ESPN’s latest way-too-early bracket has Dan Hurley’s UConn men staring at a familiar label: No. 3 seed.
Joe Lunardi released his next set of NCAA Tournament projections on Tuesday, and once again the Huskies landed on the three line. Duke, Florida, Illinois and Arizona were placed as the No. 1 seeds, with Duke listed first. Michigan State, Texas, defending champion Michigan and Louisville filled out the No. 2 spots.
Lunardi did not spell out why UConn was slotted there, but there are plenty of obvious reasons to point to. The Huskies’ 2025-26 season ended at 29-5 overall and 17-3 in the Big East, then they went 5-1 in the conference tournament and fell to Michigan in the NCAA title game. That finish earned them a No. 2 seed a year ago, but this upcoming path looks much steeper from the start.
The nonconference schedule is brutal. After a rematch with Michigan in the second game of the season, UConn is set to run into Arizona, Duke and Illinois in consecutive games. Two of those matchups would come away from Connecticut, and all three opponents are projected as No. 1 seeds.
The roster is also very different. Alex Karaban, the two-time NCAA championship winner and the team’s anchor over the last two seasons, is gone to the NBA.
Tarris Reed Jr., who led the Huskies last season with 14.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, is also off to the pros. Solo Ball, another championship winner, will miss the season while recovering from wrist surgery.
Then there’s the matter of experience, or the lack of it. UConn’s group is young, with five seniors, one junior, six sophomores and three freshmen.
The players with real tournament mileage are limited to seniors Silas Demary Jr. and Jayden Ross, plus sophomore Braylon Mullins. Nik Khamenia, a Duke transfer, arrives with his own March baggage after being on the Blue Devils team that was knocked out by Mullins’ 3-point heroics in the teams’ Elite Eight matchup.
Sophomore Jacob Ross, Jayden’s younger brother, was on the roster last season but did not appear in a game.
Lunardi’s bracket once again places Duke as the No. 1 seed in the East, the same region UConn was placed in last season. That 2025 field was loaded with Hall of Fame coaches and blue-blood programs, including Duke, UCLA, Michigan State, Kansas and St. John’s.
This time, the East picture also includes Michigan State under Tom Izzo and Arkansas under John Calipari, along with Kentucky, Indiana, Villanova, Providence and Purdue under Matt Painter.
In Lunardi’s projection, UConn opens in Minneapolis against Yale. If the Huskies advance, the next round could bring Purdue, North Carolina State or Cincinnati.
There’s still a long way to go before any of this matters. The play-in games are set for March 16 and 17, and the first round begins March 18.
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