performance.

But if you're looking at this objectively, for entertainment value, it's the ugliest game to watch.

Out of the 6 UConn wins, where would you rank it? Out of the 7 UConn title games, is there one the average fan would skip in order to watch us beat Butler 53-41?
 
RuffRuff said:
Butler shot 3-31 from 2 and 19% overall. Uconn shot 35%.

The game had 94 total points. Uconn didn't have some kind of juggernaut defense that year.

Butler wasn't even ranked most of the year and an 8 seed. Uconn 3.

It was, and it's not even close, the worst NC on that list to anyone not a UConn fan. An argument otherwise is totally homerish. It was an utter eyesore, yet sweet for Uconn fans.
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I could've sworn you were around then.

You're telling me that defense wasn't a juggernaut, seriously? There were articles in the national media about it and how the defense was unprecedented? You really don't remember this. They held teams to under 40% in the tournament.

Just as an example, they held Kentucky to 55 pts in the previous game in the F4,

As for the 35% you just ignored everything I wrote about the shooting % so there's no point in having this discussion. UConn shot 50% in the second half. In the first half, they pulled the starters and went 10 deep for the end of the second half and didn't hit a basket. The backups clanged everything because the starters were ALL in foul trouble.
 
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upstater said:
I could've sworn you were around then.

You're telling me that defense wasn't a juggernaut, seriously? There were articles in the national media about it and how the defense was unprecedented? You really don't remember this.

As for the 35% you just ignored everything I wrote about the shooting % so there's no point in having this discussion if you ignore the facts.
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15th KP on D in the country, after that run. Great run.

Let's not over annoint them, they played a slowed down deliberate half court. They also only scored 53, 55, 65, 67.

The whole point here is that it was the worst championship game in the last 30 years, which it was. No one wants to see a mid major go in and score 41 pts in a CG in a game where no one could shoot.
 
RuffRuff said:
Definitely a sick run in the March. Doesn't make that final any better. And I'm talking about from a non-UConn fan, which is most of the universe, which may be a surprise to most here.
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Are you one of these people that can't appreciate defense?

Because once may be an aberration. But shutting down team after team after team is not because everyone shoots poorly against you.
 
I'll say this for the rest of you too. The 35% shooting for UConn was almost entirely caused by what happened in the last 7 minutes of the 1st half when they took shot after shot after shot and didn't make one. Otherwise they shot 50% that game.

Now, you can say every game has bad stretches and that sort of thing always figures into the final shooting %, but when Kemba, Lamb, Napier, Oriakhi and Roscoe aren't on the floor because they all have 2 fouls, and you're relying on Okwandu, Beverly, Olander and Coombs-McDaniel for your offense, don't be surprised if things go south in the national championship game when it comes to shooting.

That was unprecedented. I can't remember UConn having to sit EVERYBODY with 2 fouls in such a big game. It almost happened in the first half against Michigan when Tarris, Demary and Solo all had to sit in the first half. Thankfully we had Karaban, Mullins, Ross, and Malachi out there, a much deeper team than 2011. But it was the same scenario.
 
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RuffRuff said:
I thought it was solid. We take last place and second. That Butler game was the worst final of all time, and you can't debate it.
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I think the arena backdrop was a problem
It was pretty painful , but a lot more painful for a Butler fan
 
upstater said:
Are you one of these people that can't appreciate defense?

Because once may be an aberration. But shutting down team after team after team is not because everyone shoots poorly against you.
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I can appreciate defense - even the best defense doesn't keep an opponent to 3-31 from 2, lol. Much of that is simply bad shooting. It's not like UConn has some unbelievable rim protector.

It is, without a shadow of a doubt, the worst CG game of the last 30 years. I think every single non UConn fan would agree. That is the point of the video.
 
RuffRuff said:
I can appreciate defense - even the best defense doesn't keep an opponent to 3-31 from 2, lol. Much of that is simply bad shooting. It's not like UConn has some unbelievable rim protector.

