UConn Emerges as the Final Four Favorite as March Madness Heads to Houston

The NCAA Tournament continues Saturday in Houston where the Final Four will be held.  Florida Atlantic will face San Diego State in the early evening game. Miami has the late-window tip-off time against now tournament favorite Connecticut. 

No one could have predicted this level of March Madness. No one could have imagined a Final Four with a 4^th seed, two 5 seeds and a #9 seed. That combined seed total equals 23, making it the largest seed total since 2011 when the Final Four teams equaled 26. And, oh by the way, UConn won the national title that year.

Huskies Path to Houston

UConn was the #4 seed in the West Region behind Kansas, UCLA and Gonzaga. They opened the tournament with a 24-point win over Iona, routed St. Mary’s 70-55, crushed Arkansas 88-65 and humbled Gonzaga 82-54. They’re now 15-0 in nonconference games this season and have won them all by double digits.

Beware UConn in the Second Half

The first 10 minutes after halftime is where the Huskies have done their best work.

UConn went on a 17-4 run against Iona in the first five minutes of the second half. They used 14-2 runs to pull away from both Saint Mary’s and Arkansas, and broke Gonzaga’s will with a 28-12 blitz.

The Arkansas game was already over by the break, but UConn was trailing Iona and led Saint Mary’s by one point. Even Gonzaga was a competitive game with the Bulldogs within seven.  Connecticut has been able coast to the finish line, winning each game by at least a 15-point margin.

As a result of this dominance, UConn is favored to cut down the nets after Monday’s championship game:

🏀💰🏀💰🏀 https://t.co/DkQcz7DKbK

— BetOnline (@BetOnline_ag) March 27, 2023

Wasn’t always this easy

UConn got off to a torrid start to the season. They were virtually unbeatable through the first seven weeks and even reach #1 on the Associated Press CBB rankings.

But then came a brutal four-week stretch in which they went 2-6 including an 11-point home loss to St. John’s. Their defense which had held its first 14 opponents to 59.1 points per game allowed at least 82 points in four of those losses.

UConn Players to Watch

Adama Sanogo is the Huskies leading candidate for Most Outstanding Player in the Final Four. He’s averaging 20 points and 9.8 rebounds per game and is shooting 65% (36 of 55) from the field.

Adama Sanogo from downtown!

And Bill Murray was loving it 🤣#MarchMadness @UConnMBB pic.twitter.com/Mj3183QhUS

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 17, 2023

The Huskies Glue Guy

The unsung hero for UConn is Andre Jackson Jr. He’s a high energy player who seems to always come up with the key rebound or defensive play and thinks pass first, shoot second. Against Gonzaga, Jackson had 10 assists, nine rebounds and eight points with no turnovers, numbers in line with his per game season average of eight points, seven rebounds and eight assists.

Jackson is seen here against Gonzaga:

https://twitter.com/deeblackmma3/status/1639805975199719429

UConn and the Broken Brackets Theory

When the Huskies won it all in 2011, the combined seed total of the teams in the Final Four (26) made history. And when No. 7 Connecticut knocked off No. 8 Kentucky for the 2014 title, it was the highest combined seed total in the national championship. For whatever reason, when the bracket breaks, the Huskies are the last team standing.