UConn and Purdue were college basketball’s most dominant teams all season. What’s more, neither program shows any sign of slowing down after this year.
The single-elimination nature of the NCAA Tournament often creates chaos. It’s what makes this event so incredibly fun. It’s also what makes it so rare for the country’s two best teams to meet in the national championship. Monday night’s tilt between UConn and Purdue, however, is an exception to the rule.
Indeed, these were the two most dominant teams in the country all season long. The reigning champs quickly proved it could replace the three starters it lost from last season’s squad. Meanwhile, the team with the reigning National Player of the Year quickly proved its shocking loss to Fairleigh Dickinson last year wouldn’t define this season.
Monday’s title game will be the ultimate clash between the nation’s top two heavyweights. Given the trajectory of both programs, it may also be the first bout in a feud that could end up defining the decade.
More from Heat Check CBB:
- Castle, UConn exert dominance in win over Alabama
- Purdue rides hot-shooting guards to semifinals victory
- Tristen Newton’s steady hand fueling UConn’s historic run
Cementing UConn’s blue blood status
We’re no longer asking if UConn is one of college basketball’s blue bloods. Last season’s title, the program’s fifth in 24 seasons, put them firmly in that category. The Huskies’ run is one that only John Wooden’s UCLA teams and Coach K’s Duke squads have been able to match.
Adding another trophy — and becoming the first back-to-back champion since Florida in 2007 — would make them the sport’s most dominant dynasty since the NCAA Tournament expanded.
UConn is also one of two programs that has sustained championship-level success across multiple head coaches, joining the success North Carolina experienced under both Dean Smith and Roy Williams. Perhaps even more impressively, the Huskies have had three title-winning skippers in Jim Calhoun, Kevin Ollie and now Dan Hurley.
Adding a sixth ring would elevate UConn to a different standard, even among those considered bluebloods. UConn would suddenly go from being the sport’s newest blue blood to becoming its newest death star.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence,” Hurley stated following the team’s win over Alabama. “When we go on a run, it’s disheartening for the other team because they’ve seen us do it a lot. [Our] culture, the preparation, the commitment to every aspect of the game to keep ourselves as bulletproof as possible.”
Forget bullets. This year’s UConn team has hardly endured a punch.
“We make a hard tournament look easy, it’s crazy.”
Huskies embracing villain role
These Huskies have not shied away from increased expectations. Instead, they almost relish in the program’s heel turn, embracing their role as a villainous juggernaut. That’s not necessarily a new concept in Storrs, but it’s usually the UConn women who have towered over the competition.
“It will mean a different type of history. We’re trying to catch up to the girls’ side because they won about four in a row,” All-American guard Tristen Newton joked.
Despite losing Jordan Hawkins, Andre Jackson and Adama Sanogo to the NBA, Hurley has kept the ball rolling at UConn by building a roster using every tool at his disposal. The Huskies sport a combination of plug-and-play transfers (Newton, Cam Spencer), a highly-rated freshman (Stephon Castle) and developing homegrown talents (Donovan Clingan).
All four of those players are expected to leave this offseason, but their success is proof of concept for Hurley’s roster-building proficiency. The Huskies have already signed a pair of four-star perimeter players and will be in the mix for some of the top available players in the portal.
It’s only a matter of time before NBA teams come sniffing around to lure Hurley to the professional ranks. He hasn’t expressed interest in being anything other than a college coach to this point. Meanwhile, everything UConn has accomplished since 1999 solidifies it as one of the sport’s elite programs. A sixth championship would only strengthen its position.
As long as Hurley sticks around, it’s hard to see UConn falling off anytime soon.
Purdue’s chance for validation
The Boilermakers, meanwhile, have been as successful as can be without reaching the sport’s pinnacle. Matt Painter has led Purdue to five Big Ten regular-season titles in the last 15 years, including four of the last eight. Purdue has also reached the second weekend in five of the last seven NCAA Tournaments.
“[Winning in the tournament] is an inexact science at times,” Painter said. “You learn from your tough losses and don’t run from them. You face them. That’s what we’ve tried to do.”
Purdue has certainly succeeded in that effort this year, going further than any Painter-led team before it.
“We’ve been to that second weekend a lot, but we haven’t been able to get through it. We only got to the Elite Eight once before this,” Painter said. “You just keep plugging. Feel good about what you’re doing, feel good about your convictions.”
Even if the Boilermakers don’t win on Monday, this run helped exorcise some demons. This team has come incredibly far since the FDU debacle from last season. That said, national championships do provide a proverbial stamp of validation for both a coach and a program.
That’s what happened for Scott Drew and Baylor in 2021. It was the same for Tony Bennett and Virginia two years prior. Meanwhile, Jay Wright and Villanova didn’t hit their peak as a powerhouse program until they cut down the nets in 2016.
“It would be amazing to do it for Paint,” Zach Edey said of winning the big one for his coach. “He’s a guy that has believed in me from the start, so to be able to give him that national title, it would make him respected in the way he should be respected.”
This run of success for Purdue has allowed it to supplant Michigan State as the class of the Big Ten, a spot it is poised to maintain even given the shifting waters of conference realignment. Painter’s success in playing different styles makes it easy to envision the Boilermakers holding onto that spot for the foreseeable future.
Boilermakers are more than “just tall”
While many of Painter’s recent teams have been known for having dominant — and very tall — big men, he has also built teams around the likes of Carsen Edwards and E’Twaun Moore on the perimeter.
There aren’t any signs of Purdue slowing down in a post-Edey era given the returns of Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer, along with a handful of rotation pieces poised for bigger roles. But the importance of taking advantage of this opportunity cannot be overstated. Monday provides a chance to truly validate Purdue as one of the nation’s best programs.
“It would mean a lot,” guard Lance Jones told Heat Check CBB. “It’s bigger than me. It’s bigger than the team. If we win this, it would be amazing for [the state of] Indiana, for the Big Ten and definitely for Purdue.”
On the other hand, a loss in the national championship game doesn’t mean the Boilermakers are a lesser program. Still, there is a difference in the way we’ve talked about Baylor and Gonzaga since their 2021 title game. Simply put, championships are required for entry into the tier of college basketball programs.
National impact
There are so many intriguing on-court storylines about the UConn-Purdue battle itself.
The Edey-Clingan matchup is a clash of titans, and one where NBA teams will be paying extra close attention. The backcourt battle can redefine the way we look at Smith and Loyer for Purdue. There will be countless other facets of the game discussed in the buildup for this one.
However, we also have to consider the impact the result will have going forward. How will we view these programs after Monday night? How will this year’s title game frame the national conversation around college basketball? All of that remains to be seen, but the answers to those questions will be extremely consequential for two of the country’s best programs.