Which season was more magical for you 2011 or Last season?

[BleedHuskyBlu]

Both seasons in their own rights were just magical but which season felt more surreal? Even though last season we were a 7th seed and nobody was picking us to win the '11 season just had a special feeling to it. Going 9-9 in league play and winning every tournament we participated in makes the '11 season more special for me. So which season was more special to you?

 

[Scot-e]

Both were magic. It's really hard to say which magic trip blew your mind more. Great question and really hard to answer.

 

[Matrim55]

Last season. It's the only one that's close to '99.

 

[Fishy]

Well, the seasons weren't particularly magical - they started very well and ended extremely well, but the middles were stress-filled mud fights.

They weren't 1999 where the season was a bunch of stomping and crushing followed by a title.

The 2014 title was very special - more special than the '11 run, but the '11 team's run in the Big East Tournament elevates it into a flat-footed tie.

 

[KingOPancakes]

Great question. My immediate reaction after this years win was that 2014 surpassed 2011 and 6 months later I don't think it's changed. 2011 was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, no doubt about it; but the 2014 win just meant more to the organization. Coming off of the ban year, left out by conference realignment, and losing our hall of fame coach, we were in serious danger of falling off the college basketball map. To come right out and tell the world "we're not going anywhere" was just truly special. Plus the guys that stayed loyal to the program for 4 years were rewarded by becoming the only uconn players to get two rings. 2011 will always have a special place in my heart, but 2014 just meant so much more.

 

[Huskies4ever]

Great question. My immediate reaction after this years win was that 2014 surpassed 2011 and 6 months later I don't think it's changed. 2011 was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, no doubt about it; but the 2014 win just meant more to the organization. Coming off of the ban year, left out by conference realignment, and losing our hall of fame coach, we were in serious danger of falling off the college basketball map. To come right out and tell the world "we're not going anywhere" was just truly special. Plus the guys that stayed loyal to the program for 4 years were rewarded by becoming the only uconn players to get to rings. 2011 will always have a special place in my heart, but 2014 just meant so much more.

^This. They were both magical runs during the NCAA tourney, but the 5 games in 5 days had never been done before, and hasn't been done since.

To play devil's advocate, though, after all the BS this program had been through, and left for dead, I'd nominate last season's title. Therefore, I call it a draw.

 

[ConnEd]

For me, 2011 is the choice thanks to the combination of the unbelievable BE Tourney plus the NCAA win. While, as another here mentioned, the '14 championship means more for the future of the program, the amazing momentum built over 11 straight wins over tough competition in '11 had me more pumped than I've been at any time since '99 even with all of the accomplishments of the program.

 

[champs99and04]

I could probably write a 10,000 word thesis on this very question, but to me, the most remarkable thing is this: I came away from 2011 thinking I would never see something like that ever again. It took three years.

 

[NightDog]

Kemba willed it to happen, Shabazz willed it to happen...flip a coin. 5 in 5 gives the lean though.

 

[superjohn]

Great question. My immediate reaction after this years win was that 2014 surpassed 2011 and 6 months later I don't think it's changed. 2011 was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, no doubt about it; but the 2014 win just meant more to the organization. Coming off of the ban year, left out by conference realignment, and losing our hall of fame coach, we were in serious danger of falling off the college basketball map. To come right out and tell the world "we're not going anywhere" was just truly special. Plus the guys that stayed loyal to the program for 4 years were rewarded by becoming the only uconn players to get two rings. 2011 will always have a special place in my heart, but 2014 just meant so much more.

Well said, I vote for the 2014 team but going into the year I thought they would be really good and could be contenders. Going into 2011 I really didn't expect much, we had no clue Kemba would be that good and our recruiting class was kind of thrown together last minute, nobody had any idea Lamb and Shabazz would be that good.

 

[jleves]

It's funny but I actually had tears in my eyes (ok, down my cheeks) after the 11 title. It was such a magical 11 game run, but the final was somewhat of a letdown or expected conclusion. 99 and 04 were great wins with some special games, but we were expected to be there at the end. The fact that we pulled them out were just a testament to great talent, great coaching and great conditioning. In the end, you couldn't say it was necessarily unexpected.

11 and 14 were absolutely unexpected. Almost no fan that didn't wear a husky shirt had us in the final four or championship game.

But for me, 14 is the most magical. A new coach replacing a hall of fame coach, a 7 seed, a year after being banned, a couple years after having elite talent leave because of the ban and relying on lesser recruits because of the ban, being in a much lower class league all made it better for me because it said you can kick the snot out of us and we will still be there at the end and we'll beat the Goliath. That's who we are. And it set the arrow to up for where we can go.

The first championship may be the most important and special in a way no other could ever be, but the championship after the huge transitions when many had left us for dead is better.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I'm going with this year.

In 2011 the team won in Maui and then had the Miracle in the Garden run of games. The tourney run was incredible but almost seemed like the epilogue of a great book.

2014 was also more fun in that the Huskies slaughtered elite after elite after elite. There wasn't any Butler in the Group. Nova, Mich St. Florida and Kentucky.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I think the fact that 2014 stamped UConn as a great basketball school rather than a Jim Calhoun championship ,makes it more special.
The 11 game ride in 2011 was something. The inexperience of that team was masked by KW's greatness.
But for us old time fans 1999 was the most special.
It ended years of frustration getting to the FF .
It erased the pain from 1990,and gave us redemption against our tormentor.
The bad memories of other near misses in the 90's even changed those games from a horror to a prelude.

 

[uconNYC]

2009 for me. Maui + BET + NCAAT. But NCAA run in 2011 was more enjoyable MSG + a very strong FF performance against two very hyped teams.

