UConn Routs Purdue, Becomes First Back to Back NCAA Champions Since Florida in 2007

The University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies defeated Purdue 75-60 to claim their second consecutive NCAA title after beating San Diego State 76-59 in last year's NCAA Championship Game. Tristen Newton led UConn with 20 points while also dishing for seven assists and snaring five rebounds, becoming the first player to have a 20-5-5 NCAA Championship Game performance since Carmelo Anthony in 2003. Newton won the Final Four Most Outstanding Player award. Consensus National Player of the Year Zach Edey scored a game-high 37 points on 15-25 field goal shooting for Purdue while also grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds in 39 minutes. UConn's strategy was simple: shut down the rest of Purdue's team under the assumption that Edey could not win the game by himself. Edey's teammates scored 23 points on 9-29 field goal shooting. 

UConn has won six national titles--all since 1999--and the Huskies are the first back to back champions since the 2006-07 Florida Gators. Duke (1991-92) is the only other school to win consecutive NCAA championships since John Wooden led UCLA to 10 NCAA championships in a 12 year span (1964-65, 1967-73, 1975). UConn has won 12 consecutive Final Four games, with each victory by at least 13 points, and the Huskies became just the sixth team to win all six tournament games by double digits.

It is easy to see how UConn won 37 games this season but--to paraphrase an old line about dominant pitcher Sandy Koufax--it is not easy to see how UConn lost three games this season. UConn coach Dan Hurley declared that UConn has been running college basketball since 1999, a brash statement that is also true. Hurley has transformed himself from being Bobby Hurley's little known brother into being a future Hall of Famer; Bill Self and Rick Pitino are the only active coaches other than Dan Hurley who have won two NCAA titles (but one of Pitino's titles was vacated by the NCAA).

However, it is demonstrably false to suggest that the 2024 Huskies are a better basketball team than the legendary teams from the past, regardless of how many records the Huskies set. Just consider the strategy that worked so well against Purdue: let Edey run wild because his teammates--on a team that was clearly the second best college team this season--could be shut down. That strategy worked brilliantly because Edey may be Purdue's only NBA caliber player. Imagine trying a similar strategy against the 2007 Florida Gators, who had six future NBA players on their roster (including future All-Stars Al Horford and Joakim Noah); no intelligent coach would do that, because Florida had way too much talent and depth. Similarly, the 1992 Duke Blue Devils also had six future NBA players on their roster, including future Hall of Famer Grant Hill, and Christian Laettner, one of the greatest college players of all-time. The 1973 UCLA Bruins featured future Hall of Famer Bill Walton at center, and his teammates included future Hall of Famer Jamaal Wilkes, plus future pros Swen Nater (a two-time All-Star), Dave Meyers, Greg Lee, and Ralph Drollinger. 

Teams playing in the NCAA Championship Game used to routinely feature multiple future NBA players because the best college players used to stay in school for four years or at least three. There was no transfer portal, so teams developed chemistry, cohesion, and experience. In contrast, UConn is dominating an era during which the best players go to the NBA as soon as possible; the overall talent level in college basketball is not nearly as good as it used to be, and few teams stay together long enough to develop much chemistry, cohesion, and experience.

I love basketball, and I particularly love championship level basketball. UConn is a great college team in this era, but UConn is not better than the great college teams from the past precisely because the college game in this era is not better than the college game was in the past. It is not UConn's fault that the overall talent level in this era is watered down--but commentators who breathlessly hype up everything that happens now while ignoring the sport's historical realities should consider their words more carefully.

Further Reading:

UConn Defeats San Diego State 76-59 to Claim Fifth NCAA Title Since 1999 (April 2023)

The NCAA Tournament Provides Drama, but Does it Provide Great Basketball? (April 2022)

Baylor Dominates Gonzaga to Win the 2021 NCAA Title (April 2021)

Separating the Grownups From the Kids in Basketball (November 2018) 

Heels Stomp Spartans (2009 NCAA Championship)

C(h)alm in the Clutch: Kansas Defeats Memphis in OT, 75-68 (2008 NCAA Championship) 

Early Entry Players Have Diluted Both College and Pro Basketball (March 2008)

 

UConn Defeats San Diego State 76-59 to Claim Fifth NCAA Title Since 1999

Few people expected to see the University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies face the San Diego State University (SDSU) Aztecs in the NCAA Championship Game. Other than Huskies fans, few people are likely to remember much about UConn's 76-59 win. This was not high level basketball as much as it was one team outmatching the other from opening tip until final buzzer; SDSU made a second half run to cut the margin to 60-55 with 5:19 remaining, but UConn closed the game with a 16-4 burst to leave no doubt about their clear superiority. 

UConn's size, speed, and athleticism overwhelmed SDSU in the first half. UConn built a 16 point lead, and enjoyed a comfortable 36-24 halftime advantage. The Aztecs shot just 8-28 (.286) from the field while committing nine turnovers. Yes, SDSU had more first half turnovers than field goals made! The 60 combined first half points were the lowest total in an NCAA Championship Game since 2011, when UConn defeated Butler 53-41.

