So you all know that I'm a Syracuse grad and bleed orange, but work with UConn athletes (or many of you know this anyway; I've talked openly about it) and have great affection for those athletes in their sports, even though UConn was a former Big East rival to Syracuse. When you know the athletes, you tend to root for them personally. Also being a Boston sports fan, the last 25+ years have been just an embarrassment of riches for me. These seasons...just unreal. (I arrived at UConn in the spring of 1996, for the record, so I'm starting then)
1996 - Syracuse men in Final Four
1999 - UConn men win National title
2000 - UConn women win National title
2001 - UConn women make it to Final Four
2002 - Patriots win Super Bowl
2002 - UConn women win National title
2003 - UConn women win National title
2003 - Syracuse men win National title
2004 - Patriots win Super Bowl
2004 - UConn women win National title
2004 - UConn men win National title
2004 - Red Sox win World Series
2007 - Red Sox win World Series
2008 - Patriots win AFC
2008 - UConn women make it to Final Four
2008 - Celtics win NBA title
2009 - UConn men make it to Final Four
2009 - UConn women win National title
2010 - UConn women win National title
2010 - Celtics win Eastern Conference
2011 - UConn women make it to Final Four
2011 - UConn men win National title
2011 - Bruins win Stanley Cup
2012 - Patriots win AFC
2012 - UConn women make it to Final Four
2013 - UConn women win National title
2013 - Bruins win Eastern Conference
2013 - Red Sox win World Series
2014 - UConn women win National title
2014 - UConn men win National title
2015 - Patriots win Super Bowl
2015 - UConn women win National title
2016 - Syracuse men make it to Final Four
2016 - UConn women win National title
2017 - Patriots win Super Bowl
2017 - UConn women make it to Final Four
2018 - Patriots win AFC
2018 - UConn women make it to Final Four
2018 - Red Sox win World Series
2019 - Patriots win Super Bowl
2019 - UConn women make it to Final Four
2019 - Bruins win Eastern Conference
2021 - UConn women make it to Final Four
2022 - UConn women make it to Final Four
2022 - Celtics win Eastern Conference
2023 - UConn men win National title
So since this absurd title run got going since I've been at UConn, "my" teams have won 27 "national" championships and have made it to the biggest stage (championship game/series or Final Four) 19 other times. 28 seasons, 46 times "my" teams have at least made it to the biggest stage in their sport, winning it all 27 times.
I really can't believe how incredible it's been. Would love to see a college football championship (came close with Syracuse football in 1987, but alas), but I don't see one of those ever in my future.
Seasons without any trip to the sport's biggest stage: 1997, 1998, 2005, 2006, 2020
Seasons with multiple trips to the sport's biggest stage: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022
Seasons with multiple "national" championships: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2015
So more seasons with multiple "national" championships (6) than seasons where none of my favorite 7 teams made it to the sport's biggest stage (5).
Crazy.