UCLA, Indiana and the NCAA basketball fan bases living in the past

5. UConn fans still are reliving the glory days of the Jim Calhoun era.

The rise of the University of Connecticut’s basketball program is certainly remarkable. While the women’s program remains the gold standard in college basketball, the men’s team put together a really good run under Jim Calhoun.

The Huskies were an afterthought in the Big East when Calhoun took over in 1986 and he quickly turned the program into a routine tournament team. Calhoun’s team reached the next level in 1999 when they upset Duke to win the program’s first national championship.

That title set the foundation for another brilliant decade of basketball as UConn won two more championships under Calhoun. The Huskies have also produced their fair share of NBA stars during that time, creating an exciting product for their fans to watch.

Calhoun’s successor, Kevin Ollie, won a championship in 2014 but the program has fallen on hard times since. The fan base has since gotten restless, which contributed to the program’s decision to move on from Ollie.

Dan Hurley is the head coach now and will have to satisfy a ravenous fan base as UConn returns to a Big East that has gotten very competitive again. It won’t be an easy job as the fans still feel like UConn is one of the sport’s marquee programs even though they haven’t played like one for five years.