Recently I have been thinking of a comparison of the 2025 championship to earlier ones in order to try to determine how this one stands out.
Obviously, one way to think about the subject is to compare rosters. On the basis of pure talent, I would rate the 2000 and 2016 teams as having the best rosters with 1995, 2002, 2009, and 2013 as being in the running. All the teams who have won national championships have had superior talent, except for 2003 and 2004. “We have Taurasi and you don’t.” The teams that got to the Final Four that did not grasp the gold ring, generally had less talent on the floor and less overall depth. The exceptions being 2017 and 2018 with defeats on last second baskets. One could write a great deal about rosters and injuries in this regard.
I prefer here, however, to measure championships in terms of margins of victory. Even some of the undefeated teams faced real challenges. The 1995 team, for example, came from behind at halftime to defeat Virginia by 4 (67-63) in the regional final and the team’s victory in the championship game was by 6 points (70-64). The 2002 team beat Oklahoma by 12 in the national championship game, while the 2010 beat Stanford in the finals by 6 points. The 2010 team with Tina Charles and Maya Moore, however, never gave up more than 50 points in any of the NCAA games and only the final against Stanford was really close. Here is a table that shows margin of victory for the entire tournament and then only for the Final Four, assuming my addition is correct. I hope everything formats all right.
Year Six games Final Four
1995 (35-0) 134 33
2000 (36-1) 187 41
2002 (39-0) 161 35
2003 (37-1) 99 7
2004 (34-5) 80 10
2009 (39-0) 151 41
2010 (39-0) 214 26
2013 (35-4) 209 41
2014 (39-0) 154 40
2015 (38-1) 197 33
2016 (40-0) 239 60
2025 (37-3) 197 57
For all 6 games of the tournament, the 12th Huskies team margin of 197 is 4th all-time, while that for the last two games is 57, 2nd all-time. This is the only team to win without a solid big player, think Rebecca Lobo, Kara Wolters, Kelly Schumacher, Jessica Moore, Tina Charles, Stephanie Dolson, Kia Stokes, Breanna Stewart, and the 2002 trio of Swin Cash, Asjha Jones, and Tamika Williams.
Purely based on the numbers in the Final Four, 2025 ranks second only to the undefeated 2016 squad that had the top seed in the NCAA tournament and was the overwhelming favorite to win its fourth straight national title. Considering that this year’s team lost three games, depended at center on Jana El Alfy and Ice Brady who pale in comparison to Breanna Stewart and others, and they defeated 3 no. 1 ranked teams, I feel that this year’s team had the most impressive tournament of any of UConn’s national championships. I doubt that the run for the title in 2025 will ever be topped and it ranks second behind the 1995 team as my all-time favorite.
Obviously, one way to think about the subject is to compare rosters. On the basis of pure talent, I would rate the 2000 and 2016 teams as having the best rosters with 1995, 2002, 2009, and 2013 as being in the running. All the teams who have won national championships have had superior talent, except for 2003 and 2004. “We have Taurasi and you don’t.” The teams that got to the Final Four that did not grasp the gold ring, generally had less talent on the floor and less overall depth. The exceptions being 2017 and 2018 with defeats on last second baskets. One could write a great deal about rosters and injuries in this regard.
I prefer here, however, to measure championships in terms of margins of victory. Even some of the undefeated teams faced real challenges. The 1995 team, for example, came from behind at halftime to defeat Virginia by 4 (67-63) in the regional final and the team’s victory in the championship game was by 6 points (70-64). The 2002 team beat Oklahoma by 12 in the national championship game, while the 2010 beat Stanford in the finals by 6 points. The 2010 team with Tina Charles and Maya Moore, however, never gave up more than 50 points in any of the NCAA games and only the final against Stanford was really close. Here is a table that shows margin of victory for the entire tournament and then only for the Final Four, assuming my addition is correct. I hope everything formats all right.
Year Six games Final Four
1995 (35-0) 134 33
2000 (36-1) 187 41
2002 (39-0) 161 35
2003 (37-1) 99 7
2004 (34-5) 80 10
2009 (39-0) 151 41
2010 (39-0) 214 26
2013 (35-4) 209 41
2014 (39-0) 154 40
2015 (38-1) 197 33
2016 (40-0) 239 60
2025 (37-3) 197 57
For all 6 games of the tournament, the 12th Huskies team margin of 197 is 4th all-time, while that for the last two games is 57, 2nd all-time. This is the only team to win without a solid big player, think Rebecca Lobo, Kara Wolters, Kelly Schumacher, Jessica Moore, Tina Charles, Stephanie Dolson, Kia Stokes, Breanna Stewart, and the 2002 trio of Swin Cash, Asjha Jones, and Tamika Williams.
Purely based on the numbers in the Final Four, 2025 ranks second only to the undefeated 2016 squad that had the top seed in the NCAA tournament and was the overwhelming favorite to win its fourth straight national title. Considering that this year’s team lost three games, depended at center on Jana El Alfy and Ice Brady who pale in comparison to Breanna Stewart and others, and they defeated 3 no. 1 ranked teams, I feel that this year’s team had the most impressive tournament of any of UConn’s national championships. I doubt that the run for the title in 2025 will ever be topped and it ranks second behind the 1995 team as my all-time favorite.
