To think, 8 years ago, Dan Hurley was a sub-.500 coach. UConn went 16-17 in his first season. The Huskies lost 12 of their 18 conference games in the American. They went just 10-8 in league play during Hurley’s second season. Then they rejoined the Big East. The Big East?? Surely this wouldn’t go well.
After a pair of 1-and-done showings in the NCAA Tournament in Year 3 and Year 4, UConn has made the national championship game in 3 of the last 4 seasons. Love him or hate him, Hurley is the premier coach in the sport right now.
That was going to be true regardless of Monday night’s result. Had UConn won, it would have joined rare air. Alas, UConn made a late run at Michigan, but Dusty May’s Wolverines captured a national title and left the Huskies empty-handed.
Still, Hurley has done something only 2 other programs have done in the modern era of the NCAA Tournament. Duke under Mike Krzyzewski (1990-93) and Kentucky under Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith (1996-99) are the only other 2 instances where a program made 3 title appearances in a 4-year span.
Neither of them won 3 titles. That’s a hard thing to do. No one has done it since John Wooden was running UCLA.
But UConn’s run has been unreal over the last 4 seasons.
In 2022-23, UConn won its first title in a decade by blitzing the field as a 4-seed. Six straight wins by double-digits. Six straight wins against the spread.
The following season, UConn was even better. The Huskies swept the Big East titles, losing only 3 times in the regular season. They won 6 more games by double-digits in the NCAA Tournament, again covering the spread every time.
In 2024-25, UConn replaced 4 NBA-bound players and lost by 2 points in the second round to the eventual national champion.
This year, UConn almost scaled the summit again.
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“Right now, we’re probably the premier program in college basketball,” Hurley said Monday night, moments after watching another team swim in confetti.
It was peak Hurley. Unabashed. Unapologetic.
And it’s damn hard to argue with him.
Since the start of the 2022-23 season, UConn has the third-best winning percentage (.818) of any team in the country across all games. Houston (.861) and Duke (.832) are the only 2 schools with a better overall record.
They’re both 11-4 in NCAA Tournament games, with 1 combined Final Four appearance. UConn is 18-2.
UConn is 31-14 against AP-ranked opponents over the last 4 years. Arizona is the only team in the nation with a better record during that span.
UConn is 57-7 against nonconference teams over the last 4 years. No team in the country has a better record.
UConn has produced more first-round NBA draft picks since 2021 (5) than it has signed 5-star recruits (3).
“As long as Coach Hurley is here,” Alex Karaban said Monday night, “I believe in UConn.”
Silas Demary Jr. (38 starts, 28.4 minutes per game) and Solo Ball (39 starts, 28.4 minutes per game) should both be back next season. Elite Eight hero Braylon Mullins might come back, too. (He should.) If Hurley wants to hit the portal to replace Tarris Reed, he’ll have his pick of the litter.
If UConn had beaten Michigan Monday night, we’d be talking about the arrival of a modern-day college basketball dynasty. That Michigan won the game probably shouldn’t change the way we view this program much, though.
UConn isn’t going anywhere.
“I’m not that arrogant of a guy that’s gonna say, ‘Hey, I’ll see you here next year for the championship game.’ I mean, this thing is hard, man. This is a hard, hard tournament,” Hurley said, per The Athletic. “There’s some great teams that didn’t get to this last night. But, just the culture and the commitment. I’m confident in the roster we’ll be able to put together.”
Funny enough, UConn is the co-favorite to win next year’s title. Duke is right there, too. And that’s a perfect lens to view this all through. UConn didn’t win the title. UConn isn’t the biggest brand. But UConn is the biggest threat to everyone right now.
As long as Hurley is in Storrs.
Prediction Markets 2027 College Basketball Champion Learn more about Prediction Markets Kalshi Michigan 15% Duke 12% Arizona 11% Illinois 10% Florida 8% Alabama 8% St. John's 8% UConn 7% Tennessee 7% Saint Mary's 0% PredictWin or lose, Dan Hurley is firmly atop the sport of college basketball Saturday Down South.
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