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INDIANAPOLIS — It feels like a misprint — some kind of mistake.
Connecticut an underdog? The same Huskies, who own the most national championships (six) since 1999, and have won it all two of the previous three seasons?
And, yet, that’s their narrative in this Final Four. They are a 1.5-point underdog to third-seeded Illinois Saturday night. If the second-seeded Huskies advance, they would have considerably worse odds to knock off the winner of No. 1 Michigan/No. 1 Arizona.
They are the lowest rated of the four in KenPom.com, needing a wild rally from 19 points down to knock off Duke in the Elite Eight.
“Everyone is doubting us,” center Tarris Reed Jr. said. “It takes a lot of pressure off of us. People expect us to lose, and that’s fine.”
Coach Dan Hurley has predictably leaned into this role, according to freshman star Braylon Mullins. As any quality coach will, he’s using it as ammunition, telling his players the public doesn’t think they can be the last team standing.
“Just saying, ‘People don’t believe in you, you’re the underdog. They all think [the other teams] are better than you,’” Mullins said. “He tries to build confidence in all of us. He’s used that for us.”
Beginning on Tuesday in practice, Hurley told his team that everyone who reaches the Final Four receives commemorative watches, but they’re in it for a ring. When Connecticut arrived in Indianapolis, the Huskies received miniature Indy 500 helmets. A few players asked about the watches Hurley has been talking about.
“We’re here for rings, not watches,” he responded.
“It shows what we came here for,” Reed said.
Added senior forward Alex Karaban: “[He’s] hammering down that message. Just making sure that we’re locked in and focused. The Final Four is an incredible achievement, but at the end of the day it’s a little pit stop for us, on to our biggest goal: the national championship.”
UConn (33-5), it should be noted, did beat Illinois in a non-conference game back on Nov. 28 at the Garden, and played Arizona tough despite being down Mullins and Reed. The Huskies also knocked off BYU, when it was at full strength, Florida and crushed Big East regular-season and postseason champion St. John’s. The issue is that the Huskies have been inconsistent during conference play, finishing behind St. John’s and losing to them in the league’s title game. They also dropped games to non-tournament teams Marquette and Creighton.
“I’ve acknowledged it, our floor this year at times has been low,” Hurley said. “Our ceiling as a team has been really, really high.”
Arizona, Michigan and Illinois were more consistent and played tougher competition in conference play. The three also didn’t struggle at all in the Elite Eight, each winning by double figures. Most experts believe it is a formality that the Arizona/Michigan winner will cut down the nets Monday night.
Connecticut has heard that talk.
“It’s a good chip on our shoulder. There’s really no pressure on us,” Karaban said. “You play at UConn, and you’ve seen magic stuff happen in March, especially with the UConn jersey on.”
Karaban would know. His NCAA Tournament record is 17-1. That includes two national championships.
“I kind of compare it to the first year,” he said, when Connecticut was a No. 4 seed. “People didn’ t necessarily expect us to win it and were shocked when we did win it.”
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