The 2023-2024 college basketball season was predictable if a fan were to glance at the preseason rankings and the results of it all. University of Connecticut (UConn) was almost unanimously ranked in the number one position coming into the season.
UConn took home last year’s national championship with a 76-59 win over San Diego State in a historic four versus five seed battle. In the 2023 tournament, UConn had no expectations of winning. However, they quickly made it clear that they could win in March. UConn won each game by 15 points and never really came close to losing.
In the 2024 tournament, experts expected UConn to be just as good, but this year they had the target on their back for being the number one overall seed. In this year’s tournament, UConn started its campaign with a 39-point blowout win over Stetson. Then two days later, they went on to face Northwestern, whom UConn would hold off by 17 points. UConn then beat San Diego State and Illinois by 25 plus points each to reach their second Final Four in two years. This is where they then played a closer game; however, they still beat Alabama by 14 points to advance to another championship game.
On the other side of the bracket, Purdue had just taken down America’s team and 11-seeded North Carolina State (NC St), to advance to the championship versus UConn. Until the loss to Purdue, NC St was on a historic run, winning nine games in a row. They won five games in five days to win the American Coastal Conference (ACC) Championship. Then, in the first round, they faced Texas Tech and finished with an 80-67 win.
Then, in round two, NC St went on to face Oakland, who had just made a historic upset on a 3-seeded Kentucky. The Oakland versus NC St matchup became very popular with two new faces of basketball suddenly emerging. Fans loved NC St’s massive center, 6’9 275 lbs DJ Burns, Jr., and Oakland’s sharpshooting guard, 6’3, 215 lbs Jack Gohlke. NC St would go on to win the game 79-73 in an overtime thriller. As NC St kept riding their magical wave against teams like Marquette and Duke, it later ended back with Purdue in the Final Four, making them only the sixth 11th-seeded team to ever make it that far.
However, with all the anticipation, UConn would go on to handle Purdue just as everyone else. With another victory by 15 points, UConn claimed their second National Championship trophy in two years. UConn maintained an average victory margin of 23.3 points throughout the tournament. Often, if their opposing teams were able to, they kept it close in the first half but never were able to keep up in the second.
Tualatin High School junior and basketball fan Caden Howe shared his March Madness opinions.
“Well, for one thing, I definitely did not expect NC State to make it to the Final Four. I felt it was a pretty good year for March Madness because there were plenty of upsets and really close games, and almost every game was fun to watch,” Howe said. “I expected there to be at least a 1 seed in the championship, but I was kind of hoping it would be against something like a three or four seed to be there as well because it’s always fun whenever there is an underdog.”
Seeing the same team win can sometimes be boring, but the way UConn plays is undeniable; however, fans hope for the chance an underdog can one day win it all themselves.
