Dreams of a three-peat come crashing at the NCAA basketball tournament

Something had to give in Sunday’s second round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

In the contest between the University of Connecticut and the University of Florida, either the two-time defending tournament champion would fall, or one of the No. 1 seeds in both the men’s and women’s tournaments would be jettisoned from the tournament field.

The second round of the women’s tournament continues through Monday.

When the final buzzer sounded in Raleigh, North Carolina, it was the eighth-seeded UConn Huskies who would tumble in the end, 77-75. UConn’s loss means a new NCAA champion will be crowned on the men’s side this season in San Antonio on April 7.

Afterward, a disconsolate Dan Hurley, the coach of the Huskies, said, “There’s a lot of rewiring and things I’ve gotta do in the offseason because you just get caught up in this tidal wave of success that we’ve had. You lose perspective.”

The Florida Gators in 2006 and ’07 were the last team to repeat as NCAA men’s basketball champions before the Huskies in 2023 and ’24.

With Creighton University and St. John’s University being eliminated from the tournament after second-round losses on Saturday, Sunday’s game also meant that UConn was carrying the banner for the Big East Conference as the only remaining school from that conference on Sunday.

Now, heading into the men’s Sweet 16, only the SEC, the Big 12, the Big Ten and ACC are represented. The SEC still has seven teams left.

Defending champ South Carolina advances on the women’s side

It appeared certain that Colorado State, after winning its first-ever Mountain West Conference tournament title to capture the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament, would be advancing to the Sweet 16. The Rams held a 71-70 lead with six seconds left in the game, but Maryland Terrapins freshman Derik Queen answered with a banked shot for the first buzzer-beater basket of the tournament and one that sent the Rams home.

“You experience the highs of hoisting a championship trophy. What these guys have done this year is really one of the most incredible things I’ve been a part of in coaching,” said Rams coach Niko Medved afterward. “Unfortunately, these things happen, too.”

On the women’s side, the top seeds have advanced mostly through one-sided contests. But defending champion South Carolina is moving on to the Sweet 16 after a 64-53 triumph over the Indiana Hoosiers.

“It wasn’t pretty,” said USC coach Dawn Staley after the Gamecocks advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 11th straight time. “But at this time, it doesn’t have to be. You’ve just got to score more points than the other team and work the kinks out.”

Indiana held the lead at halftime, 26-25.

USC awaits the winner of Monday’s second-round game between Alabama and Maryland.