Sometimes things are debatable. This really is not. #1 you forgot just how strong the Big East was that year. In the final AP poll before the BE tournament here are the rankings of BE teams: Pitt 3, ND 4, Syracuse 11, Louisville 14, St John’s 17, West Virginia 20, UConn 21, Georgetown 22, Cincinnati 25. Villanova was the top others receiving votes. Practically every game was a battle of ranked teams. The current #3 in the NBE would cry if they looked at a schedule like that! In the some things never change category, DePaul had 1 BE win and 4 total.
UConn was still ranked. No chance they were getting left out. Winning got them a higher seed for sure. But you want to talk battle tested, they were it. Plus they had wins over several other top 25 teams including Texas.