Of the games I’ve been to, Texas in 2010 was the pinnacle. There were stretches during that game where the person next to me was screaming and I could barely hear what they were saying. If I remember correctly, ESPN was also having a lot of sound issues with the broadcast due to the noise.
Of the Gampel games I've been to, I would agree with:
* Texas in 2010 (Texas was ranked #1; UConn trailed by 10 early in the 2nd half before outscoring them 54-30! The half-court alley-oop to Stanley Robinson was indeed remarkable, and Jerome Dyson was at his peak.)
Jeff Jacobs in the Courant the next day: “The fun returned to UConn basketball [yesterday]. And it returned with the kind of ear-splitting, second-half, national television rush that made everyone . . . remember why our state had made such an emotional investment in the first place.” Said Jacobs, “Never has there been a louder, more exuberant” win. Students rushed the court.
* Villanova in 2011 when Kemba hit the game-winner; that moment was deafening, and a chapter in Kemba's legendary season.
I also agree with the 1995 and 1996 games vs. Villanova, and 2014 vs. Louisville.
(I wasn't at the 1990 opening game vs. St. John's or the Dec. 2013 game-winner by Shabazz vs. Florida.)
An underrated game was March 2013 vs. Providence, an overtime win to close out the season when the Huskies were banned from post-season play--paving the way for the next year's "hungry Huskies," in Shabazz's words:
Expert recap and game analysis of the UConn Huskies vs. Providence Friars NCAAM game from March 9, 2013 on ESPN.
www.espn.com
If we were to include Hartford games, I would unequivocally say the January 1990 game vs. Georgetown, which came in with Mourning and Mutombo. UConn's 14-0 run to start the game was the most impassioned, joyful sequence in school history, given the expectations then versus now. Until the 30-0 run vs. Illinois in the 2024 elite eight, it was arguably the greatest several minutes of Husky hoops ever.
...
I'm new here, so if the following should be a separate thread, maybe it will be moved accordingly.
How about a separate category for the most memorable Midnight Madness (now First Night) occasions at Gampel? My list:
* Oct. 2003, when a team that returned Emeka and Ben Gordon et al. brought in Charlie Villanueva and went on to win the title.
* Oct. 2014, when both the men and women were defending champs, the trophies were arrayed, and Ray Allen was a special guest.
* Oct. 2011, when the defending champs added Andre Drummond, DeAndre Daniels, and Ryan Boatright (while losing Kemba, of course). Ryan defeated Andre in a dunk contest that included alley-oops from Shabazz. Jeremy Lamb, Alex Oriakhi, and Roscoe Smith also competed. It's on YouTube:
Regrettably, that highly talented team never approached the heights of the previous season.
(Honorable mention to what must have been Oct. 2009, when Maya Moore defeated Tina Charles in a dunk contest that surpassed what I recall of the men that evening...)