Changing UConn History

[B1GEast]

Donyell hits ONE FREE THROW with 3 seconds to go against Florida in '94. We have a clear path to our first NC five years sooner.

Bingo

 

[B1GEast]

It's nice to know we can have a thread like this and still have 4 recent titles to feel good about

 

[Rocktheworld]

None of the above. Had we won any of those momentous games in the past, it could have set off an unpredictable chain of events leading to a different future for UConn basketball. I don't want any uncertainty, so I'll take the 4 chips since 1999 and be thankful.

That said, I guess this past season's SMU game wouldn't have impacted past championships, so i'll vote for that one...

Unfortunately the OP specifically stipulates that the game must be from the JC era

 

[Matrim55]

The one that no one has mentioned that still grates at me is the 1996 loss to Mississippi State. We should have made the final four that year for sure.

Ahem.

The one caveat about that game is that our postseason run was annulled that year. So... yeah, I don't know. But it's a g****mn tragedy that Ray/Doron/Travis group didn't win a title to put an exclamation point on the most dominant 3-year Big East stretch in league history, save for Ewing's Georgetown group.

 

[Gurleyman]

1994 sucked - but our FF path wasn't as clear as we sometimes make it out to be. Donny would have probably been out, the team wasn't playing all that great in the buildup to the game (lost to PC in the BET, tied with Rider at half in 2-15 game, although looked better against GW in the second round), and the BC team we would have played in the Elite Eight took us to double overtime once when we had to rally back from 19 down in the second half and needed Sheffer and Donyell threes in the last minutes to force each of the overtimes.

Yes, we owned BC during that time frame - but that team at that time could have definitely beaten us.

 

[nomar]

If that 06 team somehow won a title, it would have still only been the second best UConn team of the Josh Boone Era. Never mind all of college basketball history.

They lost in a 1-8 game in their conference quarters, trailed by 12 in the second half of a 1-16 game and needed a miracle (and help from the stripes) to get out of the Sweet 16.

If anyone was old enough to be a Husky fan in 1990 and would reverse Mason '06 over Duke '90, they're crazy. Duke was heartbreaking, Mason felt like chickens coming home to roost. Although I totally agree with tk's point about history being altered. The euphoria of 1999 was enhanced by our searing hatred of Duke. That wouldn't have been there if Tate held the ball or if Chrissy missed.

I was at the George Mason game. It hurt. But that UConn team was fundamentally flawed and, I think, would have gotten beat up by Florida. I realize nobody here will admit that, but that's what I believe. Sure, we could have pulled the upset, but it was unlikely. Give me Donyell over Florida, Tate over Duke or Ray over UCLA any day of the week over that George Mason loss.

 

[Tk79]

Good point. I vote for a meaningless preseason game from the JC era so as to minimize any potential butterfly effect

 

[CAHUSKY]

Ahem.

The one caveat about that game is that our postseason run was annulled that year. So... yeah, I don't know. But it's a g****mn tragedy that Ray/Doron/Travis group didn't win a title to put an exclamation point on the most dominant 3-year Big East stretch in league history, save for Ewing's Georgetown group.

Good point. However, the level of shock and despair I felt after that game was unbelievable.

 

[JimHurley]

GEORGE MASON! If we beat them, we'd just have won title #5 last year.

 

[Robertelamin]

George Mason victory would have been followed by a game with Florida, a team that had two future Hall of Fame players on it.
No certain victory there.

Looking back I think Florida beats UConn in the Final Four had UConn advanced to be honest. I think if UConn beats UCLA in 1995 and Maryland in 2002 they win two more championships. Hats off to those teams because they were better but UConn was right there with them.

 

[Inyatkin]

Florida and Mississippi State are out -- neither would have put us in the Final Four, and we were Final Four or bust back then. 1990 makes sense, but that loss really did build up '99 into what it was (plus we'd have been slaughtered by UNLV). The point on Mason being chickens coming home to roost rings true. That team lived on the edge the entire last month of the season.
I'll go with Maryland 2002. That was a pretty unexpected run. We'd been out of the tournament the year before and didn't really turn into a national contender until late in the season. It was back and forth the whole way and deserves to be remembered among the best games we've played in over the years, but a win would've made it so much sweeter.
If we're including Ollie years, SMU this year is near the top, given the stakes.

 

[Husky1964]

Ray's three yrs. 49-5 in the toughest BB conference in the country.

 

[Gurleyman]

GEORGE MASON! If we beat them, we'd just have won title #5 last year.

Then again, if we got the whole tournament as a do over, we might lose to Albany.

Washington has more of a reason to lament 2006 than we do. They deserved to win the game they lost.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Tate hangs on to it, gets fouled, hits both, UConn wins 80-77 in OT. That team deserved a Final Four. Christian Laettner's shot never happened.

