There were plenty of moments this season when it didn’t seem like this collision course would happen.
Sure, Connecticut’s women’s basketball team was undefeated and dominant. A trip to the Final Four — and a bid for a second consecutive national championship — seemed like a lock. But the Huskies’ men’s team struggled in Big East play after a strong start. They lost in the conference tournament to St. John’s. They didn’t have the same superpowered talents as they did on their recent title teams.
But this weekend, when the men’s Final Four descends on Indianapolis and the women’s national semifinals unfold in Phoenix, will revolve around UConn again. If both Connecticut teams emerge with titles, it’ll mark the third time — joining 2004 and 2014 — that they’ve won championships in the same seasons. No other school has accomplished that feat once.
And in a new, ever-changing landscape of college basketball that’s drastically different from the backdrop to either of the previous two instances when they both won titles, Connecticut’s state college hasn’t relinquished its place as a basketball powerhouse.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
