Tag: UConn

Who has the most women’s basketball national championships?

South Carolina has a way to go to catch Tennessee or UConn.

The NCAA tournament for women’s college basketball recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. The first tournament was held in 1982 as Louisiana Tech won the national championship in Norfolk, Virginia.

More than four decades years later, there are still countless programs searching for a first national title. In this year’s Final Four in Dallas, South Carolina is the only former champion, having won in 2017 and 2022. Virginia Tech is in the Final Four for the first time, LSU is back for the first time since 2008, and Iowa is in the national semifinals for the first time in three decades.

If South Carolina repeats as champs, the Gamecocks will join Baylor and Stanford in the group of three-time national title winners. And should LSU win, coach Kim Mulkey would be the first in the sport to lead two different programs to a national championship. She also won a title as a player (1982) and assistant coach (1988) with Louisiana Tech, and coached Baylor to all three of its titles.

But which team has the most national championships?

That crown belongs to the UConn Huskies, who have won an astounding 11 titles under longtime coach Geno Auriemma. All of those championships came between 1995 and 2016, and the Huskies had six teams during that stretch that went undefeated. UConn dominated the sport for two decades with players like Rebecca Lobo, Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Maya Moore, Tina Charles and Breanna Stewart.

Behind UConn is its longtime rival, Tennessee, which has won eight titles. All of those teams were coached by the legendary Pat Summitt. She won her first championship in 1987 and her last in 2008 — a team that was led by Candace Parker. The Lady Vols haven’t been back to the Final Four since.

Baylor and Stanford have each won three, while South Carolina, Notre Dame, Louisiana Tech and USC each have two.

And then several programs have just one championship: Texas A&M, Maryland, Purdue, North Carolina, Texas Tech, Texas, and Old Dominion.

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UConn’s Jordan Hawkins and the 6 best NBA draft prospects playing in the Final Four

UConn’s Jordan Hawkins is a ready-to-play movement shooter perfect for the NBA.

This is a fascinating Final Four in the NCAA men’s tournament, especially because we may only have one first-round draft pick playing in either game.

Between the two matchups, UConn vs. Miami is the game to watch if you want to see likely future NBA players. Even if there aren’t many players selected in the first round, there are several who could find their way onto your favorite pro team.

Before the two games have their tipoffs in Houston on Saturday, these are the top NBA draft prospects you should keep your eyes peeled for whenever they are on the court.

NOTE: UConn’s Donovan Clingan would also make this list if he decides to declare for the 2023 NBA Draft.

The best takes and the sharpest bets on all the hoops storylines you need to know. Sign up for our Layup Lines newsletter, hitting your inbox on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

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What Boston Celtics are the highest earners from their NCAA schools?

As the 2023 NCAA Tourney unfolds, we look back on which Celtics alumni made the most money in the NBA from their respective schools.

With the entirety of college basketball fandom and then some focused on the 2023 NCAA Tournament as we inch closer to crowning a national champion at that level of the sport, attention to the college roots of the players of today and yesteryear also comes into momentary focus.

We can look back at the collegiate history of the Boston Celtics‘ top players, for example, and find a number of the storied ball club’s alumni are also among the highest earners for their respective schools at the NBA level. At blue blood schools like UConn, Duke, and Kansas to lesser-decorated but still well-represented universities like LSU, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, Celtics alumni have made a pretty penny at the NBA level.

Let’s take a look at which Celtics alumni are the top earners in the NBA for their respective colleges in the modern era.

Updated national championship odds entering the Elite Eight

Texas and UCONN are national title favorites.

Just eight teams remain in the hunt for a national title heading into Saturday. For the first time in the history of the NCAA Tournament, zero No. 1 seeds have advanced past the Sweet 16.

Top-seeded Alabama fell to San Diego State 71-64 in the upset of the weekend. The Aztecs held Alabama star Brandon Miller to just nine points in the win.

Fellow No. 1 seed Houston lost to Miami just a couple hours later as the final one seed domino to fall. Miami’s outside shooting was too much for Houston’s normally stingy defense to handle.

Texas is now the highest ranked team remaining in the tournament after dismantling Xavier. The Longhorns join Kansas State in representing the Big 12 in the Elite Eight.

Other intriguing storylines included Creighton ending Princeton’s cinderella story, Gonzaga hitting a late t
hree-pointer to beat UCLA and FAU upsetting Tennessee.

Here is a complete look at the updated national title odds entering the Elite Eight according to BetMGM.

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No. 8 Arkansas vs. No. 4 UConn – How To watch, stream, listen

The NCAA Tournament regionals semifinals, formerly known as the Sweet 16, start Thursday with Arkansas taking the UConn Huskies.

The NCAA Tournament regionals semifinals, formerly known as the Sweet 16, start Thursday with Arkansas taking the UConn Huskies.

The Huskies are led by Adama Sanogo, Jordan Hawkins, and Tristen Newton.1 Sanogo leads the team in scoring and rebounds, averaging 17.3 points and 7.5 rebounds a contest. Hawkins is the best scoring guard on the squad, but Newton is the X-factor.

