17 and 18 burn me, because Pheesa and Katie Lou were the greatest to not lead their team to a title.
In '17 it was criminal for us to have to play so small, I felt so bad for Pheesa and Gabby battling giants in the post. A transfer could have fixed that if they were playing in the NIL era.
And then when we did have 6'-7" Azura in 2018, I felt like Geno should have let her cook against ND the 2nd half of that FF loss. But Geno gotta win (or lose) his way, so be it.
My vote was for 2017--that was Geno's best coaching job in 40+ years and the team's chemistry was off the charts. They looked a little rocky early on and turned into a juggernaut by mid year and steam rolled some very good teams. They looked like a clear step up from the rest of the country until the Mississippi State upset.
The next year they were even better on paper but I didn't think the chemistry was as solid. Napheesa/Stevens didn't work well together and I also think the top teams around the country were stronger this year. Mississippi State went undefeated in the regular season, Notre Dame nearly beat UCONN on the road in the regular season and Louisville was a powerhouse too. Notre Dame beating them was a massive upset at the time.
Going through the rest:
2025-26, they just weren't as tested and likely lose a couple regular season games if they played a tougher schedule IMO. Lost by 14 in the tournament.
2023-24, they got soundly beat early with a healthy Azzi at the start of the year and lost 6 games, I wouldn't include this team, it wasn't one of Geno's better non-winning teams. Also it was a clear moving screen, not a phantom one.
2020-21, UCONN had a really good team this year led by Paige as a freshman. It was the covid season so the schedule was strange. I thought they were going to win it all prior to the tournament. Arizona just soundly outplayed them, inexperience in UCONN's backcourt showed up and they couldn't find a rhythm (somewhat similar to the 2025-26 SC loss). Almost lost to Baylor in the Elite 8 too.
2010-11, definitely not the best team since they were over-reliant on Maya but I remember feeling like they were destined for a 3peat. They had a phenomenal season considering how young the supporting cast was and the Huskies were dominant outside of a few random games.
2007-08, similar to 2010-11, a really good team but they looked rattled in the Final Four and at various points during the season. Great record but they were much better the following season with Montgomery and Charles improving leaps and bounds.
2000-01, this team could be in the mix but they were better on paper than in reality. With both Shea/Svet healthy they were blown out by Notre Dame early on in the season and they also loss to a Tamika Catchings-less Tennessee despite both playing (Svet went down with injury late in the 2nd half). If you read
The Same River Twice, it documents that season in detail and I recall the synopsis being that the 2001 team just didn't appear to have the same magic of the 2000 or 2002 teams.
1996-97, some similarities to this year's team. They faced a lighter schedule but mostly dominated. Probably lose points for faltering prior to the Final Four, though losing Shea Ralph in the tournament contributes to that. Similar to the 2025-26 season, the other top teams were quite strong that year so a championship didn't feel like a guaranteed outcome entering the tournament.
1995-96, solid team, lost in OT in the Final Four. Would've been favored playing Georgia in the title game, although Georgia beat UCONN in the regular season. I don't think this team was as strong as a lot of other ones mentioned but was certainly a title contender.
