HOUSTON — For all of the big shots, upset wins, last-second buzzer beaters and tears of the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, we have arrived at the last two teams standing.
It’s No. 4 UConn vs. No. 5 San Diego State facing off in the national championship game Monday night at Houston’s NRG Stadium. This is definitely not the matchup any of us anticipated when we started laying out our brackets.
But it’s the matchup we have.
The Huskies (30-8) have been the most dominant team in the Tournament, defeating opponents by an average of 20.6 points during their run to the national finals, and seem poised to make it a perfect 5-for-5 in NCAA Tournament championship games.
Meanwhile, the mid-major Aztecs (32-6) are playing in the championship game for the first time in program’s history and coming up against a talented team with seemingly no flaws. But it didn’t look good for the Aztecs against No. 1 overall Alabama in the Sweet 16 or against Creighton or Florida Atlantic, yet here they are for the first time making history for their program and the Mountain West Conference.
UConn coach Dan Hurley wisely isn’t taking any comfort in his Huskies being the overwhelming favorites.
“The heavy favorites haven’t fared very well in this one,” said Hurley, noting the number of upsets in this tournament that now left a fourth and fifth seed to decide to the national championship. “So we’re just going to try to ignore that tag. I just think it helps us a lot just what we went through in January. We know that if we get away from our identity for a tick, we become very vulnerable.”
The reality is while UConn should win, anything can happen and we could witness the first-ever No. 5 emerge as the national champion.
Here are 4 things to watch for as we head into Monday night’s national title game.
Can San Diego State handle UConn’s depth?
How can the Aztecs deal with UConn’s depth and physicality? It’s simple. The same way they dealt with Alabama and Brandon Miller and that is by not buying into the hype. Throughout much of the matchup with the Crimson Tide, the Aztecs made it seem like it was the SEC school that was in over its head, not the one from the Mountain West.
The Aztecs were the aggressors. They will have to have that same energy and mentality against the Huskies, who will seeming throw big body after big body at them, including star forward Adama Sanogo. The Aztecs won’t be able to overpower UConn, but they can play smarter and possibly faster. And as we have seen, if they keep it close they have become masters at pulling out improbable wins.
Can UConn’s Adama Sanogo be stopped?
Adama Sanogo has been almost unstoppable in this Tournament and seems close to cementing his place as one of the best players to come through the Huskies program. A strong showing and a dominant performance in securing the Huskies’ fifth national championship would seal the junior forward’s place in UConn lore.
Is UConn one of the NCAA men’s basketball Blue Bloods?
Should the Huskies win their fifth national championship, it seems they will belong in the Blue Blood conversation. There is an argument to be made that they are already in it. Keep in mind no program has won more national titles since the Huskies won their first in 1999. Not Kentucky. Not North Carolina. Not Kansas. Not Arizona. Not Duke.
They have been virtually unstoppable once they reach the Final Four, having lost just once in the semifinals to Michigan State in 2009. The Huskies, who last won a national championship in 2014, are now tied with North Carolina for most national title game appearances. If the Huskies win Monday night, they will be tied with Duke for the most championships since 1985. And they would tie Duke and Indiana for the most NCAA titles, trailing only UCLA (11), Kentucky (eight) and North Carolina (six).
This will also be their second time winning in rebranded NRG Stadium, having claimed the title here in 2011.
Guard matchup will be key
While the big men will dominate the conversation in this game, the guard matchups in this one offer plenty of intrigue. UConn guards Tristen Newton, Jordan Hawkins and Andre Jackson can cause damage in so many ways.
Jackson is also an elite defender. And he will need to be that against Matt Bradley, Lamont Butler and Darrion Trammell. Bradley is the Aztecs go-to scorer, but he has plenty of help as we saw during Saturday’s buzzer-beater by Butler that lifted them to the come-from-behind win over Florida Atlantic in the semifinal round.
Terrance Harris covers college basketball for Sportsnaut. You can follow him on Twitter at @TerranceHarris.