You can change one UConn loss to a win. Which game are you chosing? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

You can change one UConn loss to a win. Which game are you chosing?

Is this a trick question. We have lost one ncaa championship game. So if we reverse that loss we are at 7. I can change my handle and only Kentucky and UCLA have more chips.

How could there be any other choice but this game?

Other losses may have hurt more like the George Mason loss or the elite 8 loss to Dook but the question was not what loss hurt the most……it was if you you could change one loss to a win….why would there be any other answer?
 
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Taken in isolation - Duke 1990. Ultimate heartbreak. Dream Season, fingertips on the steal to seal it. Maybe no bigger crushing feeling.

However … I have long said that 1999 was the ultimate example of a perfect sporting event. It checked every box: winning as a huge underdog, finishing a redemption arc, shedding the “long-suffering” title, revenge on a hated rival, classic game, down to the last second so it provided instant euphoria. The closest thing to it was the Miracle on Ice, which wasn’t for the gold (and the Soviets were less evil), and the Red Sox comeback from down 3-0, which wasn’t for the World Series. Villanova over Georgetown checked some boxes - but they weren’t long-suffering and there wasn’t a redemption arc.

Without the 1990 heartbreak, 1999 isn’t the same.
 
I’m a big believer in the butterfly effect. Everything that is happening today is the precise result of everything that’s happened in the past

There is only one time where if the outcome was opposite, I can say with 100% confidence that no future decision would be made differently and the present wouldn’t be impacted. The most recent game

Also convenient that flipping the result of that game would be another national championship. Give me 2026 Michigan!

7 program titles, sole possession of 3rd most all time

Dan Hurley enters an even more elite tier. Coaches with 3+ rings: Wooden 10, Coach K 5, Rupp 4. Jim Calhoun, Roy Williams, Bob Knight, and Dan Hurley 3 if we win that game
 
I think it has to be Michigan bc of the title. But if we remove that one, Duke during dream season or George Mason. Both of those would result in F4 games. The Duke one “completes” the dream season, although I believe that UNLV team would’ve beat us pretty easily. The George Mason makes us not be the first team to lose to a mid major for the F4.
 
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tiger8mush said:
How about last year's 77-75 loss in the 2nd round to eventual champion Florida? Win that game and good chance for a 3-peat
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Yeah no, we weren’t getting through that field with that team. Too many other choices. Beating Duke in that Laettner shot game would have felt so good back then. The UM is the obvious one.
 
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UC0NN said:
Well, there is 1 person who isnt quite as obsessed with ring culture as most of us here are.

Anyone here rank 2026 as more enjoyable than any championship years?
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26 had an incredible 3 weeks in the NCAAs and it's definitely "spoiled and arrogant" to say this but for a team that was essentially top 5 all year it was kind of a slog come league play.
 
How about what non-NCAA tournament game would you turn from a loss to a win

Probably the 6-overtime game. It'd be nice to look back at something so historic as something other than a loss
 
A moment of reflection: I feel blessed as a UConn fan that whenever we have such a thread, it could have been a Top 10 thread instead and generated a credible list, as we can see here.

We've experienced unimaginable highs and crushing lows. To repeat: it is very difficult to win a National Championship. So many factors argue against it, but one team does it every year.
 
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Teddie1056 said:
For me it's gotta be the last game we just played, but if not that one, I'd choose the New Mexico State loss in 2022. I really think that team was special, and RJ Cole deserved better going out.

It was a bullshit ass game. They shot 65% from 3 and we shot 30% from 3. If they shot 50% from 3 even, we probably win the game.
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For butterfly effect reasons, I can't pick NMSU in 2022. Since then we have 3 championship game appearances and 2 titles in 4 years.

I might go with the 2009 Final Four against MSU. I would have really liked to see how that championship game turned out against UNC.

Alternatively, any of the Tournament losses in 1994-1996. Or maybe George Mason, just to avoid the embarrassment.
 
This is actually a really good question. Of course, Michigan is the obvious answer but I like seeing some of the other responses.

