It was a cold night in January, 2020. The UConn Huskies men’s basketball team had just suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of the rival Villanova Wildcats. Yet the Head Coach of the Huskies, Dan Hurley, sat behind the microphone and defiantly told reporters, “People better get us now. That’s all. You better get us now because it’s coming.” Hurley couldn’t have been more correct, because just three years and two months later, they won, and in absolutely dominant fashion.

Last Monday, the UConn Men’s Basketball squad defeated San Diego State to capture its fifth national championship. With a final score of 59–76, the title game was one final blowout to cap off one of the most dominant runs in March Madness history. Throughout their six-game, three-city run to college basketball royalty, the Huskies beat every single one of their opponents by at least a baker’s dozen. According to the NCAA, only 2.08% percent of brackets had UConn winning it all. Not only did the Huskies defy the disbelievers, they resoundingly crushed their competition along the way.

Just five years ago, the UConn Men’s Basketball program was at its lowest point in decades. The team had just finished off their 2018 season with a dismal 14–18 record and had just fired head coach Kevin Ollie in the midst of an NCAA investigation into possible recruiting violations. Hired in the aftermath of the investigation, Dan Hurley faced the arduous task of returning the storied, yet broken, program to the summit of college basketball.

Striving to attract recruits to UConn, Hurley took the program’s four trophies from their case and brought them to his office. However, as time wore on, he brought the trophies back to their case and offered his recruits a new mantra: “Let’s get one of our own.” This signaled the beginning of a new era in Storrs, Connecticut. Hurley wanted his program to be defined not by the past, but by the present.

After the 2020 tournament was canceled, Hurley’s Huskies returned to March Madness in 2021 as a no. 7 seed, bowing out to #10 Maryland in the first round. UConn looked even more polished in 2022, and they returned to the Big Dance, this time as a no. 5 seed looking poised for a deep run, before getting upset in shocking fashion to no. 12 New Mexico State in the first round yet again in an utterly disappointing postseason.

When their 2023 campaign first kicked off in November, the Huskies were unranked in the Associated Press and the Coaches’ Poll. UConn put any pessimism about the program to rest in a heartbeat. Led by junior center Adama Sanogo, they easily swept through the non-conference portion of their season with a perfect 11–0 record. Among those 11 opponents was Alabama, which eventually entered the NCAA tournament with the top overall seed. Long story short, the Huskies dispatched Alabama by a 15-point margin.

As the holiday season rolled around, the Huskies began their maze through the Big East, a conference that featured many more basketball powerhouses than just UConn. After winning their first three games of the conference slate to improve to a perfect 14–0 and a #2 national ranking, UConn fell flat on its face. The Huskies fell to four of their next six opponents, plummeting all the way down to a #24 ranking. Amongst those losses included measly St. John’s and Seton Hall. Hurley attributed these losses not only to a lack of strong defensive play that became a staple of this UConn team down the stretch, but also to a feud he started with Big East officials that he says distracted him from coaching.

UConn finished the season strong after the doldrums of mid-January, though. The Huskies went 8–1 to close out their Big East slate, finishing with a 24–7 overall record and 13–7 within the conference, good enough for a fourth-place finish in the Big East. UConn then went on to defeat Providence in the first round of the conference postseason tournament before falling to Marquette in a 68–70 heartbreaker. They were one loss away from yet another postseason failure, so the Huskies had to show up for every game.

Upon entering the 2023 NCAA tournament as the no. 4 seed in the West Regional bracket, the Huskies were paired up with Iona in the opening round. Despite being down 39–37 at the half, UConn opened the second half on a tear on their way to winning by a score of 63–87. They continued in the same vein against St. Mary’s in the second round, winning 55–70. With this win, they earned a trip to Las Vegas for the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since their championship run in 2014.

In Las Vegas, the Huskies were paired with Arkansas, a feisty yet inexperienced team coming off an upset defeat of the defending champion Kansas Jayhawks. The Razorbacks proved to be no match for the mighty Huskies, who dominated them by a score of 65–88, setting up a date with a juggernaut Gonzaga squad in pursuit of their elusive first ring. The Bulldogs were to be UConn’s toughest opponent yet.

As the Elite Eight tipped off, the Huskies once again flexed their defensive muscle, keeping pace with the third-seeded Bulldogs as the first half drew to a close, UConn up by a margin of seven. The Huskies opened up the second half with what had become a trademark surge, overwhelming Gonzaga’s defense and forcing their star forward Drew Timme to the bench with foul trouble just two minutes into the frame. From then it was all UConn, leading by 33 late in the game before settling for a final score of 82–54 and a trip to the Final Four for the first time since 2014. The Huskies were back in business for the first time in almost a decade.

The Final Four featured the Huskies along with three others who were making their debut on college basketball’s biggest stage: Miami, San Diego State and Florida Atlantic. UConn routed Miami by 13 points to secure a spot in the National Championship game against San Diego State, who clinched a spot in the title game after a buzzer-beater against Cinderella squad Florida Atlantic.

While it would be useful for the purposes of this article to rave about the excitement of the championship game, it was really rather mundane. The Huskies were in command of the Aztecs the whole way to a 59–76 victory and a fifth ring. With the victory came a shiny piece of well-deserved hardware for star center Adama Sanogo, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. For the fifth time in program history, the Huskies were on top of the college basketball world.

It was a long nine years of trials and tribulations, but the UConn Huskies Men’s Basketball program returned to glory in dominant fashion. With their win they ended any doubts about the program’s status: UConn is now a certified, blue-blood college basketball program. No other team has won more championships in the last quarter-century than the Huskies. No longer can anyone talk about the storied histories of programs such as Duke, Indiana, Kansas and the like without including the University of Connecticut. Coach Hurley and the Huskies will now look to build on their success by producing more consistent results. This will start with their bid to defend their title in 2024.