How Many Times Has UConn Won March Madness?

March Madness is a yearly college basketball tournament hosted by the NCAA that culminates with the National Championship Game. Since the inaugural NCAA Tournament in 1939, 36 different colleges have gone on to capture a National Championship, some multiple times. One of the nation’s most successful colleges in March Madness is UConn, which has captured four overall titles (1999, 2004, 2011, 2014) and is tied with Kansas for the fourth-most titles in NCAA history.

After rejoining the Big East Conference in 2020, UConn continues to pursue its fifth National Championship under the direction of head coach Dan Hurley. Read on to learn more about UConn’s past titles.

1999 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship

After taking over the struggling UConn basketball program in 1986, Jim Calhoun transformed the team into a powerhouse during his 26-year career. Currently, Calhoun sits in third place for all-time Division I coaching victories (920), only trailing Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim. By the time he briefly retired in 2012 (he later returned to coach the Division III University of Saint Joseph in 2018), Calhoun’s resume also included leading the Huskies to three National Championships, 22 March Madness appearances, and seven Big East Tournament titles.

UConn won its first National Championship in 1999 against Duke by a score of 77-74. Although UConn entered the matchup with a record of 33-2, national media predicted Duke would glide past the Big East Champions at Tropicana Field. Led by Richard “Rip” Hamilton, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, who scored 27 points in the final, UConn knocked off the Blue Devils and halted the program’s 32-game win streak.

2004 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship

In 2004, UConn captured its second National Championship after an 82-73 victory over Georgia Tech at the Alamodome. After a 16-point loss to Georgia Tech in November, UConn entered the title game riding the momentum of a Final Four victory over Duke. With Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon, the future second and third-overall picks in the 2004 NBA Draft, respectively, UConn stormed out to a 15-point lead at halftime and held on to win their second National Championship.

2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship

In one of the most remarkable runs in NCAA history, UConn defeated Butler by a score of 53-41 in 2011 to secure the school’s third title and Jim Calhoun’s final championship before his brief retirement. After jumping out to a 17-2 record, UConn finished conference play with a record of 9-9 and earned the ninth seed in the Big East tournament. At Madison Square Garden, UConn won five straight games in five days to capture the Big East title and earn the third seed in the NCAA Tournament.

As the champion of the West Region, UConn entered the National Championship riding a 10-game win streak. During this matchup at Reliant Stadium in Houston, UConn held Butler to 12 field goals on 64 attempts, the worst-ever shooting percentage in National Championship history, and secured their third title.

2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship

In 2014, UConn won its most recent National Championship with a 60-54 victory over Kentucky at AT&T Stadium. Prior to the 2014 season, the UConn program was surrounded by controversy. During this time, Jim Calhoun opted to retire, the school chose to leave the Big East and join the American Athletic Conference, and the NCAA handed out a postseason suspension in 2013 due to the team’s poor academic performance.

After this suspension, UConn captured a title in Kevin Ollie’s first postseason appearance as head coach. In the lowest-seeded matchup in National Championship history, the seventh-seeded Huskies were led by Shabazz Napier, who scored 22 points, defeating the eighth-seeded Wildcats.

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