Once upon a bracket

Sporting News, The, March 18, 1996 by Michael Knisley

Calhoun still believes Connecticut had the best team in 1990, when his Huskies played Duke in the East Regional final for the right to go to the Final Four. And for all but the last four seconds of overtime, he may have been right.

But he has a story about those last four seconds.

"Tate George has the ball," Calhoun says. "We're ahead by one, and he has to make a decision. Do I dribble, or just hold it? No one gets to him, so he starts to dribble it and it just falls out of his hands. No big deal, right? There are only two seconds to go HOW. But (Christian) Laettner makes a shot, and we don't go."

So Calhoun takes nothing for granted as Connecticut starts the process again. In the moments after the Huskies beat Georgetown last Saturday night to win the Big East Tournament he dares to look ahead a little-with a couple of quick glances behind, too, at UConn's ill starred NCAA Tournament past.

"It's in God's hands now," he says. "And fate's hands. I've found that out over a lot of years. But I'll tell you what. We'll try to do everything we can to twist fate in our direction. We'll see what happens."

Connecticut's senior point guard, Doron Sheffer, listens and nods.

"I really believe when you come down to 16 teams or eight teams in the NCAA Tournament," Sheffer says, "any team can beat any other team. You can call it fate. You can call it destiny. You can call it luck. It happens. A lot of good teams, a lot of special teams, don't win the tournament for that reason. That's what is so special about it. That's what I think has happened to UConn over the last couple of years. I just hope this time, we'll have the destiny to go all the way."

That is the beauty of the tournament: The best team doesn't always win. So if Connecticut, or Massachusetts, or Purdue, or Kansas -- or anyone other than Kentucky -- is accepting the championship trophy in the Meadowlands on Monday night, April 1. someone should remember to ask Pitino if the best team won.

Bet he'll have a story to tell.