Now that March Madness has concluded, it’s officially time to call UCONN a blue blood. The Huskies didn’t face any true challenge throughout the tournament, and for Husky fans, this tournament never caused them to break a sweat. For LSU fans, it was quite different. Starting in the Sweet 16, LSU didn’t have an easy game the rest of the tournament. It was a very contrasting run to the title, but now that the season is over, while every other team looks to rebuild, LSU and UCONN can celebrate. 

Let’s start with UCONN ‘s run to the title which can be put in two very simple words, “No Sweat”. Iona, St. Mary’s, Arkansas, Gonzaga, Miami, and San Diego St stood no chance at beating this Husky team. They were well coached by Dan Hurley, and Adama Sanogo played lights out all tournament long to carry them to victory. It’s important to remember to give credit to San Diego, after their incredible run to the finals. It truly felt like redemption for the 2020 squad, that was also projected to do well, but never got the chance to. 

Overall, the men’s tournament was thrilling for all fans, except Purdue… but if you liked upsets, then this tournament was the one for you. From Furman, to FDU, to Arkansas, all the way to Princeton. It was a never ending upset fest, and truly no team was safe, except for UCONN. For the bigger teams like Kansas and Alabama, this tournament was a total disappointment compared to what their expectations were. With the start of NIL deals and the transfer portal becoming ever so prominent, it’s likely that we will continue to see these types of tournaments in the future.

For the women’s side, before we talk about LSU winning the title, we must talk about the impact that this tournament had on women’s sports. TV ratings were absolutely through the roof for many of the games and the championship game, which peaked at 12.6 million viewers, made it the most watched game in women’s college basketball history. LSU vs. Iowa and South Carolina vs. Iowa were easily the biggest games of the tournament. This is what we call the Caitlin Clark effect. The Iowa star absolutely gripped the nation with her alien-like three point shots. Caitlin Clark single handedly made millions of fans turn into women’s college basketball, which is a huge win for all of women’s sports. 

The actual winner of the tournament was LSU, who played out of their minds in the national championship scoring 102 points against Iowa. The key players in their victory were Alexis Morris and Jasmine Carson, who scored 21 points in the first half, while not missing a single shot. LSU’s shooting in the championship was nothing like we’ve ever seen before, and it was totally deserved for the Tigers.

However, this game was met with tons of controversy. Right away, it was clear that the referees were going to be very strict as both teams had to bench the majority of their starters in the first quarter, because they were already in foul trouble. LSU was already in the bonus just a few minutes in, which was not a good look for this game. The biggest backlash for the referees was when they called a technical foul on Caitlin Clark, for rolling the ball to the referee. This made people on social media extremely upset, as LSU head coach, Kim Mulkey, didn’t receive a technical foul for being on the court the majority of the game, and even hitting one of the refs. The last bit was when LSU forward, Angel Reese, started taunting Caitlin Clark at the end of the game. Some saw it as regular trash talk, but others thought it to be very classless as Reese followed Clark around at the end of the game flashing the “You can’t see me” pose. All in all, there was a ton of controversy surrounding the game, but it was the most impactful women’s tournament in recent memory.

If you told fans at the beginning of the season that UCONN and LSU would be the national champions, many of them would have called you crazy. If you had told them about many of the upsets that happened, you would’ve been classified as insane. But once again, it was a fantastic March Madness that saw record-breaking viewership and online engagement. Although we now have to wait another 11 months till the next tournament, we can save the memories of the wonderful 2023 tournament.