The Morning According to Us

UConn's win while ranked No. 1 breaks an ugly trend.

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The Huskies were the first team in weeks to not be cursed by their top ranking.

When the UConn Huskies pounded Louisville at Freedom Hall 68-51 last night, they did what recently has been almost unthinkable: they won against decent competition while ranked No. 1 in the polls.

Wake dumped No. 1 UNC on the January 11th, handing over the numero uno keys to Pitt, who lasted a few days before dropping a game at Louisville on the 17th. So the Deacons took over and lost to Virginia Tech on the 21st! They handed the curse to Duke, who was quickly exposed as a bagel team—delicious on the perimeter, just a dash of cream cheese in the middle—by who else: Wake Forest. That was on the 28th.

Now the scarlet ranking has been handed to UConn.

And yet, because this is college hoops, all these losses are the just footprints on Oprah's couch—a forgotten footnote to the fallout that comes later. This is because while we scream and wail all year about the ineffectiveness of the BCS, it at least renders a certain sense of value to the regular season. A team holds dearly to the [No. 1] ranking for weeks, knowing that to simply hold that spot for a length of time further cements their status as a likely final suitor for the crown. During the NCAA hoops season, the ebbs and flows of, ya' know, getting dropped by Virginia Tech while ranked number one—and at home—is part of a learning experience.

But maybe a regular season rendered meaningless is the best this way. Number one is a week or two of bragging before the inevitable fall, and good thing.

You need to save your voice for March.

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