How will UCONN stack up?

[FanOfConstantSorrows]

If UCONN were to win the national championship this year (I know they haven't yet, anything can happen in March), how would they compare to other national championship teams? Could they beat 2012 or 2015 Kentucky?

And yes, I know they'd have a better coach than Cal lol

Curious to hear yall's thoughts.

 

[Noahtogo24]

Best team since 18 Nova if they win the NC next week, in my opinion…

 

[UKWildcats1987]

Uconn may win 12 straight tourney games by double digits. If they pull that off that is the most impressive stat of the modern era IMO.

 

[The_Answer1313]

We were pretty dominant on our way to the 2012 title.
They have been maybe even more dominant.

It would be a very close game IMO that could go either way. There's no real weakness with that team. There wasn't really any weakness with us in 2012 either.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

They wouldn’t beat 1996 UK, 1997 UK with a healthy DA, 2012 UK or 2015 UK IMHO. Not sure they’d beat 1998 UK, either.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

College basketball is really down, in terms of talent.

 

[KampusKat]

We almost lost 2012 when KU went on a run in second half, they just ran out of time.
2012 was still special, but I wonder how’d they handle a 25-0 run they did against Illinois

 

[bigblueinsanity]

College basketball is really down, in terms of talent.

Absolutely. NBA talent is as low as I can ever remember. Age and maturity is taking over thanks to covid that started a trend and nil that extended it letting good college players stay much longer than in decades. Before they'd go pro and even be happy with overseas. Now they're in cbb till 24 or 25.

 

[dlh331]

2012 had a tendency to let off the gas a bit which distorts how dominant they could be when fully engaged. All Cal’s teams have done this.

Bottom line on 2012; we were:

10-0 vs AP ranked teams
9-0 vs Elite 8 teams
4-0 vs teams that made the Final 4

 

[LXWildcat]

I think this UCONN team is better than the 2012 team and would give the 2015 a run for their money. The 2015 struggled in a couple of games in the tourney and had some scares but they won, this UConn team hasn’t had any of that and has bested teams by a lot every game

 

[Bhad Rhabies]

I think this UCONN team is better than the 2012 team and would give the 2015 a run for their money. The 2015 struggled in a couple of games in the tourney and had some scares but they won, this UConn team hasn’t had any of that and has bested teams by a lot every game

2015 was playing the tourney without AP

 

[BlueBomb]

They wouldn’t beat 1996 UK, 1997 UK with a healthy DA, 2012 UK or 2015 UK IMHO. Not sure they’d beat 1998 UK, either.

Man, those glasses you're wearing have some serious blue tint to them.

 

[H00SIER-Cat]

If UConn wins it all this year, they will have 6 natties. If that doesn't make them a blue blood, they are durn close and this board needs to start hating on them like UNC, Duke and Kansas.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

They would be the best team of an era where anyone capable goes to the NBA after five months on campus, and a majority of the top 1,000 players not good enough to go pro immediately dump their current team and haggle for the best spot as a paid mercenary.

By avoiding most of that turmoil themselves, by luck or design, they are the best of a very bad epoch in college basketball: The world’s tallest dwarf.

 

[LXWildcat]

If UConn wins it all this year, they will have 6 natties. If that doesn't make them a blue blood, they are durn close and this board needs to start hating on them like UNC, Duke and Kansas.

UConn has done more since 1999 than teams have in 60-70+ years of their program’s history. They are absolutely a blue blood.

 

[Lempface]

I don't think UConn is as good as other teams have been bad. Their E8 game they played like utter garbage in the first half. 2 of their 3 losses are highly questionable, they can put in a stinker.

I think they'll likely win, but I don't think they've been particularly impressive in the lineage of dominant NCAAT teams. Not to take anything away, I'd certainly welcome championships from "down years" too.

 

[Rockfly78]

UConn seems to be on a march run much like our 2015 team (except I guess we almost lost to ND). But they can also be beat. anyone can be beat. I would not be surprised to see bama hit a zillion 3's

 

[The_Answer1313]

The game where they got trounced by Creighton that shot 14-28 from 3.

Basically the only way u are beating this team is if u hit a crazy number of 3s.

Thing is even if you do that, you still have to contain their offense which is also very good.

