UConn caps its 11th unbeaten regular season, but coach Geno Auriemma warns tougher March ahead
UConn completed its 11th undefeated regular season with a victory over St. John’s on Sunday night and is nine wins from repeating as national champion with a seventh perfect season.
Despite winning by an average of nearly 38 points per game, coach Geno Auriemma insisted this season hasn’t been as easy it’s looked from the outside for the No. 1 team in the AP women’s basketball Top 25. He also knows winning a 13th national championship won’t be as easy as last season’s title run.
“I do think when the NCAA Tournament begins, it certainly is not going to be as easy as we experienced it last season,” he said. “I think somebody like Paige (Bueckers) can (take over the postseason). We have enough good players to have as good a chance as anybody else out there to win a national championship.”
The Huskies (31-0), who have won 47 consecutive games, have two of the best players in college basketball in guard Azzi Fudd and forward Sarah Strong.
“Coach came in (the locker room), said he was proud of us,” Strong said after the St. John’s win. “We also have a lot to work on to get ready for the Big East Tournament, so just enjoy the win now and be ready to get back to work.”
The top-seeded Huskies have a bye until the quarterfinals on Saturday. If they do win another Big East Tournament, they’ll enter the NCAAs unbeaten for the first time since the 2017 and 2018 seasons. UConn lost in the Final Four both times in heartbreaking fashion on last-second shots.
“Generally, the best team usually wins the national championship, but not always,” Auriemma said. “It’s the team who comes together at the right time. We’ve got a great group. We can do a lot of different things, and our defense has been really, really good all season long. So if we stay in that mindset, then we’ll have a chance.”
NET rating
UConn still held the top spot in the NET ratings Monday ahead of UCLA, South Carolina and Texas. The SEC has four of the top seven teams, while the Big Ten has seven of the first 17.
Richmond and Princeton are the top mid-major teams, coming in at 37 and 38, respectively.
The NET is just one tool the selection committee uses to figure out which teams make the NCAA Tournament and where they are seeded. It has predicted the winner pretty accurately since it first was used in 2021. Four of the five national champions were No. 1 in the NET on Selection Sunday.
NCAA reveal
The NCAA revealed for the second time this season its top 16 teams heading into the start of conference tournaments and UConn, UCLA, South Carolina and Texas were the No. 1 seeds. Fifteen of the 16 teams were the same as the first reveal, with the only exception being Minnesota entered and Ole Miss exited.
Games of the week
The Power Four conference tournaments begin with numerous potential Top 25 matchups in the Big Ten and SEC. If seedings hold, No. 5 Vanderbilt will face fourth-ranked Texas in the SEC semifinals with a potential 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament on the line.
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