Final Four or Championship #6

[YoungFree]

What about get out of the first weekend and then Sweet 16 and Elite 8?

The road is the most difficult it has been thanks to the inept, money-grubbing, college sports ruining NCAA so let's just go prove ourselves every game, shutdown the naysayers, and root for all the underdogs besides us.

 

[Askgreek]

What about get out of the first weekend and then Sweet 16 and Elite 8?

The road is the most difficult it has been thanks to the inept, money-grubbing, college sports ruining NCAA so let's just go prove ourselves every game, shutdown the naysayers, and root for all the underdogs besides us.

I concur...if we can get to the final four, I believe we will win it all. The west bracket is weak and I fear no team in that bracket. Whoever we face in the championship game is going to have all the pressure, as the wagon of Connecticut will have arrived as the steamrolling defending national champion. That will be tough to overcome physiologically, whoever the team...

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I don't think this team is as good as last year's, in terms of raw talent. Sanogo was automatic when we needed a basket and Clingan was brought in after the tenderizing began. Cam is a high IQ shooter with great fundamentals, but he's not Hawkins. I guess Castle can be compared to Andre but Andre was an intangible machine that the entire team fed off of. The road should be harder this time.

Spencer is a much more valuable piece of this team than Hawkins was to his. I don't think that's really even debatable.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

To be fair. If I look at the program holistically (including last year's NC and the success so far - BE RS/BET champions) then I would be satisfied with at least an Elite 8 run. It feels extremely spoiled of me to ask for more than that just to be satisfied.

With that said - I obviously would love for them to win the whole darn thing. I surely think we have that 7-headed monster as they say. so why not? They have shown they are elite, that they are the best of the best all season long. They are the best suited to run through this tournament

 

[jibsey]

The season is a success. The team will think of it as failure if they don’t win it all. But how many school fan bases want to be us?

 

[ecasadoSBU]

The season is a success. The team will think of it as failure if they don’t win it all. But how many school fan bases want to be us?

EXACTLY! Well said!!!

 

[KembaRunner]

They're not as good, they're much much better

We’re much better than last year’s regular season team and there’s no way to dispute that earnestly.

But something changed when we got to the dance. Are we better than the team we saw in MM that beat the crap out of everyone by at least 15pts? That remains to be seen.

 

[BigTenFan]

Almost every analyst and 'expert' has UConn winning again- that rarely happens when there is consensus. Incredible PR for the team and University

 

[05Alum]

I'd never thought I'd be in this camp, but even if they didn't make the final four I don't think I could ever consider this a disappointing year. Such a tremendous regular season, they exceeded expectations and accomplished everything they possibly could with a dominating regular season title and conference championship. First ever #1 overall seed in NCAA's as well. This year in certain ways legitimized the program further than last years team.
If they lay an egg of a game or lose due to on fire shooting or poor matchup, I'd chalk it up to bad timing and look forward to the rebuild for next year.

 

[ec33]

Before the brackets came out I likely would have said, "Final Four - though it would hurt" - but after the release getting there will likely be more challenging than winning once there.

 

[Waquoit]

Of course I want to win it all again, but back-to-back is so hard. If we lose I'll be disappointed, but not as disappointed as the guys on the team will be.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

If they win a game the second weekend they're going to be further than any defending champ since Florida in '07. Any loss is going to be crushing but, again, only one team left ends its season with a win. This has been a fantastic season that's been great for the brand. If happens, it happens. Life goes on. They gotta win one 4 team tournament this weekend and go from there.

 

[tzznandrew]

If they win a game the second weekend they're going to be further than any defending champ since Florida in '07. Any loss is going to be crushing but, again, only one team left ends its season with a win. This has been a fantastic season that's been great for the brand. If happens, it happens. Life goes on. They gotta win one 4 team tournament this weekend and go from there.

Right. The goal has to be to get to Boston and then let the chips fall where they may.

I think they got a great draw in Stetson and FAU/Northwestern. They should beat each of these teams by a lot. Once we're in Boston, things get more difficult. Even if the bracket is absolutely busted, we've seen an 11-seed can ruin what looked like an obvious path the the Final Four.

