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Syracuse is set to face No. 1 seed UConn on Tuesday night after defeating No. 9 seed South Dakota State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. The Orange have never beat a No. 1 overall seed in program history and have yet to beat an AP Top 25 team this season.

If you’ve followed women’s basketball in any capacity in the last 20 years — or even if you haven’t — you know that UConn is, well, good. They won four straight national titles between 2013 and 2016, breaking plenty of NCAA records along the way.

UConn is one of the winningest programs, men’s or women’s, in college basketball history. Here are 10 fun facts about the Huskies before they face Syracuse:

1. Mrs. All-American

UConn has had at least one AP All-American every year since 2007. Since then, the Huskies have averaged 2.2 All-Americans per season. There have been seven years in that span where they had three, including every year between 2014 and 2018. The Huskies are also riding a seven-year streak of having a first team All-American: Paige Bueckers won this year’s honor.

2. Win streaks galore

After losing to Stanford in the beginning of the 2014 season, UConn won 111 straight games over four seasons, along with two National Championships in that span. The Huskies lost in the 2017 Final Four but won 126 straight regular season games before losing to No. 8 Baylor in the first game of 2019. Both streaks are Division I records regardless of gender.

To put it in perspective, the loss to Baylor in January 2019 was the first regular season loss for seniors Katie Lou Samuelson and Napheesa Collier.

3. The greatest

Geno Auriemma has won 11 championships. That puts him in the top 10 all-time in Division I championships in any sport, and it’s the most of any basketball coach. Auriemma is tied with Phil Jackson for most championship wins in American college or pro basketball.

4. Golden boy

Auriemma means “gold gem” in Italian, a name fit for a two-time Olympic gold medalist coach. Auriemma coached Team USA for eight years, winning gold at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and the 2010 and 2014 World Championships. Thirteen of Auriemma’s players have competed in the Olympics, one less than the most all-time in a collegiate program (Tennessee).

5. 1,183 reasons why

UConn’s all-time record is 1,183-304, a .796 win percentage. That’s not just a couple of good seasons in a row — that’s since 1974. Kentucky, the winningest men’s program of all time, is at .765. UConn had 11 losing seasons in its first 12 seasons, but hasn’t had any since. Auriemma’s only losing record is his first season, when the Huskies went 12-15.

6. Top dog

The Huskies are 22-3 all time in games between a No. 1 and No. 2 ranked team. They are 16-2 as the No. 1 team and 6-1 as the No. 2 team. Even when playing opponents that are supposedly at a “similar caliber,” the Huskies always prove they’re on another level.

7. Nation’s best

UConn has some of the best players in the country, but it frequently has the best player in the country. In the last 12 years, six Huskies have won National Player of the Year, including three-time winner and Syracuse native Breanna Stewart.

8. Gimme five

In 2011, UConn held Fairleigh Dickinson to just five points in the first half, a school record. The Knights shot just 6.9% from the floor in the first 20 minutes. They picked up slightly in the second half but finished the game 9-for-55 from the field, scoring just 28 points.

9. Can’t touch this

In the last 20 years, UConn has lost one game or fewer in nine seasons. They’ve had five undefeated seasons in that span and six all-time. In the men’s basketball world, an undefeated team hasn’t won a national championship since Indiana in 1976.

10. Turning the Paige

Bueckers is UConn’s sole All-American this year, but the point guard is one of the top choices for National Player of the Year. The class of 2020’s No. 1 overall recruit was already receiving college offers during her freshman year of high school. When she signed with UConn, she became the 11th No. 1 recruit since 1998 to sign with and play for Auriemma’s squad.

Published on March 22, 2021 at 10:29 pm

aekaylor@syr.edu | @cincinnallie