Madeline Kenney UConn women’s back-to-back March Madness destiny is far from guarenteed By Madeline Kenney Published March 16, 2026, 1:04 a.m. ET The UConn Huskies women's basketball team and head coach Geno Auriemma celebrate their Big East Championship win under falling confetti. David Butler II-Imagn Images The women’s NCAA Tournament starts Wednesday with the First Four and will captivate the sports world’s attention until April 5, when a champion will cut down the nets in Phoenix.
A year ago, UConn left no doubt in reclaiming its place atop women’s basketball. It reminded the world that the Huskies are still the standard, and Geno Auriemma’s squad backed it up by dominating the regular season over the past few months.
But here comes the hard part: doing it all over again in the NCAA Tournament, where the stakes are higher and the lights brighter.
Everyone understands the difficulty of a successful sequel, especially in sports.