UConn's Tristen Newton scored a game-high 19 points, and he tied for game-high rebounding honors (10) with Adama Sanogo, who added 17 points and received the 2023 Final Four Most Outstanding Player award. Keshad Johnson paced SDSU with 14 points, while Lamont Butler and Darrion Trammell added 13 points each.

Since 1999, the Huskies have won five NCAA titles under the direction of three different coaches (Jim Calhoun: 1999, 2004, 2011; Kevin Ollie: 2014; Dan Hurley: 2023). 

UConn never trailed en route to a 72-59 win over Miami to advance to the NCAA Championship Game, and the Huskies won each of their NCAA Tournament games by double digits. As a fourth seeded team they were hardly a pre-Tournament favorite, yet in retrospect their championship run looks inevitable. Even though UConn had a dominant 2023 NCAA Tournament, it is difficult to picture this team even being competitive against NCAA champions from previous eras that had multiple future NBA All-Stars who stayed in school for three or even four years. 

In today's era, the best players play one year of college basketball--at the most--and then they receive highly paid on the job training in the NBA. Thus, the talent in college basketball is watered down, but the NBA is watered down as well, because the league is full of young players who do not yet really understand how to play--and who often miss games due to injuries or load management. Instead of watching Zion Williamson make multiple NCAA Tournament appearances, we watch him sit on the sidelines of NBA games in street clothes.

It never ceases to amaze me when anyone argues that college basketball is more fundamentally sound than NBA basketball. College basketball, even at the highest levels, is filled with young players who have not yet mastered the sport. The worst NBA team would beat either NCAA Finalist by at least 30 points, as I noted in my 2022 NCAA Tournament recap:

There are many reasons that the quality of play at the highest levels of college basketball is not as good as the quality of play in the NBA. The first, most obvious, and indisputable reason is that in no field of endeavor would it be reasonable to expect apprentices to outperform seasoned professionals: an apprentice craftsman is not superior to an experienced craftsman, and apprentice basketball teams/players are not superior to experienced professional basketball teams/players. The second reason is that there is very little continuity in major college basketball because the best players leave school after just one season; this is not to suggest that players should not be allowed to leave or that they should choose not leave: the point is that the best college-age basketball players in the world are, for the most part, playing in the NBA, not in college. The talent drain of young players going to the NBA means that every year the best college teams are rebuilding, which in turn means that rivalries--at least in terms of individual player matchups--cannot be sustained, and it also means that the best teams do not have a chance to build chemistry or work much on skill set development. Each college season consists of a breathless race to determine which group of talented freshmen can gel as quickly as possible to peak during the one and done NCAA Tournament before the best players jump straight to the NBA. This is the basketball version of fast food, not gourmet cooking, and that is why we see unwatchable games with wretched field goal percentages.

There is no question that the worst NBA team could beat the best NCAA team by at least 20-30 points. Not only are the NBA players more athletic, more talented, and more fundamentally sound, but they are coached better.

Tonight's telecast was the record 32nd--and last--Final Four of Jim Nantz' incredible career. Prior to Nantz' first Final Four in 1991, no broadcaster had worked more than six Final Fours. It is safe to say that Nantz' mark will stand for a long time. Nantz is a versatile broadcaster who will continue to work the Masters and the NFL, but for many sports fans he will forever be identified with and connected to college basketball's showcase event. 

Nantz prides himself on his thorough preparation:

Every basketball assignment Nantz has called for CBS (the number is somewhere in the vicinity of 575 broadcasts) includes a "game board": a white, wide, sturdy paper that is his colorful prep sheet of information and statistics about the players and coaches. Every one of them is treated as a treasured document. 

"No shortcuts," Nantz says, eyes down, pen to page and filling out the final board of his career. "Doesn't matter if it's a game like this or it's a regular-season game. The effort, the work behind it, has to be there. And otherwise you can't be comfortable. And I happen to enjoy this process." 

Nantz has never lost or thrown a single game board out. Every one from his career is archived, by year, at his Pebble Beach home in California. Last year, Hill stopped by Nantz's house, and while he was there, Jim pulled out his board from Dec. 22, 1990, the 10th game of Hill's Duke career--a game at Oklahoma.

When Nantz began doing Final Four games, I was still in college. It will feel strange next year when he is not part of CBS' NCAA Tournament coverage. Ian Eagle will do a great job, but the passage of time is relentless, and seems to accelerate the older that one gets.

Further Reading:

The NCAA Tournament Provides Drama, but Does it Provide Great Basketball? (April 2022)

Baylor Dominates Gonzaga to Win the 2021 NCAA Title (April 2021)

Separating the Grownups From the Kids in Basketball (November 2018) 

Heels Stomp Spartans (2009 NCAA Championship)

C(h)alm in the Clutch: Kansas Defeats Memphis in OT, 75-68 (2008 NCAA Championship) 

Early Entry Players Have Diluted Both College and Pro Basketball (March 2008)