It’s been a special year for college basketball in Connecticut– and not just because of the defending champion and No. 1 ranked UConn men’s basketball team.
Seven of the state’s 12 combined Division I men’s and women’s basketball programs sit in first place in their respective conference standings. All of them are currently in position to hear their names called on Selection Sunday. Only once has Connecticut had more than two schools reach either the men’s or women’s tournament– in 2006, when the Sacred Heart, Hartford and UConn women all made the Big Dance.
It’s not just that the state’s programs are tournament-worthy this season — they’ve been downright dominant.
The UConn, Fairfield and Sacred Heart women boasted a combined record of 54-14, and 32-1 in conference play heading into Thursday night’s games.
On the men’s side, UConn, Central Connecticut State, Quinnipiac and Yale have a combined record of 67-21 and 34-4 in conference.
Add them together, and that’s a 121-35 overall record, 66-5 in conference. If Storrs is the Basketball Capital of the World, you could call Connecticut the State of Basketball in 2024.
A look at the list of longest win streaks in men’s college hoops also includes UConn (11), Quinnipiac (9) and Yale (8). Only Big South leader High Point has more consecutive wins (12) than the Huskies, while a drive down Whitney Avenue would take you past the homes of the two teams tied for fourth and fifth, the Bobcats and Bulldogs.
Fairfield, at an incredible 20-1, 12-0 in the MAAC, owns the second-longest winning streak in the country on the women’s side, at a program-record 18 games. Only No. 1 South Carolina (21-0) has a longer one.
Here’s a rundown of each of the state’s first-place programs:
Men’s Basketball
UConn (21-2, 11-1/Big East): The Huskies are the No. 1 ranked team in the country, the defending national champions, and after an 11-1 start in the Big East and with a two-game lead on Marquette, are chasing down their first regular season conference title since 2005-06. UConn has looked like one of, if not the best team in the country all season long and is barreling towards a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament and a legitimate chance at becoming the first repeat champion since Florida in 2006-07.
Quinnipiac (18-4, 10-1/MAAC): Veteran head coach Tom Pecora has not only picked up where Baker Dunleavy left off, he’s picked up the ball and run with it at Quinnipiac, which is off to its best start in nearly 60 years. With apologies to the 2010 squad that reached the NEC championship game, this may be the best team in program history. The Bobcats are led by senior guard Matt Balanc, who is averaging 18.6 points per game, and sophomore forward Amarri Tice, at 12.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Pecora, a longtime former head coach at Hofstra and Fordham, is searching for his first NCAA Tournament bid as a head coach, and the first bid in Quinnipiac history. The Bobcats were projected to go up against UConn in ESPN’s latest Bracketology, a delicious proposition for state hoops fans.
Yale (15-6, 6-0/Ivy): Head coach James Jones has the Bulldogs in the thick of the Ivy League title race yet again, currently tied with Cornell atop the league standings at 6-0. Yale earned a statement win on Feb. 2 over defending Ivy champ Princeton, which beat the Bulldogs in the Ivy League championship game last season before embarking on a stunning run to the Sweet 16. Four players are averaging in double figures in scoring this season, led by seven-foot sophomore Danny Wolf (14.9 ppg, 9.8 rpg). Sharpshooting junior guard John Poulakidas averages 12.7 points on 46.7 percent shooting.
Central Connecticut State (13-9, 7-2/NEC): CCSU grad Patrick Sellers has led a turnaround in his third season as head coach in New Britain, having already matched the number of conference wins the team had all of last season. The Blue Devils sit tied atop the NEC standings with Merrimack, which won the league last year but was ineligible to play in the NCAA Tournament as it was still in the process of transitioning into Division 1. Fairleigh Dickinson, conference tournament runner-up, went to the Big Dance instead, and you may remember how that turned out. CCSU is led by a trio of seniors, including forward Allan Jeanne-Rose, who’s averaging 15.7 points per game and guards Jordan Jones (12.7 ppg) and Kellen Amos (11.9 ppg).
Women’s Basketball
UConn (20-4, 12-0/Big East): Perhaps in large part due to an incredible number of injuries, UConn hasn’t quite lived up to its own ridiculously lofty standards, but the Huskies are still 20-4, ranked No. 11 in the country, and a 2-seed in the latest ESPN Bracketology projection. Not bad for a “down” year. The Huskies could also take home plenty of postseason awards, as Paige Bueckers and Aaliyah Edwards are both in the conversation as potential All-Americans, and Ashlynn Shade is the frontrunner for Big East Freshman of the Year.
Fairfield (20-1, 12-0/MAAC): Carly Thibault-Dudonis has Fairfield rolling in her second season in charge, as the program is picking up votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and on the verge of being ranked for the first time ever. Not only have the Stags ripped through conference play, winning games by an average margin of 21.1 points per game, they also own nonconference wins over Rutgers and St. John’s. Fairfield’s only loss came by three (73-70) at Vanderbilt, led by Shea Ralph, on Nov. 12. Freshman sensation Meghan Andersen has led the way, posting 17.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, while senior guard Janelle Brown (14.2 ppg) has been terrific in the backcourt.
Sacred Heart (14-9, 8-1/NEC): Led by prodigious sophomore Ny’Ceara Pryor, who’s averaging 17.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.3 steals as a 5-3 guard, the Pioneers are back in position to reach the NCAA Tournament for a second straight season. To say that Pryor is a standout would be an understatement, as last season she became the first player in NEC history to earn the league’s Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors in the same season. Jessica Mannetti’s group also won an NCAA Tournament game for the first time last season, defeating Southern in the First Four. ESPN’s Bracketology has them projected to be back there again when the bracket comes out this season.
Not just D-I
Things get truly incredible when you look beyond Division I. Trinity men’s basketball, led by head coach James Cosgrove, is 21-1, 7-1 in the Division II NESCAC, with its only loss a one-point defeat at Williams College. Connecticut College has an identical 7-1 record in the conference and is 17-5 overall. The Trinity women are 16-6, one game off the pace in the NESCAC at 6-2.
The University of St. Joseph men’s team, led by Glenn Miller, are 18-4 and 11-0 in the D-III GNAC. Breathing down their necks in the conference standings are the Albertus Magnus men, at 19-4 and 11-1 in conference. The Albertus Magnus women aren’t too shabby either, at 19-3 and 10-1 in the GNAC.
But that’s not all.
Western Connecticut State men’s basketball is 19-4, 12-2 in the Little East. The Coast Guard women are 16-6, Post University men’s basketball is 14-6, and the Division II Southern Connecticut State men are 15-7.