The senior guard leads the team in steals and assists. He stands at 6-foot-5 and could be an equal counterpart to slow down Devo Madness.

The winner of this game will take on the winner of UCLA vs. Gonzaga, who plays after. Before tonight’s matchup, check out the preview and the Hogs’ history against UConn all on the Razorback Wire

Column: Can the Razorbacks stop the rise of Dan Hurley?

Musselman once again proved he is a master at in-game adjustment, and it will be interesting to see how the two coaches clash. 

The media is excited about the Razorbacks’ next opponent, the #4 UConn Huskies. Dan Hurley is the headliner of the optimistic predictions about the Huskies’ chances to win a title this year.

The name says it all, though. His father built the Hoops dynasty in New Jersey. His brother, Bobby, was Coach K’s first great guard at Duke. The Hurley name is prestigious in grassroots athletics, but Dan is starting to build his legacy in college basketball.

Before UConn, he had stints at Wagner and Rhode Island. The majority of his success came during his time at Rhode Island. He took the Rams to the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years, leading to UConn’s call.

Dan Hurley has gained much attention recently because of this resurgence of UConn basketball. However, Arkansas has an opportunity to show that this resurgence is still in the works by slowing down the momentum of Hurley’s media train.

The biggest issue for the Hogs will be trying to slow down the big man in the middle, Adama Sanogo, averaging 17.3 ppg and 7.5 RPG this season.

Sanogo is one of the best big men remaining in the tournament, and Hurley speaks highly of his best player. It will be interesting to see how Eric Musselman approaches the Huskies after playing Kansas forward Jalan Wilson, who is widely considered to be the best player in college basketball.

Musselman once again proved he is a master at in-game adjustment, and it will be interesting to see how the two coaches clash.

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Ashley Battle’s journey from UConn standout to WNBA star to Boston Celtics scout

The NCAA champion forged a path from Storrs to Boston, with titles the common goal.

For fans of the women’s game among those of us who follow the Boston Celtics, many are familiar with the career of former University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball star Ashley Battle, and her path to the WNBA and a successful career in that league and then beyond it as an NBA scout for Boston.

But for the rest of us Celtics fans who may not be so familiar with her story, the ball club put together a short video of Battle detailing her journey from Storrs, Connecticut to Boston, Massachusetts as a talent scout for the most decorated franchise in the league of all time.

Battle not only tells her tale as an individual but also touches on how she is blazing trails for WNBA players and women more generally working a job more commonly associated with men in the history of the league.

To hear her interview in full, be sure to check out the clip embedded above put together by the Celtics for their team-produced “View From the Rafters” podcast.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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The March Madness champion will (almost definitely!) be one of these 8 NCAA men’s teams

How many teams are good on both offense AND defense?

There are two simple things that every team needs in order to win a national championship in college basketball.

March Madness is chaos and predictions are challenging, but all of the teams that have cut down the nets at the end of the tournament typically have these two things in common: They’re really good on offense and they’re really good on defense.

Among the last twenty title winners, per KenPom ratings, all but one had a top-25 adjusted offensive efficiency heading into the tournament. Meanwhile, none of the teams that have won the tourney have ranked outside the top 50 in adjusted defensive efficiency.

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That concept isn’t particularly complicated or hard to understand! So why don’t we use history to apply these lessons to the upcoming tournament?

These are the only teams that meet the aforementioned qualifications.

Women’s College Basketball Vibe Check: Caitlin Clark is ridiculous, UConn is healthy

Is Caitlin Clark the National Player of the Year?

It’s conference tournament season, y’all.

Elizabeth Kitley and Virginia Tech won the ACC on Sunday thanks to Georgia Amoore’s wizardry and heroics. Amoore broke the tournament’s 3-point record with 14 connections from behind the arc in three games as the Hokies won their first-ever ACC crown.

South Carolina bulldozed its way to another SEC Tournament title, the Pac-12 was wild and the Big Ten saw one player just completely take things over. The only remaining Power 5 conference tournament is the Big 12, which begins Wednesday. We could see Taylor Robertson’s sharp 3-point shooting carry the Sooners far in the tournament.

We’ll touch on all that and more in this week’s VIBE CHECK, an unscientific and unserious ranking of all things in women’s college basketball.

ACC honors galore for Notre Dame

So many Irish folks won awards that we had to make a listicle out of this story.

When you win the outright ACC regular-season championship, as Notre Dame did, many conference honors are sure to come. That’s exactly what happened when the ACC unveiled its annual honors. The best part is the honors weren’t limited to those who are on the court every game.

All of this is happening ahead of the ACC Tournament, which begins Wednesday in Greensboro, North Carolina. Having earned one of the top four seeds, the Irish received an automatic berth to the quarterfinals, which will take place Friday. As the top seed, they will play the winner of the second-round game between Syracuse and an NC State program that has given them problems over the past year.

Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology has the Irish holding steady as the No. 3 seed in the quadrant featuring undefeated and top-ranked South Carolina. Should the Gamecocks draw the Irish in the Elite Eight in that scenario, they’ll have to deal with these heavy hitters that have made the Irish such a force this season: