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The State of Connecticut can breathe a collective sigh of relief.
This past week, Geno Auriemma told Dom Amore of the Hartford Courant that he plans on returning as UConn’s head coach next season. He added that “something could come up,” but his intention is to be back for his 42nd year at the helm.
“I’ve passed up two great opportunities to walk away,” Auriemma said. “I don’t know if God is going to give me any more. He gave me a great opportunity in 2016, right? And I blew it. Then he gave me another great opportunity last year. They say it rarely ends the way you want it to end, and he gave me two great opportunities to end it the way I would want it to end.”
Despite the best effort of Muffet McGraw, UConn earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament when the bracket was unveiled on Selection Sunday. The Huskies will take on 16-seed UTSA in the first round and are paired in the same region with 2-seed Vanderbilt — led by former UConn player and assistant Shea Ralph.
There are plenty of intriguing storylines in the Fort Worth 1 Regional:
Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong were both named First Team All-Americans by the USBWA and Associated Press. They are the 10th set of teammates — first since Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard in 2020 — to make the AP’s First Team and the seventh pair of Huskies, with Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson in 2017 being the most recent.
Fudd earned the first All-American nods of her career while Strong moved up to the First Team after landing on the AP’s Second Team and USBWA’s Third Team in 2025.
Submit your bracket to the UConn WBB Weekly group on ESPN’s Tournament Challenge to see how you stack up to me (Daniel Connolly), Megan Gauer, and the rest of our crew! Spoiler alert: You’ll probably beat me, I like picking too many upsets.
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Rankings and awards
AP Poll: UConn remained at No. 1 in the final AP Poll before the NCAA Tournament. Despite coming in as the top overall seed in the field of 68, three voters gave their first-place votes to UCLA.
Wade Trophy watch list: Sarah Strong is one of five players on the watch list for the Wade Trophy, the WBCA’s National Player of the Year award. Paige Bueckers took it home last season.
WBCA All-American candidates: Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd are among the 48 candidates for the 10-player WBCA All-American team. Considering both were AP and USBWA First Team All-Americans, they should be locks for the WBCA squad.
Insanity:
Azzi Fudd battles her mom on the court:
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
A look at the Final Four court in Phoenix:
This would be fun:
Azzi Fudd will be on SC Featured this Sunday:
Elsewhere in the world of UConn women’s basketball
Shea Ralph was named USBWA National Coach of the Year:
Some other notable teams to keep an eye on during the NCAA Tournament:
2-seed Vanderbilt (Fort Worth 1): Shea Ralph’s team unsurprisingly has plenty of UConn connections. Assistant coach Kaili McLaren played for the Huskies from 2006-10 while Kevin DeMille is a UConn grad who spent time as a practice player, manager and graduate assistant with the women’s basketball program. Beyond that, junior Aga Makurat is the younger sister of former Husky guard Anna Makurat (2019-21).
5-seed Maryland (Fort Worth 1): The Terrapins feature two former Huskies — Saylor Poffenbarger and Mir McLean.
11-seed Fairfield (Fort Worth 1): The only other Connecticut team in the field, the Stags are making their third straight appearance under head coach Carly Thibault-DuDonis.
9-seed Princeton (Sacramento 2): The Ivy League champions are led by Carla Berube, who was part of UConn’s 1995 national championship squad.
10-seed Villanova (Sacramento 2): The only other Big East team to make it, the Wildcats will play 7-seed Texas Tech in the opening round.
12-seed Gonzaga (Sacramento 2): In her final college season, former UConn guard Inês Bettencourt is back in the NCAA Tournament.
11-seed Rhode Island (Fort Worth 3): The Rams are one of four New England teams to make the Big Dance.
14-seed Vermont (Fort Worth 3): A former first-round opponent for UConn, UVM won the America East regular season crown outright and then claimed the tournament title to punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years. The Catamounts are the fourth New England team in the field along with UConn, Fairfield and URI.
Recruiting corner
2026 UConn signee Olivia Vukosa was named Gatorade New York Girls Basketball Player of the Year and is one of three finalists for Gatorade National Player of the Year. She also earned Naismith High School Second Team All-American honors.
After the Big East Tournament, Geno Auriemma flew to watch Eve Long, the No. 8 prospect in the class of 2027, play.
Elsewhere, one-time UConn target Sara Okeke committed to USC. The Huskies were not involved by the end of the recruiting process.
How far will UConn go in the 2026 NCAA Tournament?
The week ahead
Friday: Press conferences for the first round games will begin in Storrs. UConn will go in the morning while UTSA will wrap up the day in the afternoon.
Saturday: UConn will face 16-seed UTSA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Gampel Pavilion. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. ET on ABC.
Sunday: Press conferences for the second round game between the Huskies (barring the greatest upset in sports history) and the winner of 8-seed Iowa State and 9-seed Syracuse.
Monday: UConn will take on either Iowa State or Syracuse in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Tip-time and television information will be announced following Saturday’s game, though the Huskies historically play in one of the late games on Monday night.
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