5-for-5: Ten Thoughts On UConn's Record-Setting Big East Championship Win

UConn Huskies = 2011 Big East Champs (Credit: Hartford Courant)

A few hours ago, the Selection Committee announced that Connecticut will be the No. 3 seed in the West Region of the 2011 NCAA tournament, matching up with No. 14 Bucknell in Washington, D.C. during Thursday's first round.  Historically, UConn has fared well out West, winning the national championship in both 1999 and 2004.  Jay Bilas likes them in 2011 as well -- he recently picked UConn to be a Final Four team this year.

A fundamental law of nature is that controversy must surround Selection Sunday.  This year is no exception.  Bubble teams such as Colorado (six RPI Top-50 wins) and Virginia Tech (defeated then-No. 1 Duke in February, advanced to ACC semis this week) were left out, while unheralded UAB (one RPI Top-50 win) and VCU (finished 4th in CAA, lost their last 5 of 8, 11 losses overall, bad L's to Georgia State and Northeastern) somehow squeaked in.  At least UConn snagged a No. 3 seed.

Kemba Walker & Roscoe Smith
(credit Hartford Courant)

Some could argue that Florida, which finished first in the SEC but lost (decisively) for the second time to Kentucky in today's SEC championship, should not have received a No. 2 while UConn, which reeled off a magical five-game run to win the Big East championship, got stuck with a No. 3.  You could also argue that Pitt's one-and-done in the Big East should have dropped them from No. 1 to No. 2.  And so on.  But I think that the top of the bracket, for the most part, is pretty reasonable.  The only question mark is the absence of certain bubble teams, and why the East and West regions are so damn tough.

But let's forget about the bracket for a moment.  There is plenty of time between now and Thursday's tipoff to hack it apart.  Let's just focus on 10 thoughts about UConn's incredible feat of winning 5 games in 5 days to become Big East champs...


Fact #1: The UConn Huskies are the defending Big East champs in football, men's basketball, and women's basketball.

Fact #2: UConn is the first team in NCAA history to win its conference championship by winning 5 games in 5 straight days.

Fact #3: Four of UConn's five wins came against ranked teams -- Georgetown (#22), Pitt (#3), Syracuse (#11), and Louisville (#14).

Fact #4: UConn, despite being ranked No. 19 in the nation, finished 9th in the Big East (!) and therefore entered the Big East tournament as the No. 9 seed.  Thus, the Huskies were underdogs in their last four tournament games.

Fact #5: It's pretty clear by now that winning this year's Big East tournament is more difficult than winning the NCAA tournament.  Even The General said so.  Winning 5 games in 5 days against 4 ranked teams is just plain tougher than winning 6 games in 17 days, including a very possible cupcake in round one.

Fact #6: Kemba Walker, the cold-blooded killer who broke Gary McGhee's ankles and Pitt's collective heart with his buzzer beater on Thursday, finished with 130 points in the Big East tournament.  That's a record, by a whopping 46 points (!) over the next closest player.  Walker, who was later named tournament MVP, also added 32 rebounds, 21 assists, 14 steals, and shot 46-of-54 from the line (another record).  NBD.

Fact #7: This is UConn's second tournament win this season.  The Huskies also won the Maui Invitational in November by beating then-No. 8 Kentucky and then-No. 2 Michigan State.  It appears that Connecticut just loves playing in tournaments.  Foreshadowing, perhaps?

You the man, Kemba Walker, you the man. (Credit: Courant)

Fact #8: The Kemba Walker Show.  The man is an unstoppable force of athleticism, a walking highlight reel with a flair for the dramatic. He is the consummate leader, and is the engine that powers the Connecticut machine.  Without him, the Huskies are an NIT team.  With him, they are a Final Four contender.  Years from now, Ben Hansbrough will still be thanking his lucky stars for helping him snatch the Big East POY award from Kemba's far more deserving hands.  Just ask yourself this: if you were building a college team from scratch, who would you build your club around: Kemba Walker or Tyler Hansbrough's little brother?  Exactly.

Fact #9: Everyone says UConn is a basketball school, but how exactly do you quantify that?  Try the number 7, as in the number of Big East championships UConn has won, tying Connecticut with Georgetown for most all-time.  That's how.

Fact #10: Going into this season, UConn had just graduated three senior starters: Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson, and Gavin Edwards.  Jim Calhoun was being investigated for NCAA recruiting violations, which eventually resulted in Calhoun receiving a three-game Big East suspension for next season.  Sports Illustrated left the Huskies out of its preseason 68-team bracket predictions, and the preseason coaches poll ranked UConn 10th in the Big East.  Nobody expected anything from Connecticut; Kemba Walker was only supposed to nurture a group of talented-but-raw freshmen and sophomores to a 17-14 record (yawn).  What happened the rest of the way -- the Maui Invitational, strong non-conference wins against Tennessee and Texas (in Austin), buzzer beaters galore, and that magical Big East run -- is simply incredible.  The story just never gets old.