NCAA Championship Game 2023: Biggest Storylines for SDSU vs. UConn

The UConn Huskies have done their best to dispel the notion that there are no great teams in men's college basketball this season.

Danny Hurley's team dominated its first five games of the NCAA Division I basketball tournament to reach Monday's national championship against the San Diego State Aztecs.

UConn is the clear favorite to cut down the nets inside NRG Stadium in Houston, and if achieves that feat, it will return to the mountaintop of the sport. The Huskies have four previous titles, with the last one coming in 2014 when they were in the basketball wilderness as part of the American Athletic Conference.

The Storrs school's return to the Big East and Hurley's program building have it in a position where it could challenge for multiple national championships in a decade. UConn also won in 1999, 2004 and 2011.

San Diego State will try to put UConn's run back to the title on hold for another year. The Aztecs have one of the most experienced rosters in the tournament, and their defense has been stellar for most of the competition.

Brian Dutcher's Aztecs could put together a fantastic defensive game plan to slow down UConn's stars, but even that may not be enough against a Huskies team that has been equally as good on defense in the Big Dance.

UConn Looking to Get Back to Top of College Basketball

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HOUSTON, TEXAS - APRIL 01: Donovan Clingan #32 of the Connecticut Huskies celebrates after defeating the Miami (Fl) Hurricanes during the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinal game at NRG Stadium on April 01, 2023 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tyler Schank/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

UConn has taken one of the more bizarre routes back to the national championship game.

The Huskies won one NCAA tournament game from 2015-22. They made the NCAA tournament on three occasions in that span from 2016, 2021 and 2022.

UConn was tested throughout the Big East regular season by the likes of the Creighton Bluejays and Xavier Musketeers, and that helped shape its team to be as good as it is now.

The Huskies are 14-2 in their last 16 games, and they have had the look of a champion throughout the NCAA tournament.

They held all five March Madness opponents to 65 points or less. The three phenomenal defensive showings against the Arkansas Razorbacks, Gonzaga Bulldogs and Miami Hurricanes showed that they can play defense better than any team in the nation, including San Diego State.

UConn's offense, led by Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins, has been spectacular as well, and that has led to five straight double-digit victories.

The Huskies are capable of dominating San Diego State on Monday, and that could finalize the discussion on if there were any great teams in the 2022-23 season.

That was the theme of the season after the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 kept losing, and it became more prevalent once all four No. 1 seeds were knocked out by the Sweet 16.

Fourth-seeded UConn has avoided any slip-ups, and another big win would give it one of the most dominant NCAA tournament runs in history.

San Diego State Aiming for 1st Title

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HOUSTON, TEXAS - APRIL 01: Nathan Mensah #31 of the San Diego State Aztecs reacts after defeating the Florida Atlantic Owls during the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinal game at NRG Stadium on April 01, 2023 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Brett Wilhelm/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

San Diego State is looking to become the rare champion from outside the top six leagues in college basketball.

The only program to win from outside the power conferences in the last two decades is UConn, when it was in the AAC in 2014.

Plenty of mid-major squads have gotten to the national championship game during that span, but they all fell short. The Butler Bulldogs lost in 2010 and 2011, and the Gonzaga Bulldogs fell in 2017 and 2021.

SDSU is more unique than the Butler and Gonzaga teams because all five of its starters are 22 or older. Some of those players are holdovers from the 2020 team that went 30-2 and was going to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament before the event was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The unfinished business from a few years ago is one of the many motivating factors for the Aztecs, who come into Monday as a decent-sized underdog.

SDSU's defense and scoring depth carried it to the national title game. The Aztecs allowed one opponent to score over 70 points in the last nine games. They have not had a leading scorer produce more than 21 points since January 25.

The Mountain West side received 27 points off the bench in Saturday's win over the Florida Atlantic Owls. The bench production could be vital to support Matt Bradley and the starters against Sanogo, Hawkins and UConn's stars.

SDSU plays the ultimate team game and it is incredibly hard to break down, and those qualities could make it tough to put away Monday, which may lead to UConn's first dramatic finish of the NCAA tournament.