PHILADELPHIA, PA — Connecticut and UCLA are two of the biggest brands in college basketball, but have a sparse history against each other, meeting only once in the Elite Eight of the 1995 Men's NCAA Tournament.
That all changes at 8:45 p.m. ET on Sunday inside Xfinity Mobile Area, where a berth to the Sweet 16 will be on the line.
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It also features two of the more passionate, emotional, and fierce coaches in men’s college basketball with UConn's Dan Hurley and the Bruins’ Mick Cronin.
"It’s ridiculous. Everybody needs to get a life," Cronin said Saturday, March 21 when asked if he cares about how people perceive Hurley and himself. "You want to win big? Do you think Coach Hurley’s not supposed to be intense, but you want to win? We’re not coaching Little League."
UCLA associate head coach Darren Savino knows about Hurley and Cronin’s passion better than most. Savino grew up "literally on the same block" as Hurley in Jersey City, New Jersey and played for Hurley’s father, Bobby Hurley Sr., at St. Anthony High School alongside Hurley’s older brother, Bobby Hurley Jr. He has been on Cronin’s staff at UCLA for seven years and has been coaching with Cronin for 18 seasons.
"Two of the most competitive coaches that you’ll come across," Savino told USA TODAY Sports. "Both guys don’t like to lose."
While there are other college coaches who are as fiery and competitive as Hurley and Cronin, Savino said what sets these two apart is how consistently they maintain their competitive edge.
"It’s not just on game day or once in a while. They’re elite at bringing the competitive edge every single day and that’s why their teams play that way," Savino added.
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Hurley and Cronin met three times in their careers, first in November 2016, as coaches at Rhode Island and Cincinnati, respectively. When Hurley moved to take over UConn in 2018-19, Cronin took a 2-1 lead in the all-time series, sweeping the regular-season series when both programs were in American Athletic Conference play.
Hurley recalled the culture of Cronin’s teams and “how hard they play” from those matchups.
"They (UCLA) play a lot differently than those teams played in Cincinnati, but the culture, the standards, how hard they play, the quality of shots they take, the discipline they play with. That never changes with a Mick Cronin team," Hurley said.
They also share similar sources behind their coaching intensity: They are sons of high school coaches.
Hurley is the son of Bobby Hurley Sr., the legendary and Hall of Fame Jersey City basketball coach, while Cronin is the son of Harold Cronin, a Cincinnati high school coach.
"I think it's a huge advantage growing up the way we grew up in the gym, which you don't realize until you go into coaching," Cronin said. "Everybody else has got to learn things that you learn through osmosis. ... Everybody doesn't have those dads."
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Hurley and Cronin's styles have helped them to tremendous success, as Huskies and Bruins' coaches are two of the best in their profession. They have combined for 873 wins — including 33 in the NCAA Tournament — 24 NCAA Tournament appearances, three Final Four appearances and two national championships (both Hurley’s).
Sunday's coaching matchup nearly didn’t happen, either, with both programs facing legitimate upset threats in their first-round games against 15-seed Furman and 10-seed Central Florida, respectively.
The Huskies saw their 11-point cut to four after with 5:49 to go, but a 12-4 run to end the game, fueled by Tarris Reed Jr., helped UConn pick up its 30th win of the season. Reed became the first player since Houston’ Elvin Hayes in 1968 to finish with at least 30 points and 25 rebounds in a March Madness game.
The Bruins, who saw guard Skyy Clark lose a tooth during the game, had to withstand a late push from the Knights, who cut the Bruins' lead to just three points with 10 seconds left in regulation.
So, get the popcorn ready: It’s not every year in March Madness, especially this early on, that you get a coaching matchup like this.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dan Hurley, Mick Cronin in March Madness is box office, expect theatrics