 

[catsfanbgky]

They are on a elite two year run with this talented / veteran team. It will be VERY interesting to see what they do NEXT year. They lose two studs to graduation (Newton and Spencer), Clingan and the stud freshman Castle are projected lotto picks. And Karaban is also a projected higher pick, and Diarra is also a SR. That is their top 6 players (5 starters) and double digit scorers gone. They have nobody elite signed for next year. Ahmad Nowell ranked #30 and a 4* guard is the only stud player for next year. They do have another 4* Isaiah Abraham, but he is not nearly as highly thought of as Nowell (the class was ranked 26th in December). That does not even factor in if they have ANY transfer portal losses, which some guys have to be unhappy not playing behind the deep, talented roster. Now lets see what Hurley can do starting from scratch and not having elite recruits coming in. He did great building this roster and getting the stud Castle to mix in with the veterans, but he does not have that next year. IF and that is a big IF, UCONN is back running it next year, Hurley will truly be the BEST in the game. I compare them to Florida back in the mid 2000's when they landed that star studded class and stuck together, now lets see if UCONN does like Florida and fall off after that class left.

 

[SkyPrince1]

I don't get UCONN other than they have just beat mediocre teams the last two years.
Who can you compare them to historically?
Great coaches like K, Knight, Smith, Pitino and Williams all won championships with loaded rosters.
This years nor last years UCONN team was loaded by any means.
Florida's back to back champions had three guys that all played 10-15 years in the NBA.
Guess this is just the new reality in CBB.

 

[catsfanbgky]

247 Sports currently list UCONN 29th best recruiting class for next year, still just the two 4* guys signed. Not a lot of elite guys left and they do not lead for any. Some teams currently ranked ahead of UCONN,
Notre Dame - 25th
Penn State - 24th
Colorado - 23rd
Georgetown - 18th (ouch)
Arizona State - 17th
Georgia Tech - 13th

 

[UKWildcats1987]

They are on a elite two year run with this talented / veteran team. It will be VERY interesting to see what they do NEXT year. They lose two studs to graduation (Newton and Spencer), Clingan and the stud freshman Castle are projected lotto picks. And Karaban is also a projected higher pick, and Diarra is also a SR. That is their top 6 players (5 starters) and double digit scorers gone. They have nobody elite signed for next year. Ahmad Nowell ranked #30 and a 4* guard is the only stud player for next year. They do have another 4* Isaiah Abraham, but he is not nearly as highly thought of as Nowell (the class was ranked 26th in December). That does not even factor in if they have ANY transfer portal losses, which some guys have to be unhappy not playing behind the deep, talented roster. Now lets see what Hurley can do starting from scratch and not having elite recruits coming in. He did great building this roster and getting the stud Castle to mix in with the veterans, but he does not have that next year. IF and that is a big IF, UCONN is back running it next year, Hurley will truly be the BEST in the game. I compare them to Florida back in the mid 2000's when they landed that star studded class and stuck together, now lets see if UCONN does like Florida and fall off after that class left.

They aren't going anywhere. They would have 6 titles the past quarter century. They won't compete every year and may have some down years but i doubt they have many with Hurley.

 

[catsfanbgky]

I don't get UCONN other than they have just beat mediocre teams the last two years.
Who can you compare them to historically?
Great coaches like K, Knight, Smith, Pitino and Williams all won championships with loaded rosters.
This years nor last years UCONN team was loaded by any means.
Florida's back to back champions had three guys that all played 10-15 years in the NBA.
Guess this is just the new reality in CBB.

THIS UCONN team is mega talented, if you do not see that, you are not watching. They have 4 / 5 guys who will get drafted. Below are the players who have been projected by different draft experts.
Castle - 6th, 7th, 10th, 14th. He is a lotto pick
Clingan - 3rd, 7th, 10th, 11th. Another lotto pick by several projections/
Karaban - 37th, 40th, 41st, 44th - Solidly in the second round if he stays in.
Spencer - 44th , 54th. SR, so he will not be back next year.
Newton - 42nd, 48th. SR. he will also not be back.

