Men's NCAA Tournament 2023: Power Ranking the Sweet 16 Teams | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Pre-Tournament Rank: No. 6

How They've Looked: Tardy. Whatever Dan Hurley is telling his guys at halftime, he might want to switch it up and make that the pregame speech. Connecticut trailed by two at the intermission against Iona and led by just one at halftime against Saint Mary's. Yet, the Huskies won the former by 24 and the latter by 15. Better late than never, but they'd cruise to a title if they could play with that level of intensity for 40 minutes.

Bread and Butter: Rebounding. Connecticut has been particularly dominant on the offensive glass, but it is well above-average on the defensive boards, too, boasting an average rebound margin of plus-9.3. Led by Adama Sanogo, Andre Jackson and Donovan Clingan, the Huskies have won the rebounding battle in 18 consecutive games.

Achilles' Heel: Committing fouls and turnovers. It's a good thing UConn always wins the rebounding battle, because it hasn't won the turnover battle in a single game since late-January. The Huskies aren't egregiously turnover-prone, and they actually lost the last game in which they forced more turnovers than they committed. But it's a problem. The propensity for getting a little too handsy on defense can be an issue, too.

MVP: Adama Sanogo. For a while there in November and December, it seemed like Sanogo was destined to become a first-team All-American. But between Connecticut's losing skid and a limited supply of MVP performances, he dropped off the national radar. He's still Connecticut's leader in points and rebounds, though, and he was dynamite in the first two rounds, tallying a combined 52 points, 21 rebounds and two blocks.

Championship Blueprint: Continue being bigger, deeper and stronger than all comers. Connecticut comes at you in waves with a nine-man rotation in which everyone plays a key role. It's not quite "2014-15 Kentucky platoons," but it's close. And for all the talk of "Peak Alabama" being the best team in the country, "Peak Connecticut" stomped Alabama by 15 on a neutral floor.