Spring Break
TOP DOGS WILL HEAD WEST
Huskies named No. 1 seed in West Region, will play Chattanooga
Kevin Duffy
Issue date: 3/16/09 Section: Sports
|
Almost 10 years to the day later, the Huskies were named the No. 1 seed in the West again. Their mission to repeat the accomplishments of '99 begins Thursday in Philadelphia with a matchup against sixteenth-seeded Chattanooga (18-16), the Southern Conference champion.
If the Huskies win on Thursday - which, as many players said, is certainly not a given - they will face the winner of the No. 8 Brigham Young and No. 9 Texas A&M. A potential matchup with No. 5 Purdue or No. 4 Washington looms in the Sweet 16, and should UConn advance past that, it could run into a 31-3 Memphis team that many thought was deserving of the fourth No. 1 seed.
UConn coach Jim Calhoun, who felt the Huskies' "body of work and strong road wins" justified the team's seeding, was pleased to see the No. 1 next to UConn's name.
"Having an objective committee saying [UConn] is one of the four best teams in America, that's a nice thing to hang up on the wall," Calhoun said. "There's 346 teams playing college basketball, so to see that No. 1, we truly appreciate that."
At the same time, the Huskies are well-aware that seedings only mean so much. As A.J. Price put it, "everybody playing right now is good. They deserve to be in. This is a wide-open tournament."
Price and the Huskies know that all too well. Last season, when the Huskies were seeded No. 4 in the West region, thirteenth-seeded San Diego dashed their championship hopes in the opening round, as the Toreros escaped with an improbable 70-69 victory.
Price, who tore his ACL in the first half of that game, doesn't plan on using it as motivation, nor does he plan on letting it affect the team's confidence going forward.
Be the first to comment on this story