James Breeding

[Mr. French]

They didn't have to rig it. All they had to do was assign the final game to Breeding and let his vindictive nature take over. They knew the history between him and Hurley and they knew what our record was in games he reffed. Why are Big East refs working the finals with a Big East team in it anyway? Shouldn't have had a crew from either teams conference. How hard is it to have an ACC or SEC crew? Neither conference was represented in the Final 4. Too logical for the NCAA I guess.

Any normal situation, having big east refs reffing a big east powerhouse would be bad for MICHIGAN, somehow we get the ref that hates us. Weird lil coinkeedink

 

[gtcam]

They didn't have to rig it. All they had to do was assign the final game to Breeding and let his vindictive nature take over. They knew the history between him and Hurley and they knew what our record was in games he reffed. Why are Big East refs working the finals with a Big East team in it anyway? Shouldn't have had a crew from either teams conference. How hard is it to have an ACC or SEC crew? Neither conference was represented in the Final 4. Too logical for the NCAA I guess.

No logic was involved only several motives

 

[Icehawk]

I don't like to complain about the refs, it feels weak/easy but there is no way the refs for the FF4/Final should be from the conferences represented to assure there isn't any prexisting bias.

I'd also say officiating overall in the NCAA is terrible, both my wife and mother have asked me multiple times this year just what exactly a foul is and the only real answer is "whatever the ref feels like".

All that said, this is nothing new to the Huskies and just another hurdle to leap over on the way to more victories. Dangit, we almost did this time too. More fuel for the fire!


Also, if you are feeling down just remember we wrecked Duke's year

 

[UCFan1513]

I wish I could just be sad about the game but I hate Cadeau and Breeding. Watched Cadeau a bunch this year and hes been pulling dirty BS all year. Him and TKR from Purdue. Other coaches hate Dusty May, partially from his overuse of the portal but also because they think he coaches dirty tactics. Johnson was pulling similar stuff. Its come up again and again this year. It goes way beyond the annoying way Coach K would teach the charge flop. So F Cadeau, May, Johnson, Michigan, and of course James InBreeding.

Well said. The next Natty will feel that much sweeter though

 

[giddyup]

Sadly, I doubt UConn will press the issue to avoid being labeled a sore loser. The average person knows we were screwed and the king as no clothes. As far as the BE is concerned, this crap has to stop. I don’t expect any favoritism, but the bias and disrespect we take from our conference is unacceptable. It’s like the objective is always to kick the golden goose that pays the bills. The underlying motivation is they know damn well we will be out the door at the first opportunity, so they need to build a new brand contender at our expense.

 

[RuffRuff]

Ruff my man, you’re on it in this thread.

If anyone objectively can view that game, with Breeding’s history, as fairly called, you’re lying. Refs miss calls without a conspiracy behind it all the time. This wasn’t that.

No way - there were too many. If we got half of the missed/bad calls our way, we are in a position to win.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

For what it's worth, the Refs for the FF games and the NC game were announced together, before we even advanced.

So, it wasn't an intentionally-orchestrated conspiracy. But they clearly set the refs knowing what teams could possibly make it.

I distinctly remember seeing Breeding and High Knees in the NC game list, and telling my friends "Let's beat Illinois, but when we get to the NC game, it'll be a real tough one with those two clowns on the whistle."

Sadly, they delivered.

Woulda been interesting in a parallel universe to see how they would have ref'd the NC game if it was Illinois-Michigan instead...

 

[willie99]

I believe they announce the 11 Final Four refs before the weekend, including two alternates

If Breeding is not an alternate, then he should have been assigned the MI vs AZ game. I hope the powers that be realize he changed the game, the man is pure scum

 

[sledog]

Is this the revenge site?

ps - I don't like how UC got jobbed

 

[TheShot1990]

I can live with the loss because we just needed to hit a few more 3's and didn't. But Cadeau is a dirty, flopping little whiny punk who's bad behavior was rewarded by the refs. They even reviewed a play for a flagrant where he threw Silas on the ground and didn't even call a basic foul. And rewarding him 3 FTs at the beginning of the game for jumping into Silas while throwing the ball up in the air was a crime. All those little things matter in a low scoring game this big.

The fact that May not only tolerates but supports this behavior tells me all I need to know about May.

 

[Waquoit]

Sadly, I doubt UConn will press the issue to avoid being labeled a sore loser.

Not sadly. UConn already has one poor sport coach. Hurley played it perfectly.

 

[uconnbill]

All I wanted was to call it both ways. If you call it on UConn for hands, then you have to call it on Michigan as well. That didn't happen, and it took UConn out of their game after the first 10 minutes of the game.

 

[UConnSportsGuy]

The average person knows we were screwed and the king as no clothes.

Unfortunately, that is not true at all. With the media and NCAA acting like there were no issues, the average person has no idea because they do not think for themselves.