2 lotto picks - Castle and Clingan
Late 1st, early 2nd in Karaban (injuries have slide him down some recently, still 1st round talent)
2 SR players who are solidly in the 2nd round, which neither will be back because of graduation.
That is 5 players, 2 sure fire early 1st rounders, 1 maybe late 1st, early second at worst, and 2 middle 2nd round players. That is NOT the definition of mediocre. That is a super talented veteran team with a stud freshman in Castle to go with them. You do not win a championship, then dominate the tournament the second year and odds on heavy favorite to repeat by being mediocre. LOL, what a silly statement. I have only seen ONE person say UCONN is mediocre. Congrats ?

 

[YardCat]

We were pretty dominant on our way to the 2012 title.
They have been maybe even more dominant.

It would be a very close game IMO that could go either way. There's no real weakness with that team. There wasn't really any weakness with us in 2012 either.

Close games aren’t Cal’s specialty

 

[uk78]

We almost lost 2012 when KU went on a run in second half, they just ran out of time.
2012 was still special, but I wonder how’d they handle a 25-0 run they did against Illinois

People conveniently forget in 2012 UNC might have been the team to beat. We barely won on our home court thanks to a last second block by Davis. However, they had a key injury at the tourney time which made it better chances for our team.

 

[cats2010]

I think this UCONN team is better than the 2012 team and would give the 2015 a run for their money. The 2015 struggled in a couple of games in the tourney and had some scares but they won, this UConn team hasn’t had any of that and has bested teams by a lot every game

Properly coached and with proper game management no one is coming close to 2015. Cal started off the year on the right foot with that team and he let the injury to Poythress derail what was working. No one should have stayed within 10 points of that team. If any team in history could have/should have pulled off 40-0, it was that team. If only they had a coach!!!

 

[SkyPrince1]

THIS UCONN team is mega talented, if you do not see that, you are not watching. They have 4 / 5 guys who will get drafted. Below are the players who have been projected by different draft experts.
Castle - 6th, 7th, 10th, 14th. He is a lotto pick
Clingan - 3rd, 7th, 10th, 11th. Another lotto pick by several projections/
Karaban - 37th, 40th, 41st, 44th - Solidly in the second round if he stays in.
Spencer - 44th , 54th. SR, so he will not be back next year.
Newton - 42nd, 48th. SR. he will also not be back.

2 lotto picks - Castle and Clingan
Late 1st, early 2nd in Karaban (injuries have slide him down some recently, still 1st round talent)
2 SR players who are solidly in the 2nd round, which neither will be back because of graduation.
That is 5 players, 2 sure fire early 1st rounders, 1 maybe late 1st, early second at worst, and 2 middle 2nd round players. That is NOT the definition of mediocre. That is a super talented veteran team with a stud freshman in Castle to go with them. You do not win a championship, then dominate the tournament the second year and odds on heavy favorite to repeat by being mediocre. LOL, what a silly statement. I have only seen ONE person say UCONN is mediocre. Congrats ?

It's a weak draft.
Those draft numbers don't look that good when you consider Reed is lotto.
Castle isn't in the same stratosphere as Murray or Monk as a FR.
Really don't see a clear cut NBA starter on the entire team.
You can lump UCONN in with Virginia and Baylor as proof you don't have to have a ton of individual talent to win a Championship in today's CBB

 

[DreadLox]

Close games aren’t Cal’s specialty

Someone posted Calipari's record in close games. IIRC, it's better than anyone else's.

 

[chiefcat420]

People conveniently forget in 2012 UNC might have been the team to beat. We barely won on our home court thanks to a last second block by Davis. However, they had a key injury at the tourney time which made it better chances for our team.

I really doubt it. Not that they couldn't have but they had their chance against our younger team early in the season. I looked back at the boxscore and they shot over 60% from 3, we were under 25% on 1 less attempt. Unc was +21 from 3pt. Barnes went 4-5 which is what he had to do to not get completely dominated by a workhorse like Kidd-Gilchrist but was still outscored and outrebounded by 9. I believe we would have a higher chance on improving on a lot of our stats while UNC would struggle to duplicate some of theirs against a more experienced UK.

 

[uk78]

No way to ever know what would have happened with UNC. I am not saying they would have beaten our team but many at the time did consider them as the team to beat. On the other hand, I disagree that Kansas would have won if there had been more time. The game was pretty much Kentucky's until Cal did the old slow down routine that has cost us games. We stopped playing allowing Kansas somewhat of a comeback.

 

[The_Answer1313]

Not only is Uconn super talented but didn't they lose like 3 players from last year's team to the NBA?

And got better lol.