The UConn men are going to play for the national championship? What? Are you kidding? The team that lost to Houston, was swept by SMU, was embarrassed by Louisville three times … that team is playing for the big prize?
Yup.
Frankly the UConn win over Florida was one of the most amazing ever for this program. Here are five quick thoughts following the game:
1. Wouldn’t it be something if the UConn women were upset by Stanford and the men won the title Monday night? Nah, much more likely that the school has duel champs again.
2. Odd stat: UConn got six points and two rebounds from the bench … and won by 10. DeAndre Daniels played all 40 minutes and was a stud. (Aisde: Could his great play in the NCAA tourney push him toward the NBA a year early?)
3. The Huskies defense was absolutely dominant. UConn outscored the Gators 59-37 over the final 30 minutes or so. Florida had to work through almost the entire shot clock to get a decent look while UConn was getting run-out layups and alley-oops.
4. There were nearly 20,000 votes on which team would win the game on Yahoo Sports, 70% were for Florida. The Gators were the No. 1 team in the final regular season poll and the No. 1 overall seed in this tourney. All that, and UConn clearly 
dominated the game.
Amazing.
5. UConn has never lost a national championship game, you will be hearing that a bit over the next 48 hours. Let’s rank the finals:
1. 1999, def. Duke: A great game from start to finish in which UConn was the clear underdog and somehow beat favored Duke.
2. 2004, def. Georgia Tech: Most people probably forget who the Huskies even played in this game since the semifinal win over Duke was the highlight. Not really ever a contest as the Huskies rolled.
3. 2011, def. Butler: One of the worst-played national finals ever, but it still counts as a UConn victory.
Monday night one thing is for sure: the Huskies will face a team capable of playing offense, making this potentially a tremendous game
(Mea culpa: Yours truly has now picked Iowa State, Michigan State and Florida …. zip and 3).
