Ranking UConn basketball's eras of dominance, from first title to double Final Fours

It's UConn's world and we're just living in it. 

The Huskies continue to be the capitol of the basketball world as both programs are back in the Final Four. The women are seeking their seventh perfect season and 13th national title. The men are seeking their seventh title (third in the past four seasons) after Braylon Mullins hit one of the greatest shots in March Madness history. 

I grew up in Connecticut during the birth of UConn's double dynasty -- the women in 1995, the men in 1999 -- and it never really left me. From pretending to hit driveway buzzer-beaters like Khalid El-Amin to attending Ray Allen's Slamma Jamma basketball camp as a kid, to countless games at the Hartford Civic Center, to college in Storrs and into a career in sports media, the throughline has been the same: UConn basketball is just different.

The numbers back it up in a way that almost doesn't feel real.

Since 1995, the Huskies' men and women have combined for 18 national championships, accounting for roughly 30% of all Division I
titles in that span. No other school is even close; you'd need to combine multiple programs just to match UConn's total. At least one of the two teams has won a title in more than half of those seasons. For an entire generation of fans, April basketball hasn't been the exception. It has been the expectation.

This year marks the sixth time since 2004 that UConn has sent both its men's and women's teams to the Final Four. Every other school in the country, combined, has done it six times total over that same span.

Put another way, the Huskies have pulled off the double Final Four in roughly 27% of their chances. The rest of the sport has done it in less than 0.1% of seasons.

At this point, UConn isn't just great. It's operating on a completely different curve, one where something as rare as a double Final Four starts to feel almost routine.

Speaking of long odds, it's crazy we are here. They were astronomical that the UConn men would overcome a 19-point deficit to beat Duke on Sunday, but here we are. This could be the third time the men and women both win a national title in the same year. No other school has ever pulled that off even once. 

This is a dynasty that constantly reminds us why we fell in love with them in the first place. There's been no shortage of miracle finishes and lovable players and coaches. All they do is win, whether they are the underdog or the unstoppable force. Through it all, no matter the script, nobody can hold a candle to them.  

So instead of ranking them against the competition, I'm going to take more trips down memory lane and rank them against themselves. What is the best decade of UConn basketball from the 1990s to the 2020s? Here goes:

Ranking best decades of UConn basketball since the 1990s

4. 2000s: Three-peat with Diana Taurasi and double title in 2004

You know UConn fans are spoiled when I'm ranking this decade last even though they combined for six titles, including two in the same year in 2004. The women did their part, winning five titles from 2000-09 with All-Americans like Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, Tina Charles and Renee Montgomery. The men won in 2004 with Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon, beating Duke in the national semifinals that year down eight points with less than three minutes to go. 

Perhaps it was the mid-to-late 2000s that soured me on this decade. The women went four straight years without a title and the men only made it to the Final Four once in the six years following their '04 title. Julius Hodge's game-winner for NC State cut the Huskies' run short in 2005 and George Mason made their Cinderella run at UConn's expense in 2006. I should probably also mention that neither the UConn men or women played in a national title game in my first three years of college there, so perhaps I'm still harboring some resentment. 

3. 1990s: Both programs win first championship

UConn wouldn't be anywhere without its origin story. Both teams slayed a goliath for their first title. The ladies had a perfect season in 1995 with a trio of All-Americans. Rebecca Lobo, Jennifer Rizzotti and Kara Wolters. They beat Tennessee and Pat Summitt in the title game in the middle of the Lady Volunteers dynasty. The men beat Duke and Mike Krzyzewski in the 1999 national title game to snap the Blue Devils' 32-game win streak. Duke was nearly a double-digit favorite in what is still one of the biggest upsets in Final Four history. It was also revenge for Christian Laettner's buzzer beater vs. the Huskies in the 1990 Elite 8, which came the round after Tate George's infamous buzzer beater for UConn in the Sweet 16. The men also gave us Richard Hamilton's 1998 game winner and Ray Allen's winner over Allen Iverson in the 1996 Big East championship game.

2. 2020s: Men repeat in dominant fashion, Paige Bueckers wins a championship

We are only about halfway through this decade with three titles to show for it but the dominance, stories and moments are so rich it's already second on the list. The men have been doing their best UCLA dynasty impersonation in the 2020s. They became the first back-to-back national champions on the men's side since 2006-07 Florida and with all 12 NCAA Tournament wins in blowout fashion. The coach at the center of it all is Dan Hurley. 

The son of Hall of Fame high school coach Bob Hurley Sr. and the younger brother of Bobby Hurley, Dan finally had his long-awaited moment. You can't make this stuff up. Hurley did it with a revolving door of talent like Tristan Newton, Cam Spencer, Stephon Castle, Jordan Hawkins, Donovan Clingan and Adama Sanogo. Now they are on the cusp of a third title in four years. I've seen a lot of great sports moments in my life but I don't think I ever shouted as loud as when Braylon Mullins' capped off Sunday's comeback with a moment the next generation of college basketball fans will be reliving in their driveways. 

Then there was the women's redemption story and the Paige Bueckers coronation in 2025. They had zero titles despite six Final Four trips in their previous seven tournaments leading up to last year's title run. They were also coming off a heartbreaking Final Four loss to Caitlin Clark and Iowa in 2024 where Aliyah Edwards was called for an illegal screen trying to free up Bueckers for a game winner in the final seconds. Some felt UConn was robbed of a chance to tie the game. I know America was definitely robbed of a potential Braylon Mullins-esque immortal ending between Paige Buckers and Caitlin Clark. After that, you had to wonder if Bueckers was ever going to get a title or if UConn would win again under Geno Auriemma. 

Now, it's possible 2026 could be the best year in UConn history. The combination of a men's title after Mullins' game winner and a women's perfect season is tough to beat. The star power is once again strong on both sides with Tarris Reed Jr. and Alex Karaban carrying the men and national player of the year Sarah Strong leading the women with Azzi Fudd. 

1. 2010s: Breanna Stewart's 4 titles in 4 years, Kemba Walker's run

Any program would be elated to have any one of these decades, but UConn has four. The 2010s was the best of the best. Complete and utter domination by the women and Cinderella stories from the men. They combined for seven championships this decade. The women became the first team men or women's team to four-peat since UCLA from 1967-73. They had a record 111-game win streak and three perfect seasons. There isn't a more decorated career in the sport than Breanna Stewart's. Four years, four titles, four NCAA Tournament MVPs and three national player of the year awards. Maya Moore also won her last title in this decade. 

The men won five games in five days to win the 2011 Big East Tournament highlighted by Kemba Walker's And-1 mixtape moment vs. Gary McGhee. Then they won another six to win their last title under Jim Calhoun. That team was ranked 21st in the AP Poll entering that Big East tournament then they ran the table. 

The 2014 squad won it as a seven seed, the worst seed to cut the nets down since Villanova in 1985. Kevin Ollie led a trio of upperclassmen (Shabazz Napier, DeAndre Daniels and Ryan Boatright) to a title even more shocking than 2011. Speaking of shock value, the women lost in the Final Four in 2017 and 2018 on game winners in the closing seconds by Morgan Williams (Mississippi State) and Arike Ogunbowale (Notre Dame). 

Simply put, UConn has been unforgettable, win or lose. The stories, moments and people have dazzled us for 30 years. And, just when you think you've seen everything, Braylon Mullins happens. So buckle up, it's going to be a fun weekend that will probably lead to another UConn banner.