Despite the Yale men falling to Texas A&M in the Round of 64 on Thursday night, three Connecticut teams remain alive in the men's and women's NCAA tournaments at the Division I level, and all play either Friday or Saturday.
That starts at 2:30 p.m. Friday, when the Fairfield Women take on Kansas State.
This is the second year in a row that Fairfield has won its conference tournament and reached the Big Dance, and also the second year in a row it will be the underdog.
Back in 2024, as a 13-seed, Fairfield put a bit of a scare into 4-seed Indiana, keeping the game close into the third quarter.
"We're a more experienced and we've added to the team, had more time together," said sophomore guard Kaety L'Amoreaux, when asked how this year's team compares to last year's. "But I feel like this year we're more comfortable here and, like, more ready. I think having that under our belts from last year, that we just know what to expect."
Moving up to a 12-seed this year, Fairfield will look to pull off one of the most common upsets in the NCAA tournament, which is a 12 beating a 5-seed.
With so many members of last year's team back, head coach Carly Thibault-Dudonis says "I don't know that the message is different. Our approach isn't necessarily different. I think we built on what we did last year where the situation may feel, you know, we've been here before. But since we sat in the locker room at Indiana a year ago, that team committed to coming back together. They committed to doing more and not just getting to the tournament but taking another step."
After Fairfield, the UConn men begin their quest for a third straight national championship, with the 8-seed Huskies taking on 9-seed Oklahoma.
Then on Saturday, the UConn women start their run as a 2-seed, hosting Arkansas State in Storrs.
