March Madness was as exciting as ever this year, as men’s and women’s teams across the country battled it out for the NCAA Division 1 national title. From Selection Sunday on Mar. 16 to the final championship games in early April, viewers were enamored by basketball nightly, with millions of fans anticipating their favorite teams’ next win.
One university in particular consistently dominated headlines and stayed top of mind for viewers, regardless of its tournament seeding. The University of Connecticut (better known as UConn) has commanded college basketball for the last 30 years, with a combined 18 national championships, numerous back-to-back titles, multiple undefeated seasons and the winningest coach in college basketball history. The public university based in Storrs, Connecticut, has built a lasting legacy, growing from a regional to a national powerhouse.
The UConn men’s team won its sixth national title last year, beating Purdue to become back-to-back champions. The Huskies won their first championship in 1999, followed by five more wins in 2004, 2011, 2014, 2023 and most recently, 2024. They hold the third-most NCAA men’s basketball national titles, trailing only the University of California, Los Angeles with 11 and the University of Kentucky with eight. While the Huskies aimed for a three-peat this year, they ultimately fell to No. 1 seed Florida in the second round, having been named a No. 8 seed following a 24-11 season. The men’s Huskies put on a show, however, in their final game; they lost by just two points, with a final score of 77–75.
The greatness doesn’t stop there: As of this year, the UConn women’s team now holds a record 12 national titles, including multiple repeat wins and a head coach with the most career victories in college basketball history. The team won its first championship in 1995 and did not slow down from there. Notably, the women’s tournament wasn’t founded until 1982, over 40 years after the first men’s tournament in 1939.
The Huskies won again in 2000, followed closely by titles in 2002, 2003 and 2004, led by legends Sue Bird, Tamika Williams and later, Diana Taurasi. The next set of consecutive wins came in 2009 and 2010, with Tina Charles and Maya Moore paving the way to a 22-point margin of victory, the second largest in a championship game.
In 2013, the Huskies smashed this record with a 33-point championship victory, marking the start of their four national titles in a row through 2016, coinciding with power forward Brianna Stewart’s graduation. The team also went undefeated in two of those seasons, losing only five games over the four years.
Coming off a 33-3 season, this year’s team absolutely crushed Arkansas State in the first round with a 69-point win, breaking their own record for largest margin of victory in a tournament game set in 2018. They continued to cruise through the second round, defeating South Dakota State 91-57 on their home court in Storrs. After entering the tournament as a No. 2 seed, the team was reseeded to No.1 by CBS Sports heading into the Sweet 16 and was an apparent favorite.
On Apr. 6, the UConn women’s team delivered a decisive 82–59 victory over the reigning champions, the South Carolina Gamecocks, to claim the national title. While the two teams stayed competitive in the first quarter, trading field goals across the court, UConn slowly pulled away with standout performances from graduating senior Paige Bueckers, forward Sarah Strong and shooting guard Azzi Fudd, who was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
It’s clear that the men’s and women’s teams at UConn have built a tremendous history, setting the standard for college basketball as we know it. Both teams have produced some of the best players in professional leagues and abroad, shaping not only college athletics but the NBA, WNBA and more. In fact, the school is now widely considered the “Basketball Capital of the World” (to the rest of the world’s chagrin).
The Daily Campus, UConn’s student-run newspaper, first coined the term in the winter of 1995, when both the men’s and women’s teams were ranked No. 1 in the national Associated Press poll. The phrase was half-joking at the time, but years later, both teams started raking in wins, cultivating a strong and persistent basketball culture in Connecticut that, at first glance, might seem a little random for the Nutmeg State.
In September 2024, the state put up a new highway sign on the Massachusetts border declaring Connecticut the “Basketball Capital of the World,” so I guess it’s really official now.
While neighboring states may scoff at the self-declaration, there is no denying that UConn is a basketball giant, and that won’t change anytime soon. The UConn Women’s Huskies certainly proved that this season by bringing the national championship trophy back home to Storrs.