Ranking the UConn Championships

[MDHusky]

How would you rank the 4 NCAA titles based primarily on your personal enjoyment, and NOT on best overall talent?

Here's my opinion:

My Most Favorite UConn Championships:

#1 1999 - will always be #1 because it was our First, Beat Duke in Championship Game, Brought tears of joy to my eyes

#2 2014 - Lowest seeded Championship team, No Cupcake games (beat MSU/Florida/Ky), Beat Calipari, Ollie's 1st championship, This is What Happens When You Ban Us, SHABAZZ

#3 2011 - Phenomenal run of wins with 5 in BE Tourney + 6 March Madness, Close wins over Arizona & KY, Beat Calipari, Kemba time

#4 2004 - Beat Duke in Semi, arguably the most talented Championship team, Okafor and Gordon

Of course, I enjoyed each and every one of the titles for different reasons, as well as some of the near misses that have occurred over the past 25 years.

And, I look forward to evaluating how our next Championship #5 will rank on the list.

 

[sammydabiz]

Got it EXACTLY the same way

 

[Kitaman]

I would swap 2011 and 2014 only because of that unexpected post season run we went on in 2011. After the regular season we didn't lose again. Plus we had a donut team with a bunch of young pups. Kemba led us to the promise land, which Bazz obliviously took notes. As good as Bazz was this year, Kemba's post season heroics and play have yet to be duplicated, and perhaps won't for at least a generation. It was something I have never seen in my lifetime and I've seen a lot of basketball.

Sure for a game or two but Kemba did it in two consecutive post season tournaments.

Sample:

 

[sammydabiz]

I put '14 ahead of '11 because of the road this year VU MSU Fla UK were great draws and a lot tougher than 2011. In hindsight, the BE championship in 2011 was just as hard as this years draw. Guess I just enjoyed the way we quieted all the naysayers, who said we didn't have a shot this year, especially that dumb Barkely in the final four.... Good times

 

[maineuconnfan]

I go with 2011, because it was a special couple week period. My daughter was just born, this was my wifes introduction into the Uconn family, and it all started with that great Big East tourney. I mean after the 5 games and it just continued, it was just magical....1999 was great too, because it was the first.

 

[Palatine]

This is a sacrilege. No championship is better than the other.

It's like ranking your children. You love them all. They are all different.

 

[UConnMike04]

See I'm probably the opposite of everyone.

I put 2004 bc it was my senior year on campus and I knew a few of the guys on the team through classes, etc. and it was also the first time there's ever been a dual championship. The '04 team was my favorite and def the most personal for me.

I put 2011 as second bc it was my brothers senior year and having us both graduate with championship seasons is special.

I put 2014 as my 3rd favorite bc of the bullshit APR, Ollie's first time in a tourney, losing the league we dominated for years, and all of the transfers. These kids deserved it more than any others in my opinion. It'd actually be number 1 for me if the other two weren't as "personal" if you get what I mean.

1999 I will put as my 4th. The first is always special, and the excitement but to me it was the least personal. I had no connections to the school yet and was simply a "fan". Not an alumni, or season ticket holder or anything.

 

[UChusky916]

This question would be an easy answer for the Cuse fan-base

 

[UChusky916]

2004 is probably least 'enjoyable' because we were stacked and among the favorites to win it all.

2011 was great, no doubt. But Maui and the BET run made winning the title a reality, especially when you have the best player and a rather easy path through the tourney.

2014/1999 are both up there for everyone. 1999 is obviously special because we were underdogs in the title game against the media darlings Puke. And, of course, it was our first title. It put us on the map after we somewhat underachieved in the tourney for a few years prior. It set the tone for the next few decades.

I am going to say 2014 was most enjoyable, for a few reasons. First of all, it was really important for the UConn basketball legacy. We proved we were not going away. Winning it all as a 7-seed with a new coach, in a new conference, coming off a post-season ban was unreal. Like 2011, we were willed to victory because we had the best player in the country, but unlike 2011, we beat some POWERHOUSE programs on the way to the title (UK, UF, MSU). In 2011, we knew the team was capable of being really special early on in Maui and also because of the BET run. But in 2014, we had no true indicators that the team could make a run and we were underdogs and constantly doubted in each game in the tourney. For me, that makes 2014 most 'enjoyable'.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

1999 especially for those old enough to suffer through 1990, and other near misses.
Also beating the greatest team of all-time .
2014 was special because of the ban ,transfers, new coach
NC's under different coaches establishes you as an elite
Indiana,UCLA,UK,KU,Ville,and us.
Duke may be a one coach team the doubting starts here.
2011 because the 11 consecutive wins was special
I got goaded into bets by golfing buddies something I can grow too fond of.
2004 they were the best team in the country and proved it.
Ok was a man among boys.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

I know it's a fun exercise to compare the championship teams.....but as I think about it, each team was different and each road was different. Each one was much more similarly awesome than they were different. The 2004 win over Duke was amazing..."The Star" (Emeka) rises to the challenge and snatches victory from the jaws of defeat. That game was as great as any, but the '99 was the first one and that made it especially amazing. Eleven straight.....11....in a row in 2011, Kemba starts with the magic, runs low for a while, then wills back the magic tourney time. The kids let Kemba absorb all the pressure, play loose. 2014 was the "Perfect Storm" where nearly every player who got meaningful minutes stepped up their game and played remarkable defense. DD comes out of his shell and shines, NG decides he is a quiet badass and starts getting a lot of key rebounds, and saved his biggest 3's for the latter parts of the championship game. Bazz is an artist who sees the game moving in slow motion and finds ways to thread passes off the bounce on the slip or after drawing the defenders. Circus shots became commonplace for Shabazz. Each championship season was "the best."