Photo Courtesy of the Hartford Courant
The UConn men's and women's basketball teams are both playing in the 2024 Final Four.
These two programs are no strangers to being in the Final Four together. They have not only both appeared there before in the same season but won both the men’s and women's national championships in 2004 and 2014.
Coach Jim Calhoun led the men’s team in 2004, while Coach Geno Auriemma led the women’s team. A decade later in 2014, these teams were led by players Breanna Stewart for the women’s and Shabazz Napier for the men.
This makes UConn the only school to have dual national championships in college basketball, let alone in two different seasons, just ten years apart in 2004 and 2014. With another ten seasons since then, both programs find themselves in the 2024 Final Four.
Photo Courtesy of UConn Women’s Basketball
The number three seed women tipping off at 9:30 PM ET in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Rocket Mortgage Arena against the number one seed Iowa, led by NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer Caitlin Clark. Iowa is coming off a massive win against LSU, a rematch of last year’s national title game. UConn had their massive win led by 2021 Associated Press Player of the Year and First-team All-American Senior Guard Paige Bueckers, who had twenty-eight points, ten rebounds, six assists, and three steals against the one-seed USC, finishing a close game 80-73.
Getting to this point already is a big statement for Coach Geno Auriemma and the Huskies after being ranked No. 17, the worst Associated Press poll ranking in thirty seasons. The Huskies also saw five key depth players suffer injury, including Freshman Jana El Alfy, who was out for the season with an Achilles tendon injury, Junior Guard Azzi Fudd, who had a season-ending knee injury, Senior Forward Aubrey Griffin, who also had a knee injury, and Junior Guard Caroline Ducharme, who was ruled out for the season with a head and neck injury back in January.
Photo Courtesy of UConn Athletics
The number one overall UConn men’s team tips off Saturday, April 6th, at 8:49 PM ET in Glendale at the University of Phoenix Stadium against number four seed Alabama. Alabama is coming off a statement win against the number one seed University of North Carolina. However, UConn has been on a tear recently, finding themselves on a ten-game double-digit win streak in March Madness. UConn defeated their former opponent in last year's National Championship game, San Diego State, 82-52 to advance to the Final Four, led by East Region Most Outstanding Player Donovan Clingan, who scored twenty-two points, ten rebounds, and five blocks in the Elite Eight.
Dan Hurley and the Huskies defeating opponents by large margins has been a trend this season for the Huskies. This season, the Huskies earned their first ever number-one overall seed in program history and have a strong chance to be the first team to win back-to-back National Championships since Florida did it back in 2007.
UConn basketball has won sixteen national championship titles in the last thirty years. Both teams are looking to add one more to end their 2024 season. If both of UConn’s programs can finish the job the same year for a third time, Storrs, Connecticut, would once again cement itself as the “Basketball Capital of the World.”
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