Connecticut, the No. 1 seed in the West Region, has everything it takes to win a national title: size, shooting touch and experience.
The Huskies have been ranked as high as No. 1 in the country this season, and beat the NCAA Tournament's No. 1 overall seed, Louisville, by 17 earlier in the year. UConn has only lost one game all season to a team outside the top 10, and even then, it took third-seeded Syracuse six overtimes to win in the Big East Tournament.
The biggest reason, quite literally, for head coach Jim Calhoun's team's success this season? Its most intimidating presence: Hasheem Thabeet. The 7-foot-3 center might be the best big man in the Tournament, and he will pose problems every time he steps on the court. Thabeet's combination of size and athleticism is almost impossible to overcome in the paint, and the fact that he averages a double-double in points and rebounds proves that.
It isn't just Thabeet who guarantees the Huskies' dominance under the basket, though. Six-foot-7 forward Jeff Adrien, who averages a double-double nearly equal to Thabeet's, guarantees that even when Thabeet is on the bench, the Huskies will still have a strong inside presence. And when both are in, they together represent an unstoppable combination.
What makes UConn the best team in the country, however, is its versatility.
A.J. Price shoots more than 40 percent from beyond the arc, and Jerome Dyson hits a respectable 35 percent. The firepower of this perimeter duo makes defending the Huskies a challenge. Opponents can't afford to collapse on Thabeet and Adrien in the paint, or Price and Dyson will light them up from outside.
Conversely, if the two guards are defended too closely around the arc, the big men have room to wreak havoc under the basket.
This versatility also makes UConn a team that can live by the three without dying by the three, as it is never forced to rely solely on its outside game. Teams that can heat up from long range are dangerous opponents come March, but could be in danger if the 3-pointer fails them. Connecticut doesn't have to worry about that.
The Huskies aren't likely to have many problems with their draw, either. Coming out of the West, Connecticut probably won't see a single team that can play with it, much less beat it, until No. 2 Memphis in the Elite 8. Memphis has won 25 straight, but the Tigers aren't used to the level of competition the Huskies became accustomed to in the Big East, perhaps the best conference in the country.
The Tigers will be in too far over their heads to recover, and Connecticut should make it out of Glendale, Ariz. without much of a struggle.
Once in Detroit, the Huskies could potentially face Louisville, which will be out for blood after the teams' last matchup Feb. 2. But in that game, the Huskies beat the Cardinals, 68-51, so we certainly know they're capable of doing so again.
And if the bracket holds, that would land the Huskies in the National Championship, where they would be most likely to face North Carolina or Pittsburgh. The Panthers beat the Huskies twice this season, but Connecticut has come through in the Final Four before, and Pittsburgh hasn't.
In either case, because of the Huskies' three major strengths, they're more than capable of singing "One Shining Moment" for the third time in 10 years.
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