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UConn, YOU are officially a men’s college basketball Blue Blood.
The Huskies capped off a dominant NCAA Tournament run by thoroughly beating upstart San Diego State in the national championship Monday night. UConn now has five titles since 1999, two more than any other Division 1 program. I and many others now believe the Huskies comfortably belong in the elite ranks of the blue bloods.
College basketball’s history is much easier to parse through than college football. Since the NCAA Tournament’s inception in 1939, there has been one undisputed champion every year (except 2020, of course). Over on the gridiron, multiple polls and confusing postseason systems have created multiple national champions several times over. Just ask those around Georgia Tech and Colorado who really won the title in 1990. The soap boxes will come out.
Anyway, all that is to say we have a clear view of who won what when on the hardwood. Therefore, it’s easy to count banners without potentially doubling up. And from a pure banner count perspective, UConn is as good as any program in the country. The Huskies’ five NCAA titles match those won by Duke and leapfrog Kansas’ four. Meanwhile, UNC only leads the Huskies by one and has lost six title games. UConn remains a perfect 5-0 on Monday night.
Where it gets tricky is the other criteria for being a blue blood. The generally agreed-upon “core four” of UNC, Duke, Kentucky and Kansas have all made their imprints on the history of college basketball. UCLA and Indiana, blue bloods who have since fallen on hard times, also qualify in this regard. UConn is a young whippersnapper compared to those programs. The Huskies can’t say they brought about the invention of the shot clock or, heck, the invention of the game itself.
But banners are banners, and in this new era of one-and-dones and player movement, UConn has proven it can game the system the best of any program out there. Carolina is facing its own struggles with roster management, while Kentucky hasn’t won a title in over a decade. Meanwhile, Duke is forging ahead with a new head coach and Kansas faces some uncertainty around the health of Bill Self.
It’s a new era in college basketball, one where there are fewer elder statesmen than ever and players have had more freedom than ever before. And the team that appears the best equipped to deal with all this? I’d say they’re the ones who just hoisted the trophy.
Featured image via Associated Press/Brynn Anderson
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