It is, without a shadow of a doubt, the worst CG game of the last 30 years. I think every single non UConn fan would agree. That is the point of the video.
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So bad shooting 6 games in a row?

I care about me, not hater fans. Most fans hate UConn at this point.

Are you OK? We're talking about more than one game. Why do you keep ignoring that?

And also the rest of what I wrote. This is your 4th response and each time you just ignore everything and say the same thing.
 
upstater said:
So bad shooting 6 games in a row?

I care about me, not hater fans. Most fans hate UConn at this point.

Are you OK? We're talking about more than one game. Why do you keep ignoring that?

And also the rest of what I wrote. This is your 4th response and each time you just ignore everything and say the same thing.
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The list was about 1 game, not 6. It was best and worst NC games of all time. I'm certainly not gonna argue the full run, it was amazing and one of the best ever. The NC just happened to be a stinker.

I kind of answered your other pieces through the fact that the game itself, was not a good one to any standard observer, not a UConn fan that is able to dive into the details of the game. High octane offense lost me - they were a team that went on a miraculous run a season long unranked mid major 8 seed that scored mainly in the 60's all tournament. I think you're building it up far more than any casual or standard fan would see. The game stunk.

When one team shoots 19% from the field, it's not about defense alone. The best defenses of all time didn't keep opponents to that kind of %.
 
RuffRuff said:
The list was about 1 game, not 6. It was best and worst NC games of all time. I'm certainly not gonna argue the full run, it was amazing and one of the best ever. The NC just happened to be a stinker.

I kind of answered your other pieces through the fact that the game itself, was not a good one to any standard observer, not a UConn fan that is able to dive into the details of the game. High octane offense lost me - they were a team that went on a miraculous run a season long unranked mid major 8 seed that scored mainly in the 60's all tournament. I think you're building it up far more than any casual or standard fan would see. The game stunk.

When one team shoots 19% from the field, it's not about defense alone. The best defenses of all time didn't keep opponents to that kind of %.
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Sigh.

The proof of their defensive strength was 6 games.

I can't believe I even had to write that!

But again, you ignored most of what I wrote and just keep saying the same thing.

Butler wasn't as good as Kentucky or Arizona or San Diego St, for that matter, but Butler ran into the same defense that sucked the life out of all 3 of those teams. When Kentucky is shooting 30%, no surprise that Butler shot 20%.

So you can see it from UConn's side (UConn shutting down EVERYONE) but also Butler's side. Butler shot 56% from 2 against Florida and 52% from 2 against Wisconsin.
 
upstater said:
Sigh.

The proof of their defensive strength was 6 games.

I can't believe I even had to write that!

But again, you ignored most of what I wrote and just keep saying the same thing.

Butler wasn't as good as Kentucky or Arizona or San Diego St, for that matter, but Butler ran into the same defense that sucked the life out of all 3 of those teams. When Kentucky is shooting 30%, no surprise that Butler shot 20%.

So you can see it from UConn's side (UConn shutting down EVERYONE) but also Butler's side. Butler shot 56% from 2 against Florida and 52% from 2 against Wisconsin.
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You have to realize my friend, that in the history of CBB, no legitimate NC contender shoots 3-31 from two. No one. That's 9%. We did not have Hakeen Olajuwon on the roster, or Gary Payton. So you can credit the UConn D all you want, a lot of it was simply bad shooting/basketball.

And even if you want to credit the D, it still does not keep it from being awful basketball. No one wants to watch a 53-41 NC game where the losing team loses by 30% of their total points. We can peal it apart 100 ways, but it doesn't change the outcome and product of it being a really hard to watch basketball game. There was no thrilling ending, that halftime score was 22-19 BUTLER.

The 2011 and 2014 teams are widely considered the least impressive NC's of the last 30 years, and the data supports it. Great runs though. So tell me more why that was a great NC game. You can poll the other 350 fanbases and I'm pretty sure they'd all agree. You can probably poll hoop lovers non UConn, and they'd likely agree. I'm not taking away how great it was to UConn fans.
 
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