UConn men's basketball earns No. 2 seed in NCAA Tournament, draws Furman in first round

Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant on Mar 15, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

STORRS, Conn. – A new season begins for the UConn men’s basketball team, which was announced as a No. 2 seed in the March Madness field on Sunday.

After failing to dethrone St. John’s in the Big East regular season and the conference tournament, attempting to sleep off the pain of a brutal loss in Manhattan and turn the page, the Huskies traveled back to Storrs on Selection Sunday and gathered to hear the path toward their ultimate goal in the NCAA Tournament.

A good, though disappointing, season could turn into a great one with a third national title in four years – which, coach Dan Hurley pointed out on a number of occasions before the season began, would still define this run as a dynasty.

UConn, 29-5 with four losses coming in its last 11 games, was placed in the East Region of the bracket, set to play No. 15 seed Furman in Philadelphia on Friday. It is the sixth year in a row that the Huskies made the NCAA Tournament, a new program record.

The East Region – a gauntlet – includes Duke, the No. 1 overall seed, along with No. 3 seed Michigan State, No. 4 seed Kansas and No. 5 seed St. John’s.

Should the Huskies avoid a first round upset, they would meet the winner of No. 7 seed UCLA and No. 10 seed UCF in the Round of 32 with a chance to make the second weekend in Washington, D.C. The earliest they could meet St. John’s for the fourth time this season would be in the Elite Eight.

The other No. 1 seeds are Arizona in the West Region, Michigan in the Midwest and Florida in the South.

UConn has been a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament six times in its history, including the 2004 national championship run – the second under Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun. The Huskies lost in the Elite Eight three times as a No. 2 seed, in the Sweet 16 once and in the second round once.

But this season, with this team’s volatility, a high ceiling and a very low floor, has been all about keeping focus on the moment.

“We’ll do what we did in 2023. We’ll leave it here,” Hurley said after his team was jumped and beat up on by St. John’s, falling in the Big East Tournament final, 72-52. “We know that we play our best basketball in the NCAA Tournament and versus nonconference teams. Our group knows that. This is a really, really physical league. That was a really, really, really physical game, and we’re excited to play in the NCAA Tournament that doesn’t get played like that.”

UConn is 52-6 over the last four seasons against nonconference opponents, including a 10-1 record in nonconference play this year – that one loss coming to Arizona, which received a No. 1 seed on Sunday.

In 2023, the Huskies came up short in the semifinal round at Madison Square Garden as Jordan Hawkins’ attempt at a game-winning jumper hit off the rim and they lost, 70-68, to Marquette. Hurley learned from his mistakes in years prior and didn’t let the loss linger, and the team went on to dominate its way to the first of back-to-back national championships as a No. 4 seed.

This team has more flaws, so he wouldn’t predict that same type of run. But it has shown that, when everything is clicking, it can compete as one of the best in the country.

“You watch it, you make your adjustments and you go get ready to be a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament,” he said. “I think a lot of teams wish they were in that position going into the most important time of the year.”

“I think this team’s capable of it,” said captain Alex Karaban, the only player left from that 2023 team. “I think we’ve responded on a variety of bases, whether after a loss or after a win, but we do have to respond. The excitement that Selection Sunday brings, the excitement of playing in March Madness should really help with this pain that we’re going through right now, but it’s not gonna be easy to just get over it. Coach will help us out with moving on. I’ve got to help with leading this team to help move on, and at the end of the day, once we’re playing wherever we’re playing, there will be excitement again.”

____