 

[jfuchs91]

The events preceding both championship runs made each remarkable in their own right. The 2014 run was amazing because it was essentially a big "" to the NCAA and the conferences that passed on us. Additionally, it really cemented UConn's place in college basketball history and signaled an unbelievably successful transition from the Calhoun era. It proved that UConn is an elite, premier program that will thrive even if the cards are completely stacked against us. It's hard to get much better than that.

But I'm still going to go with 2011 because of the sheer improbability of that season. Yes, even the most optimistic Husky fans couldn't imagine winning the championship prior to 2014, but we knew we had some good pieces returning. Shabazz, Boatright, and Daniels were a good core and we were hoping that if the pieces fit together right, we could make the Sweet 16 or more.

Perhaps people try to ignore it, but the program wasn't in great shape after the 2010 season. We had just come off of arguably our most disappointing season ever, in which we went 18-16 and lost 13 of our last 20 games, ending with a second round NIT exit. We lost three of our top four players from that team and had essentially no proven talent returning other than Kemba. We missed out on all of our top recruiting priorities, we were freshly on sanctions for the Nate Miles fiasco, the APR rumblings were beginning to emerge, and to top it all off Ater Majok left abruptly right before the season. People were starting to question whether it was time for Calhoun to go. Coming into the season it was looking like were were going to have another year like 2007.

It's still amazing to me that the 2011 team was able to accomplish what they did. Never can I recall a team so wildly outperforming preseason expectations in any sport. In what appeared to be almost assuredly one of the darker seasons in the Calhoun era we managed to win the Big East Tournament and the National Championship. It's still hard to fathom.

I would have been beyond happy with the 2011 season had it ended after our magical Big East Tournament; there's never been another run like that in NCAA history. To carry that magic through the NCAAs makes the 2011 season basically impossible to surpass in my eyes. The fact that the 2014 season comes close shows how lucky we are to be UConn fans.

 

[SubbaBub]

2011 by a lot. In 2014 you could see the path laid out, st joes, nova (ha!) and then ISU at MSG, once they beat Michigan St, you knew they could go all the way having already beaten FL and knowing we don't lose in finals.

 

[amory]

I dunno. I think 2014 was more surprising because the teams we played in the tournament were tougher, but 2011 ended a longer drought and Kemba was my favorite UConn player ever.

Plus the Big East championship in 2011 made things extra special.

2011 by a nose.

 

[noeynox]

2014 team. People were practically writing the epitaph on our tombstone due conference realignment. We had posters on our board saying the program was done in this conference. Then bam, bitchslapped two SEC teams in the mouth in the final four, and a Big TEn team on the way there, which is kick starting a whole new wave of recruiting success, and has recruits remarking "UConn is UConn, they win championships and produce pros". It was the whole DMX "were right here, were not going anywhere, were right here."

 

[Lefty2one]

Impossible to choose. They were both ridiculous and are still surreal.

 

[UChusky916]

So tough to call. Both so special in their own right. We're so fortunate to be having this discussion (unlike Cuse).

2011 was just incredible because of the unexpected Maui run and 5-in-5, but we beat a rather weak field to claim the title.

2014 I think meant more to the program's longevity (HCKO, new conference) in the face of adversity (post-season ban, 7 seed). We beat some heavyweights on our way to the title which made it really sweet.

I think there's a thread on this topic every month or so. And the debate will continue until we win our 5th title in remarkable fashion again.

 

[huskies20]

For me it is 2011 just based on the fact that we thought we couldn't have had a run where we were shocked that we won the NC. Because we won in such surprising fashion in 2011 it made us believe we could do it in 2014, which somewhat lessened the shock that we won in 2014.

 

[OkaForPrez]

2014 team. People were practically writing the epitaph on our tombstone due conference realignment. We had posters on our board saying the program was done in this conference. Then bam, bitchslapped two SEC teams in the mouth in the final four, and a Big TEn team on the way there, which is kick starting a whole new wave of recruiting success, and has recruits remarking "UConn is UConn, they win championships and produce pros". It was the whole DMX "were right here, were not going anywhere, were right here."

Exactly. 2014 was a big middle finger to everyone.

 

[dogpause]

Great question, but it's like trying to decide which one of your children you love the most. 2011 made this year's championship possible. Together they make every future year possible. I feel so lucky to be a UConn fan.

 

[UConn990411]

The 2011 NCAA tourney was fun, but it wasn't magical. Maui and the BET were.

Maui was maybe the most fun and surprising moment for me as a UConn fan. I sometimes forget that they started the season unranked and were picked to finish 10th in the Big East, while MSU at the time was ranked #2, Kentucky was somewhere around #10, and Wichita was expected to be a tourney team. And Kemba absolutely torched 'em all (30 ppg). It may have been his best stretch of play at UConn, which is saying a heck of a lot.

And winning five games in five days at MSG - it goes without saying that we truly won't ever see something like that again. Plus, they were able to exorcise their Georgetown, Pitt, Cuse, and Louisville demons in the process.

But like others have pointed out, 2014 was such sweet redemption/confirmation/a middle finger to the NCAA and ACC. After the postseason ban, Calhoun's retirement, losing in conference realignment and seeing half the roster defect to what they thought were greener pastures, last season's NCAA tourney run was so, so special.

For all those reasons, 2014 gets the (slight) nod for me.

 

[Scot-e]

Well, the seasons weren't particularly magical - they started very well and ended extremely well, but the middles were stress-filled mud fights.

They weren't 1999 where the season was a bunch of stomping and crushing followed by a title.

The 2014 title was very special - more special than the '11 run, but the '11 team's run in the Big East Tournament elevates it into a flat-footed tie.

To me both seasons were like a round of golf that ended with 8 great shots or in this case the NCAAs. I don't remember the rest of the round only those last 8 shots. Magic.