How UConn is approaching its quest to win back-to-back national championships

In the history of NCAA women’s basketball, 10 teams have repeated as national champions — and UConn is responsible for six of those. In fact, the Huskies only have two standalone titles: 1995 and 2000.

Now, they’ll set out to keep it that way, too. On Sunday, they’ll unveil their 2025 championship banner at Gampel Pavilion against Florida State before fully turning their attention towards their quest to go back-to-back. UConn isn’t just hoping to repeat — it’s currently the favorite as the No. 1 team in the land with arguably a better roster than it had a year ago.

Still, it’s not just about talent. Nobody understands that better than Geno Auriemma.

“I have found over the years that the hardest thing for a team post-championship is having a balance between two things,” he said. “One, because we've done it already, let's be bored during the season and wait for the NCAA Tournament because that's the most fun. And they forget what a road it was to get to that point and what a struggle that is to get to that point.

“The other thing that happens is they look around and a couple of the people that really got them over the hump, in some ways, are not there and they start to look at themselves and go, ‘Do I have it? Can I replicate what some of the guys that left were doing?’ Those two things have to be balanced out.”

UConn’s season opening win over Louisville on Tuesday in Annapolis helped with both those tasks. The Huskies got their first real taste of life without Paige Bueckers. Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd led the way, as expected, though KK Arnold and Kayleigh Heckel both stepped up in big ways.

It also provided a look at the journey ahead. UConn dominated the opening quarter, played well over the next 20 minutes but then struggled in the final period. The Huskies got a glimpse at their ceiling but also discovered they have plenty to work on.

Auriemma doesn’t want them to lose sight of that and, as a result, took a decidedly positive tone afterwards. He called the victory a “tremendous success,” highlighting the good and downplaying the bad.

That was an intentional ploy by the head coach. Coming off the most dominant Final Four performance in the history of the sport, Auriemma didn’t want his team to feel like they failed because they didn’t reach that same level in their first game.

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