The UConn Huskies came into this year's March Madness as the team to beat, a crown they've worn often before. The Huskies dominated last year's Championship match in Tampa and are hoping to enjoy back-to-back victories for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
There's no shortage of articles and interviews all written and composed with the same goal in common: explaining why the Huskies are so powerful year after year. Coach Geno Auriemma has field edquestion after question on the topic, and things were no different after the team's first win on March 20.
Auriemma was asked if he prefers the pressure the team worked under last season, when it seemed to biggest goal was to make sure Paige Bueckers won a national championship, or this season, when everyone's wondering if they can pull off the same feat again. As Auriemma noted, the team is also contending with the looming loss of Azzi Fudd, who is expected to be a top 3 draft pick after the conclusion of the 2025-26 season.
At UConn, pressure is always there
"Somebody said would you rather have the pressure of getting Paige another one, or would you rather have the pressure of winning one without the best player in the country last year? In addition to the two players that we had that could be the best player in the country this year," Auriemma told reporters. "Whoever knows? I would say I would take last year's pressure over this year's pressure."
As he also said, pressure is baked into the experience of playing for the UConn Huskies — and, from the sound of it, into coaching them. Auriemma and assistant coach Chris Dailey are currently in their 41st seasons coaching the program, an incredible feat by by anyone's measure.
The program has seen incredible feats, like the one time they won 100 games in a row (a 2017 match against South Carolina sealed the deal), or when Bueckers put in the winning shots against, again, South Carolina, in 2018.
Of course, Auriemma has also steered the team through a legendary rivalry with the Tennessee Lady Vols. Though the Huskies have dominated those games of late, historically they've proven to be the background to some of the highest stakes UConn has faced. One of the more exciting bouts between the teams actually resulted in a UConn loss: the two teams faced off in January 2005, after Diana Taurasi had graduated and before Candace Parker had recovered from an injury. The Lady Vols got the 68-67 win, but only after Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood landed three points with 15 seconds on the clock,