I'd go with that Donyell/Ray Allen team loss to Florida. That team was absolutely loaded but would find ways to lose games to teams it shouldn't have lost to. They lost to a good but not great Providence team in the Big East tournament and lost some random game to someone early in the year (Ohio). They get Florida in Miami (definitely a bit of a home court advantage even if Gainesville is on the other side of the state - there's U of F alum everywhere down south). That Florida team was heavily underseeded - they beat us in OT because of the missed FT, then BC then lose close to Duke in Final Four. Not saying we beat Duke, but it would have likely been our first Final Four and the only one for two of our iconic players.
 
Goldenflash said:
Interestingly, I was at the UCLA, UNC and George Mason games. Stopped attending figuring I was the jinx. Won six titles since then, Hmmm!
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Thank you for your sacrifices and contributions to universal Huskies mojo. We will tell our children of your efforts and laud your commitment.
 
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EBonz30 said:
- Michigan 2026 (so close to #7)

- Michigan State 2009 (Jerome Dyson- could’ve possibly beat UNC if fully healthy)

- George Mason 2006 (Probably most frustrating loss because how much better we were)

- Texas 2003 (TJ Ford really got under my skin & game was in Texas)

- Maryland 2002 (cried like a baby- Caron’s hero performance)

- UCLA 1995 (Ray’s best opportunity)

Before 1991-1992- I didn’t watch because was younger than 5.
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One that kills me is Calhouns very stacked 2012 team that lost to Iowa state. Cmon. May have been his worst coaching job.
 
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REB1094 said:
I’m a big believer in the butterfly effect. Everything that is happening today is the precise result of everything that’s happened in the past

There is only one time where if the outcome was opposite, I can say with 100% confidence that no future decision would be made differently and the present wouldn’t be impacted. The most recent game

Also convenient that flipping the result of that game would be another national championship. Give me 2026 Michigan!

7 program titles, sole possession of 3rd most all time

Dan Hurley enters an even more elite tier. Coaches with 3+ rings: Wooden 10, Coach K 5, Rupp 4. Jim Calhoun, Roy Williams, Bob Knight, and Dan Hurley 3 if we win that game
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And he’d have done supremely faster
 
The one non NCAA tournament game is the 6 OT loss to Syracuse. In the big scheme it means nothing but it's a famous game and it would have been nice to win it.
 
It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win...
It's sad, it happened, and it's a shame..

You want it all, but you can't have it...


That said, this year's National Championship game.
 
1990 E-8 Duke game.

Imagine if we won that game and were able to finish the job and had won our first title.

It's possible that just getting to the Final Four would have had a history altering impact where our recruiting might have been better, UConn's ascension to the very top of college basketball may have started sooner instead of 1999, and Duke's prominence, K's rep as a great coach and Laettner's infamy (his shots against us and Kentucky) might never have happened. Also, we probably would have a lot more NCs by now where not winning the 2026 NC would not be a big deal.

With that said, the 1999 championship erased all the painful tournament losses especially the 1990 one against Duke, and set us on a course to winning six championships over the next quarter century, making us the most dominant men's college basketball team in the 2000s.

Reading about all the painful losses over the years brought back a few flashbacks. If it wasn't for all the winning lately, I'd need some serious therapy.
 
Goldenflash said:
Interestingly, I was at the UCLA, UNC and George Mason games. Stopped attending figuring I was the jinx. Won six titles since then, Hmmm!
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Thank you for your service.
 
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Call it recency bias, but the only answer is the title game vs Michagan. That is a National Championship, no other single game would have that level of magnitude.
 
AdamaNation said:
One that kills me is Calhouns very stacked 2012 team that lost to Iowa state. Cmon. May have been his worst coaching job.
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I was thinking this one too. But didnt choose it.

Royce White was scared of flying but he sure wasn't scared of us. I watched it in a hotel room in Austin during sxsw. I was late to my own show cuz I was drinking double ipas in anxiety and depression.
 
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Michigan last year is the only real rational answer because that would give another Natty.
But if you go by emotion, Duke in 90 is tops because that was painful and of course would still be, even today, be considered the greatest UConn season of all time with just an FF (too much to ask to beat that UNLV team).
Next in line would be any of Ray Allen's 3 NCAA losses (Florida, UCLA, and M State). Did Donyell miss a free throw to win that FL game in regulation? The other two have been talked about.
I'd also add George Mason 2006 for sure. Then Caron vs Maryland in 2002.
Ray Allen, Donyell, Rudy Gay, and Caron all deserved National Championships each.
 
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