“Folks, you gotta believe. Because just when people say you can’t, you can. And UConn, has won a national championship in its first attempt in a final.”
Those were the words that Jim Nantz after Trajan Langdon turned the ball over for the second time in the final five minutes as UConn, 9.5 point underdogs to heavyweight Duke in the 1999 national title game, won the first of four championships in the last 15 years.
Me?
I prefer Khalid El-Amin’s reaction.
“We shocked the world! We shocked the world!”
That wasn’t the last time that Duke and UConn squared off in a Final Four. Five years later, in 2004, Emeka Okafor spurred a comeback from down eight points in the final 3:15 as UConn beat the Blue Devils in the national semifinals en route to the 2004 title.
We didn’t forget about that, either.
I bring all that up because tonight, UConn will travel to New Jersey to take on No. 2 Duke in another game where the Huskies are massive underdogs -- the line is currently at 10.5 points.
If you want to watch the entire game, you can. Right here.