This is the one. Recruiting would have reached the level of the mid 90's a few years earlier, our BE dominance would have started a few years earlier and we would have been even further ahead of the pack and we very possibly could have added a couple of titles beyond what we did win.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

My pick - '94 Florida Regional Final. Loaded team, really wished Ray Allen won a title while at UConn, plus I would have been either on campus or bumming a ride to Charlotte for that game. Playing Duke (again) in the semifinal would have been intense and Arkansas was a very good team that year; but, I still like UConn's chances. I have never forgiven Donyell for those misses.

Second pick - '95 - Basically the same team as above; but, UConn lost in the regional final to the best team in the tournament that year in UCLA. Plus, if UConn had won, the nice young blonde co-ed from UCLA that I met on the train from Geneva to Munich shortly after that game would have never talked to me robbing me of a fun day with a beautiful girl sightseeing, drinking pints of beer, sightseeing back at our hostel in the shower, under the sheets, etc.

 

[Stainmaster]

Being in grade school during the George Mason game, I bawled my eyes out. Most visceral reaction I've ever had to a loss.
But I agree with the points being brought up about the uncertainty of that team being able to move past Florida. So I guess I'd have to go with 2002 UMD. I went to my first ever live game that season and it would've been so sweet to see them get title #2 that year.

 

[HuskyFich]

I would like to pick the Michigan St game in 09. That little blip keeps our F4 record less the perfect and I wanted that crew to get a ring so bad.
Although, if we go on to win the NC here...I don't think JC signs the extension in 2010. which could cancel out the 2011 ring

So maybe Ill be safe: George Mason!

 

[uconnfan68]

Undisputed George Mason for me, but there's been no love for the 6-OT game? I wish we would have pulled that one out.

I still haven't forgiven JC for not playing the 7' on the bench. Even if it was Jon Mandeldove. We needed a big in the end.

 

[joober jones]

Undisputed George Mason for me, but there's been no love for the 6-OT game? I wish we would have pulled that one out.

There were many games of No Mandeldove, but that's the 0 minute performance I remember from him the most.

 

[CL82]

Undisputed George Mason for me, but there's been no love for the 6-OT game? I wish we would have pulled that one out.

I believe the NCAA has already taken care of this. Wasn't the 6OT game part of the forfeited games?

 

[johnhuskies95]

Then again, if we got the whole tournament as a do over, we might lose to Albany.

Washington has more of a reason to lament 2006 than we do. They deserved to win the game they lost.

I don't know. Usually I agree with you, but I watched that game again about a month ago(great game by the way), and UConn got really sloppy at points in the first half, but they were right there the entire second half and then obviously it ended up going into overtime.

They shot better and rebounded better, the turnovers were what put Washington ahead towards the end of the first half.

 

[Ts5034]

Honesty, I believe any team in the country can have the same discussions that we are having right here in this thread. When you take part in a single elimination tournament as many times that we have, its just the hard truth that there will be some heartbreak. We have had a lot of tough losses in the tournament over the years and thats why the championship years feel so good...especially 1999 because it was the first one. As UConn fans, I think we appreciate them a lot more because of what we went through over the years to make it there.

On a side note, thats why I feel horrible for Arizona and Sean Miller. Losing in the elite 8 four years in a row is a killer. Three elite 8 losses and three sweet 16 losses in the 90's were tough for us as it is. I cant imagine being in their shoes.

 

[champs99and04]

I would have liked the 2009 Kentucky game at MSG to have turned out differently. It'd be nice to say we're 4-0 against Cal since he's been at Kentucky. Since it was from a non-tournament season, it probably wouldn't have altered history in any meaningful way.

 

[Gurleyman]

I don't know. Usually I agree with you, but I watched that game again about a month ago(great game by the way), and UConn got really sloppy at points in the first half, but they were right there the entire second half and then obviously it ended up going into overtime. They shot better and rebounded better, the turnovers were what put Washington ahead towards the end of the first half.

More just referring to the fact that they led pretty much the whole second half and we needed to score 9 points in our last 3 possessions to force OT, so they had us beat and it slipped away. I also thought the double tech that put Roy in foul trouble was bogus, but even if you feel he deserved it, that was at the very least a huge break that changed the game (I think another huge call went our way late).

 

[Dogbreath2U]

I was at the George Mason game. It hurt. But that UConn team was fundamentally flawed and, I think, would have gotten beat up by Florida. I realize nobody here will admit that, but that's what I believe. Sure, we could have pulled the upset, but it was unlikely. Give me Donyell over Florida, Tate over Duke or Ray over UCLA any day of the week over that George Mason loss.

I think that you are probably right about Florida in 2006, although it's hard to know how one team would match up against another.

In the game against Washington, I thought Brandon Roy was being an @ss that game, trying to intimidate Rudy. That technical was something that was building over the course of the game, much at his instigation IMHO.