Michigan blows out Arizona and UConn outlasts Illinois in the Final Four to set up an epic national title showdown
Minutes after UConn gutted out its 71-62 national semifinal win over Illinois, a panicked staffer came running out of the locker room.
“We need a bracket sticker!” he yelled as he peeled around the corner.
Of all places you’d think would be ready-made with a sticker to slap on the NCAA tournament bracket, it would be UConn. On Monday, the Huskies will play for their national title in four years, a feat that hasn’t been matched since John Wooden was wizarding his way around Westwood. It is an accomplishment all the more improbable, considering all of the things in college athletics now destined to block such dynasty building.
And yet, the Huskies and Hurley are now 11-0 in Sweet 16 games and beyond, as inevitable a force that you will find maybe in all of college sports. Hurley, being Hurley, had to take a dig at folks for suggesting that perhaps his streak would be broken here, who – just as foolishly as leaving out a sticker in the UConn locker room – thought perhaps the Huskies might lose.
He made mention of the “prognosticators” who picked Illinois and the line against the Illini.
“You’re coming into the game as an underdog versus a team that you beat by 13 points earlier in the season, which was kind of surprising,’’ he said. “Obviously, I’ve been waiting to say that.’’
The man has a point. The Huskies have perhaps the most unique secret weapon in the game: Almost a muscle memory on how to win, built up over the years in one big game after another. It’s how they hung on despite blowing a 19-point lead to Michigan State in the Sweet 16 and why they rallied from down 19 to beat Duke in the Elite Eight.
It’s most certainly how they won against the Illini. The road was not easy; it was more like driving down a New England highway after a rough winter, bumpy and relatively uncomfortable. A game between the top-rated offense in the country and the 26th-best turned into a rock fight, where instead of trading buckets, the two teams traded scoring droughts.
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