UConn Remains King of the Castle

As the 40^th annual Biggest Dance has drawn to a close, the UConn Huskies provided a dominating performance that crowned a group of Dancers as victors – and dashed the hopes of many others. In the result you’ve all been waiting for, this year’s champ is Tourney veteran “Eric Najork” with a whopping 155 points. Close behind were “Chris Racc” and “Law Offices of Wurtz & Squire”, with 154 and 151 points, respectively. In fourth through seventh place were “Trink21”, “HoopsForrest”, “Bonejamin Franklin”, and “shawnrad #2”. Last but certainly not least, we had a four-way tie for eighth place between “mad dog”, “Squire Loves PFAS”, “SteveDennis” and “TRN”, all sitting at 134 points. We’d like to give a special shoutout to our last place finisher, “Rick Pitino”, whose namesake had a better year on the hardwood, leading the Johnnies to a respectable 5^th place finish in the Big East.

A few Dancers had equally notable performances, despite not topping the leaderboard. Among these competitors was “Big Al #2”, who despite correctly selecting UConn as this year’s winner, managed to settle at 495^th place with 70 points when all was said and done. Going into the Sweet 16, “Jimmy the Greek” put on a dominant performance, correctly selecting 15 of the remaining 16 teams, though their hopes were soon dashed in the Elite 8, with only 3 correct picks, including the elimination of their victor: Arizona. “Frankboyz” made a splash in this year’s Tourney with the lowest percentage of correct selections at 32% – a far cry from “Law Offices of Wurtz & Squire”, who led the pack with 76% of their selections coming to fruition.

After awarding many Dancers substantial upset points, the Alabama and NC State underdogs were shown the door by number one seeds UConn and Purdue in the Final Four. The Huskies proved their top-dog status, and the Boilermakers churned through the competition on Saturday as they secured double-digit victories over their competitors.

NC State’s nine game winning streak came to a close this past Saturday. The Wolfpack put up a highly impressive performance through all of March Madness, soaring up the ranks from their 11-seed position to make it to the Final Four for the first time in 40 years – since the founding of The Biggest Dance. Unfortunately, NC State’s last game of the season happened to also be the lowest scoring all season, although Purdue did not demonstrate poise on the court either. Together, the teams missed 10 consecutive shots between them early in the second half. Ultimately, the Wolfpack’s seemingly unrelenting defense, spearheaded by senior DJ Burns, couldn’t keep up with Purdue’s pace and recorded a loss, much to “Sammy the Bull’s” chagrin. Purdue’s victory was met by cheers from 46 Dancers, 3 of whom occupied places 4-6 on The Biggest Dance’s leaderboard going into the Championship.

UConn and Alabama finished their game with significantly more points on the board, but, although Bama gave a respectable performance against the reigning champions, they were no match for the Huskies. Stephon Castle, only a freshman, scored 21 points for Connecticut during the game, showing us that age is truly just a number. Fortunately, UConn’s defeat of the Alabama Crimson Tide did not upset any Dancers at all, as no one predicted the Crimson Tide to take home the NCAA title.

This left two number one seeds with records (and players) that towered over the competition throughout the tournament to face off in a clash of titans in the Championship Final on Monday. The Boilermakers finally met their match at the hands of the UConn Huskies in the title match up, despite Zach Edey scoring a game-high 37 points. Though the teams were neck-and-neck through the first half, UConn systematically chipped away against Purdue, producing a double-digit lead that carried them to the title. This makes UConn the first team to successfully defend their title since Florida in 2007, as 204 Dancers correctly predicted. Though this year’s tournament has come to an end, we are grateful for everyone’s participation and look forward to further triumphs and upsets in the many years to come. It has been a pleasure facilitating the Madness once again.

Best,

The Commissioner