You can keep your Cinderellas

Quick, I've got a question for all those who recently threw themselves on the bandwagons of Nevada or UAB, and for everyone else, too, for that matter... Which team was ranked preseason No. 1 this year in both the Associated Press and Coach's polls?

It wasn't Kentucky, it wasn't Stanford and it certainly wasn't St. Joe's (who, by the way, I hope enjoyed their short-lived glory; it's ending very soon).

It was UConn. Yep, the Huskies. Kind of forgot about them, didn't you?

The Huskies have waltzed into the Sweet Sixteen with much authority and two impressive wins, but no one has really noticed.

There have been plenty of eye-catching headlines in the NCAA Tournament, but UConn has not been one of them.

This is one of the rare Jim Calhoun-coached teams whose bite is worse than their bark.

His other teams were often louder than they were good, and he's had some great teams at Connecticut.

Stanford, with their one loss on the year, was the favorite to come out of the Phoenix regional.

When the Cardinal lost last weekend, all I heard was that the second-seeded Huskies now had an incredibly easy road to the Final Four.

I am certain that even if they went up against Stanford, they would have come out victorious, so in my eyes, not much has changed.

Having watched UConn play all year, it is no surprise to me that they have cruised through the first two rounds of the Tournament, beating Vermont and DePaul as if they were playing the Slovakian National Team back in November.

While one, two and three seeds are falling like confetti, the Huskies are averaging double-digit victories.

Not to mention the fact that they have the best player in the country in Emeka Okafor (I don't care what the Naismith Award voters say).

Despite all this, you would be hard-pressed even at this point to find someone who thinks that UConn can win it all.

I do not understand this. It seems that the general consensus is that "they're good, but Okafor's hurt."

As big of an X factor as Okafor's health is, it is not a good enough reason to brush off the idea that UConn could win it all.

There is no denying that their success at this point is contingent upon the flexibility of Okafor's back (and their ability to hit free throws), but it should not be a cause for concern until it starts really affecting his play.

Yes, he did sit out the first two games of the Big East Tournament, but since then he has been his usual crazy-shot-blocking self.

Okafor's back aside, this year's UConn team has the perfect balance of inside (Okafor, Josh Boone, Charlie Villaneuva) and outside (Ben Gordon, Rashad Anderson, Denham Brown), as well as a senior point guard (my favorite kind) in Taliek Brown, which could all very well add up to a national championship.

That Nevada bandwagon might be a fun place to be right now, but UConn will win the battle of substance over style every time.