If you compiled a video and masked the uniforms and showed the average person the plays/fouls they would say that game was fixed. But I don't think the average person actually has that perspective right now and has no idea what a joke that game was from an officiating perspective.

Someone really needs to compile a video of all of the dirty plays and non-calls from Michigan and then show the fantom calls that put the majority of our starting lineup on the bench for the majority of the game.

Just a video of Cadeau's dirty plays, flopping, and missed calls on a reel compared to the complete joke of fouls that Demary got called on would be incredible to watch. Complete joke if you were to look at that comparison.

 

[DRBackup]

for one Cadeau would have fouled out of the game

Indeed. As it was he ended up with 2 in the first half, but that would have been three

 

[DRBackup]

If Ackerman doesn’t publicly address this issue, she needs to be replaced

She needs to be replaced, regardless

 

[Fishy]

I am still in shock over the way they allowed Johnson and that Dook like guard push, pull and bulldoze on nearly every play and yet the whistle blew every time that UConn even touched aMichigan player. Michigan was allowed to play their usual hooligan B10 game while UConn was held to a middle school standard. I also complain little about the refs but my God, every time they showed a replay of any sort, one could clearly see there were uncalled fouls against UM players.
Yes, UConn fouls a lot, way too much, but to watch this game and to think UConn fouled more than UM last night is just laughable. Dan Hurley is his own enemy at times but he and his team deserved better from the NCAA.
Someone needs to print that picture of Breeding in the Michigan shirt on a T-shirt and if enough people wear one the message about that incompetent and biased Breeding will be loud and clear.
If Ackerman doesn’t publicly address this issue, she needs to be replaced, the same goes for AD David Benedict who needs to find a pair for a change.
Even though a pure pipe dream- I would love to hear an honest opinion from Dusty May (who I feel is a Calipari with a yellow sweater and a insincere smile), on how he saw the game being called.
UConn missed bunnies, did commit some silly fouls and had their usual WTF moments but did not deserve the treatment they received by the game officials.
Finally, I am proud with the way that this team fought through the obstacles last night and represented themselves in a very bright light.
The NCAA could not afford another non power conference victory, especially a UConn victory, so they made sure the B10 won last night after taking care of the women last Friday. Sorry to field something I hate, conspiracy theories, but it’s almost too obvious to ignore anymore.

What I think happened.....

May saw the officiating team and knew they were going to be able to push the envelope. And they did.

How many times was Silas shoved to the floor? And he was called for the foul on some of them?

Cadeau straight up shoved him about four times - once, on defense, Cadeau literally shoved Silas out of the play.

That kid would have fouled out in 15 minutes if he switches uniforms.

 

[Mr. French]

 

[Bigbrad1029]

They are accurate. St John's twice in the Garden, at Marquette and this game. He called this game just like both St. John's games in my opinion.

Breeding also was referee for the home loss to Creighton on Feb 18, I was there with my son who is a student at Storrs

 

[Hurlees4hed]

I hope James Breeding has a crappy day every day straight until our first game with him next season.

 

[Bigbrad1029]

Breeding is a Cockroach reffed their worst loss peas of the year, Creighton loss at home, Marquette loss, both St John’s losses and now final…Man should not even have the job and they give him the Natty….I think we know that the NCAA didn’t want to see Hurley or UConn next to UCLA and John Wooden and found the right man for the job, pun intended

 

[sledog]

So how to fix /' roast him? NCAA, or Moose and Rocco (Caddyshack)?

 

[WeAreUCONN]

It doesn’t feel like we lost to Michigan It feels like we never had a fair chance. That being said. We didn’t shoot well enough.

 

[Ctrane]

I think each D1 coach should be able to exclude 1 ref each season from all their games.

 

[Kolumbo]

It doesn’t feel like we lost to Michigan It feels like we never had a fair chance. That being said. We didn’t shoot well enough.

It's all interrelated. Solo and Silas were benched for half the game and that affects shooting. That affects how the team plays on both ends of the court. The 3 free throws to start the game. The technical on AK for the 4-6 point swing. Playing with 3-4 fouls vs playing more freely. Right, it felt like we never had a chance and yet the boys lost by 2 possessions to supposedly the best team in the country. It's a shame the refs sucked a**

 

[uconnfan68]

There are multiple reasons why we should try to move to a P4 conference. This is one. Our playing style isn’t suited not a match for the way Big East games are officiated. We need to get more revenue. But we have a major Breeding problem. Clearly there is vindictiveness there and an axe to grind. The bigger question is why was this crew chosen and allowed to officiate this game? I remember when games typically were called by neutral conference officials. Something seems to be at play here.

Val got a kickback to get him in the game.

