"You play, what, 36 games, and you try to put yourself in this situation as often as you can. I think every team that's here knows that this weekend is probably the biggest weekend of the year."
UConn was selected as the Fort Worth 1 Region champion by all 22 voters. No other team was a unanimous Final Four pick, but the 1-seeds received a clear majority. South Carolina received 21 votes, Texas had 19 and UCLA 15.
For the first time ever, the St. John's Red Storm are back-to-back Big East champions after defeating UConn in a wire-to-wire 72-52 win in the conference title game on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. When these teams last met, the Huskies handed the Johnnies a humbling 32-point loss, snapping the team's 13-game winning streak and leaving them eager for redemption.
The Syracuse Orange (13-10, 4-6 ACC) will look to stop a three-game road slide when they square off against the Virginia Cavaliers (19-3, 8-2 ACC) on February 7, 2026 at John Paul Jones Arena. Virginia won its previous game against Pittsburgh, 67-47, on Tuesday. Sam Lewis led the way with 15 points, plus three rebounds and one assist. In its previous game, Syracuse lost to North Carolina on Monday, 87-77. Its high scorer was Donnie Freeman with 23 points.
