It's been a good year for UConn

As I drove back from Bradley airport the evening after the women won their national championship, I noticed the sign. Right on the I-84 off-ramp at Exit 68, it says:

UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT

2009 NCAA

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

In a split second, my mind processed three thoughts: 1) "Man, the Dept. of Transportation got that sign made up quick;" 2) "Man, that's the first time I've ever seen that sign change;" and 3) "Man, I say the word 'man' a lot."

Since I made my first visit to Storrs as a high school senior in April 2005, the sign off of I-84 has always paid homage to the 2004 men's and women's basketball championships.

Normally, change is scary. In this case, the lack of change was downright frightening. Yes, for four years, UConn went without a national title in any varsity team sport, the longest such drought since 1994.

Some great teams and players have played here over the last four years. But it's fair, I think, to call this a "down" period for UConn athletics. No national titles, and those great underachieved and teams came up short, at least until April 7 in St. Louis.

About a year ago, I made the bold-slash-homertastic prediction that UConn could win four national championships - men's and women's basketball, men's soccer and field hockey - with strong showings in football, women's soccer, baseball, women's hockey and softball. In short, I called-slash-prayed for the greatest athletic year ever.

And it would have been, too, except for those meddling kids. And by "meddling kids," I mean injury, inexperience and dumb luck.

Of course, when everything needs to go right for UConn to win even one NCAA title, maybe predicting four was a stretch. Clearly, my predictions didn't work out. So, what have we learned in the last eight months, class? First off, never expect anything good to happen, ever.

Second, learn to count your blessings. Sure, not everything ended well this year - like in 2006 for the men's basketball team, 2007 for the men's soccer team, or 2008 for the women's basketball team. But just about every team went as far as they could be expected, and they provided some pretty special moments along the way.

Think of it this way: wasn't 2008-2009 a top-five season in UConn athletics history?

Or, another way: if Jim Calhoun were comparing this UConn season to a past player, he might choose Rudy Gay. He was really good at times, ultimately disappointing, and we'll look back fondly on him/this season in a few years.

Then, Calhoun would compare a really good sandwich he recently ate to Khalid El-Amin, because that's how he rolls. (That's a terrible pun. Sorry.)

UConn fans saw two basketball teams, the flagship athletic programs in this state, were ranked No. 1 in America for large portions (or all, in the women's case) of this season.

The men had a tremendously fun run to their third-ever Final Four, automatically putting them above the teams of Ray Allen, Chris Smith, Caron Butler, et al. The women pounded 39 teams, though in their defense, Geno Auriemma set the opponent difficulty to "Junior Varsity" and activated the turbo cheat. Unfair, Geno. Unfair.

And since basketball is king in this tiny college town, and two-thirds of the academic year is dominated by hoops, it makes sense to give those teams special precedence. But it's not just all basketball.

Football sort-of regressed (from 9-4 in 2007 to 8-5), but the team's quality was roughly the same and they defeated their overmatched opponent in the International Bowl. Plus, they did beat the Big East champion for the first time ever.

Men's soccer was a top-five team most of the year until injuries killed both their national championship chances and Ray Reid's cordiality to The Daily Campus. Even then, the Huskies got to the third round of the NCAA Tournament, further than most probably picked them when the bracket was released.

Field hockey's fatal flaw was a lack of veteran playmakers, and they lost a tight game to Duke in the first round of the NCAAs after spending most of the year in the nation's top five.

Pretty much every other team achieved their potential - whether it be track and field's Big East championship or women's soccer's near-miraculous run to overtime in the Big East championship game.

So that was the Rudy Gay year. Obviously, it falls behind the 2003-04 season, which included the legendary dual national titles and the first season of football at Rentschler Field.

And clearly, the 1998-99 year (when the men's basketball team did something notable) is head-and-shoulders above this year. Also of note that year: a Division I-AA playoff game at Memorial Stadium. I don't care if it was a lower level of football: that would've been bananas.

Other years have had their moments. In 1999-2000, the women's basketball team picked up their second national title. In 2000-01, men's soccer did the same, although that year gets knocked down a peg because of the fact that UConn students stormed the floor at Gampel for a December win over Arizona (That clip is on YouTube - look it up, and watch sternly. And for those of you who are still here next year, please never storm the court as long as Jim Calhoun is here. Thanks in advance). The 2007-08 season included a Big East football co-championship, if you wanted to be ironic, a pair of Elite Eight trips by the soccer teams, and a women's basketball Final Four. But men's soccer and women's basketball should have gone farther than they did.

So let's say that 2008-09, the Rudy Gay year, was the third-best year in modern UConn athletics history. Sure, I'm biased - "This was the most awesomest senior year ever!" - but I think that too many good teams had really good seasons. And it was topped off by the end of UConn's national title drought.

Stop and think about that next time you're getting off that exit on I-84.