 

[HuskyHawk]

So who is setting up the Boneyard Bracket Challenge at ESPN this year?

 

[jimva]

Maybe it’s just me but I don’t see how any fan could be happy with anything less than #6 given that we are the overall #1 seed.

#arrogant #spoiled

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Maybe it’s just me but I don’t see how any fan could be happy with anything less than #6 given that we are the overall #1 seed.

Because we've all watched the tournament before?

 

[Improviser]

I surely think we have that 7-headed monster as they say. so why not?

Maybe even an 8-headed monster. if Stewart keeps playing the way he has been playing lately.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Because we've all watched the tournament before?

Sometimes watched it when we weren't even in it. This is fun, win or lose.

 

[SwingDog]

Obviously, I'd be thrilled to see them win another championship, and for Cam to win his first, but I am taking this one game at a time. With the very best of teams going head to head and lesser known ones believing they have a chance to slay a giant, anything can happen which is what makes this time of year so exciting. I am proud of the team for their incredible accomplishments thus far and as I get older I find the character building and player development aspects very satisfying to witness. Looking forward to the matchup versus Stetson on Friday and we'll see what happens after that. I love how Hurley has this team zeroed in on their next game without looking ahead.

 

[Kembacity]

Just want everyone here to be real and make sure you understand every team out there has a great team that falls short. We are incredibly lucky as a fanbase to have our record in the final four, it’s almost unheard of.

I think that’s why so many of us are in the “somewhat satisfied with a FF” bucket. If you demand every team win the championship you’re a sore loser and a bad fan of a good team

 

[Shamon30]

If you say you won't be disappointed if this team loses a game from here on out, you're lying. No matter how great of a year they have, the lasting stinging memory would be losing in the tournament, if it happens. Unfortunately that's the nature of the business, especially when you've proven to be the best team in the country. They are just having a preposterously, historically great season, so no matter what it would be disappointing if they lose.

If they do lose, it doesn't change the stature of the program, though. Not as long as Hurley is around. This 2 year run will pay dividends on the recruiting trail for years to come.

Pretty much. That's why we remember the 05-06 team the way we do.

 

[tzznandrew]

Pretty much. That's why we remember the 05-06 team the way we do.

We remember them the way we do because they sleepwalked through all the post-season games. Lost first BET game and then nearly lost every single game in the NCAAT. They were down way too much to Albany late, struggled with a mediocre UK team, needed a miracle to beat Washington.

That, and as much we really like our own guys—and as much as I enjoyed watching Marcus play—we had a real villain vibe that year. Marcus & AJ with the laptops, others accusing us of buying Gay, etc. It was a year we had to embrace being the bad guy, but then they didn't come to play in a single post-season tournament. And still nearly stumbled into the Final Four.

 

[TheChamps990411]

It would be disappointing not to win the championship given how far we've gotten, but I would absolutely be satisfied with the season to "only" make the Final Four.

This team gets to the Final 4 and theyll win it all. My fear and ive said for a month is whoever we face in the Sweet 16. We shouldve had Duke as a 4 seed but they were put into witness protection from us and we got stuck with Auburn. Auburn is extremely dangerous and theyll get a week to prepare for us with a coach like Bruce Pearl. If we get passed that game i think we win it all because honestly i think one of these two is cutting down the nets. Maybe im wrong and over estimating them but this was the one team that actually concerns me. I think we`ll win but if their backcourt gets hot from the outside we will have our hands full.

 

[BugsyCT]

Only 2 schools have repeated since the Wooden dynasty. Much tougher to do in the modern game. It would be a tremendous feat to be in that company.

 

[tzznandrew]

Only 2 schools have repeated since the Wooden dynasty. Much tougher to do in the modern game. It would be a tremendous feat to be in that company.

Programs that have won back-to-back championships:

Oklahoma State (then A&M) (1945-1946)
Kentucky (1948-1949)
San Francisco (1955-1956)
Cincinnati (1961-1962)
UCLA 7x (1964-1965, 1967-1973)
Duke (1991-1992)
Florida (2006-2007)

It's a small list, filled mostly with all-time great programs, coaches, or players.