 

[HooperScooper]

Breeding is a Cockroach reffed their worst loss peas of the year, Creighton loss at home, Marquette loss, both St John’s losses and now final…Man should not even have the job and they give him the Natty….I think we know that the NCAA didn’t want to see Hurley or UConn next to UCLA and John Wooden and found the right man for the job, pun intended

Slight correction. Breeding didn't ref the Marquette game (crew was Driscoll, Gaffney and Evans). But reffing 4 of our 6 losses is interesting.

 

[uconnfan68]

Slight correction. Breeding didn't ref the Marquette game (crew was Driscoll, Gaffney and Evans). But reffing 4 of our 6 losses is interesting.

Gaffney is Breeding’s alter ego.

 

[Kembacity]

I think each D1 coach should be able to exclude 1 ref each season from all their games.

I thought this said “execute” when I first read it, and I didn’t agree but was starting to come around…

 

[UConNick]

I will say, keep Gaffney out of these James Breeding and Brian O’Connell comparisons. I’ve defended him sporadically over the years and while the Marquette game was not a good look, he’s generally been great for us. Since 2012, we’re 46-7 in games he does for us. I started tracking this a couple years ago when I noticed him doing a lot of our games, and I remembered him always being friendly and happy to chat with me when I was in the front of the student section during my years at UConn in the 2010s.

Between a February 2018 loss to Memphis and the Arizona loss this year, the only times we lost games he called were, oddly, against Villanova (2018 home game we got wrecked, 2022 BET loss, 2025 loss at their place). He did officiate the AZ and Marquette losses but he also did our wins at Creighton, Seton Hall, and freaking Kansas.

Looking back over the last few years, he also did our 2023 E8 win over Gonzaga, our 2023-24 win over UNC, and our BET win over Nova in 2025.

O’Connell is just a trash ref, not sure he really hates UConn that much besides general distaste for Hurley’s antics. Breeding is a trash ref that also harbors some kind of deep resentment for Dan Hurley and all things Husky.

But we should keep Gaffney away from being lumped in with those guys. We lost 4 games with Breeding in 2025-26. Sure, he (Gaffney) may have done the other two, but since 2022 (I know, lining up with our current heater of a run), we’re 25-3 in games he calls - including those two this season.

 

[champs99and04]

UConn's average FTA differential on the season was -4.6. Michigan's was +6.2. The discrepancy ended up being 12, which pretty much aligns with both those averages. Michigan was bigger, in addition to being better at both defending and attacking the rim. On the year, they were 2nd in defending 2P% and 8th in made 2P%. UConn was 46th and 20th in those categories, respectively. They took a lot of threes because the other team had a 7'3 center. It's really hard to score at the rim in a sport where the court is smaller and there's no defensive three seconds. Two years ago, when UConn had the 7'2 man-child, they ranked 5th and 6th.

Do I think UConn got a great whistle? Certainly not. The phantom flagrant foul alone was enough to potentially swing the game. UConn went from leading to trailing in one possession, and never caught up. It might seem like something a better team should overcome, but UConn was not the better team and I think that's where the frustration comes in. The longer that game continued with UConn leading, the more pressure Michigan was going to feel. The Karaban flagrant changed that game in a way that's difficult to quantify.

However, what I think the conspiracy theorists are missing is this: different refs call the game differently and emphasize different things. In this game, players were seemingly allowed to get away with much more contact off the ball than they were on the ball. That clearly didn't work in UConn's favor and probably has something to do with the poor record they have with Breeding. I get being upset about that.

But the idea that this was all orchestrated by the NCAA to punish UConn and the Big East seems very farfetched. It also feels like people want to blame Val for anything and everything from the Big East not getting enough teams in to UConn not getting enough calls in the title game. Or, my favorite one, that the Big East isn't standing up for UConn because the Big East knows UConn wants to leave...like it hasn't known that the entire time.

UConn has now been to three title games in four years and won two of them, and yet still people here blame the Big East for everything from UConn not getting a fair whistle in conference, to UConn not playing a hard enough schedule, to the officials not having enough respect for a non-P4 league. If the powers that be hate the Big East so much, why did they wait until the title game to stop UConn? UConn went through three Big Ten teams just to get there!

If the shoe were on the other foot, and it was Duke or UNC complaining about all the bumping and hand-checking not being called away from the ball, does anyone think in a million years that we would take them seriously? Of course not. We would describe them as "finesse" or "soft" and insist that the more physical brand of ball is the way it should be called all the time.

I'll give you one person who seemed to think Michigan was much better: Dan Hurley. His tone in the on-court interview after, I think the under-8 media timeout, with UConn still leading, was not one that projected a lot of confidence. It actually caught me off guard because it was such a departure from his approach to previous games. He acted like they were a 15-seed just hoping to keep it close and maybe steal it at the end - and that's kind of how it looked from the outside. Michigan would have won by 15 if it could've thrown the ball in the ocean from deep.