Bracketology 2024: Purdue, Villanova, and BYU among Feast Week winners

9. UConn Huskies

The Huskies were in one of the earlier non-conference tournaments of the week, playing in the Empire Classic. The others were Texas, Indiana, and Louisville, with the Cardinals being the clear anchor of the group. While Louisville did show itself well in the event, they’re still likely going to be one of the worst power conference teams in the country and UConn avoiding them alone was a boost to its metrics.

But they still had to go out and win against the other two. And that they did, starting off with a 77-57 win over Indiana in the semifinals, led by 23 pts, 11 rebs, and 6 asts from point guard Tristen Newton, along with 18 pts from guard Cam Spencer. The final score in the Texas victory was 81-71 but the Huskies were in control from start to finish. Forward Alex Karaban led the way with 20 points.

Including a 30-point blowout win over Manhattan on Friday, UConn is now 6-0 and looks every bit as impressive as they did last year when they won a national title. And with two potential Quad 1 wins to start off the resume, one can see a path where this team fights for a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Big East program has a chance to get a true signature victory in the next 10 days, where they take on Kansas on the road, followed by a neutral site matchup with North Carolina. Sweep them both and you have a clear spot on the top projected seed line.