4 Reasons Why You Want UConn To Win The National Championship
By Chris Bains
Apr 5, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Connecticut Huskies forward DeAndre Daniels (2) celebrates after defeating Florida Gators 63-53 in the semifinals of the Final Four in the 2014 NCAA Mens Division I Championship tournament at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
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The 7 seed UConn Huskies are playing for a national championship tonight. I know, crazy, right?! And as Cincinnati fans we should be pulling for them. It’s a strange concept, I know, rooting for an AAC rival for any reason. And I understand it’s especially tough getting behind this particular AAC team. After all, these are the same UConn Huskies who knocked UC out of the conference tournament this past season and the NCAA Tournament three years ago. Plus Shabazz Napier has been as much UC’s arch nemesis this season as, well, Shabazz Napier from the last two years. Additionally, I couldn’t be more adamant about using the #HemorrhoidFace hashtag to pick at head coach Kevin Ollie’s expressions of pain whenever any call doesn’t go in the slightest way in his favor. I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who uses it but, hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day.
So under normal circumstances we probably should hope the Huskies’ magical run comes crashing down in flames tonight. As a red blooded Cincinnati fans, it only makes sense. But in this case I think we should make an exception. Tonight we should backing the boys from Storrs. Here are four simple reasons why.
1) R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Since the Big East basketball schools broke away and Mike Aresco and his crew formed the American Athletic Conference, it has been the redheaded stepchild in the world of college athletics. It’s just the cards we as AAC members were dealt. However, UConn winning a national championship would go a long way to bolstering this conference’s respect. While most claim this is simply an empty “feel good” achievement, consider that Louisville was the 5th ranked team in the country and had just come off an AAC tournament championship but was given a mere 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. SMU, who was ranked 25th on Selection Sunday, was omitted from the big dance all together. Good or bad, perception is reality and as such respect is everything in the world of college athletics. A national championship by a member of their conference would be enormous for the AAC at this early stage of its existence.
2) Money money money, monaaaaay!
You might say I have 160,000 reasons to root for UConn tonight. This season each win by a team in the NCAA Tournament is projected to net their conference about $1.6 million spread out over the next six years. Assuming that payment is distributed evenly to the ten current members of the AAC, that comes out to a $160,000 paycheck to UC by way of those tourney credits. That’s a hefty chunk of change the Bearcats could use to finance Tommy Tuberville and Mick Cronin’s contracts or the renovation of a new basketball arena.
3) They’re kind of like us!
The Huskies this season weren’t the best team in the tournament. They weren’t even the best team in their own conference (4th best in fact*). UConn wasn’t Florida this year with their plethora of grizzled seniors or Kentucky with their endless supply of 5-star freshmen. They had major issues this season establishing a presence on the boards and relied almost too much on Shabazz Napier to carry them while at the same time leaning on their stellar defense. Who else does that sound like to you? Maybe our Bearcats? That’s right, UConn was an imperfect team with holes in a number of areas. But they proved that when they came together at the right time they could achieve greatness. So nothing’s saying Cincinnati, without the slew of McDonald’s All-Americans, can’t make a similar run in the coming years.
*Based on AAC Tournament seeding.
4) Because screw Big Blue Nation