'A blessing in disguise': How January losses prepared Miami, UConn for Final Four runs

Miami and UConn each toiled through a difficult January. Players from both teams cite those struggles as the reason for their respective Final Four runs.

“There are no dominant teams in college basketball this season.”

This refrain has been uttered time and time again, repeated ad nauseam this month as pundits scramble to explain the rash of upsets that have made the 2023 NCAA Tournament so historic. There are no top-3 seeds in the Final Four for the first time ever. It was the first Elite Eight ever that didn’t have a single 1-seed playing. No dominant teams, right?

Well, truthfully, both Miami and UConn have been dominant forces for four of the five months that make up the college basketball schedule. Each posted sub-.500 records in January, yet when looking at the other four months, these teams both have the resume of a 1-seed.

Interesting note as I'm doing research for UConn-Miami:

-UConn went 2-6 from 12/31-1/30 and is 27-2 otherwise.
-Miami went 3-4 from 12/31-1/30 and is 26-3 otherwise.
— Brian Rauf (@brauf33) March 28, 2023

So, what happened? What changed after January?

The answers are different for both programs ahead of their Final Four matchup on Saturday night.

—Key numbers, trends for the 2023 Final Four
—Final Four previews: SDSU | FAU | Miami | UConn
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‘A blessing in disguise’: How January losses prepared Miami, UConn for Final Four runs

Miami and UConn each toiled through a difficult January. Players from both teams cite those struggles as the reason for their respective Final Four runs.