COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Geno Auriemma can reach back into the memory bank and recall what those days were like. When each step up was exciting, and the whole state of Connecticut seemed to be traveling along with him and his Huskies as they made the trip to the winner's circle.
He jokes that the UConn fans liked him a lot better then, 21 years ago -- when the pursuit of a national championship was still such a new thing -- than they do now. Because these days, the Huskies winning the NCAA title is treated like a chronological inevitability.