NCAA Basketball: Ranking the last 25 NCAA Tournament champions

23) 2011 UConn Huskies

Record: 32-9, 9-9 in Big East

“The Kemba Run” is why we all love college basketball.

This group of underdogs, led by a bona fide star in Kemba Walker, went on a run for the ages going back to the Big East Tournament.

The UConn Huskies posted a .500 record in conference play, putting them in ninth in the conference and on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

All they did was become the first team ever to win five games in five days, with the last three games coming in last-second finishes against teams ranked in the top 15.

The Huskies managed to stay hot in the NCAA Tournament, though they benefitted from facing many lower seeds. In fact, as a No. 3 seed, they only faced one team seeded higher than No. 4 in the San Diego State Aztecs in the Sweet 16.

Three players ended up being drafted in the first round: Walker in 2011, Jeremy Lamb in 2012 and Shabazz Napier in 2014. So it’s not like this group didn’t have talent. If anything, it shows just how much of a buzzsaw the “old” Big East was.

But this run was still one of the most improbable in recent memories due to their relatively mediocre play during the regular season.