Dom Amore: UConn's loss is Boston College's biggest men's basketball win in a long, long time
Key keywords: UConn men's basketball, Boston College Eagles men's basketball, 2023-2024 NCAA basketball season, Dom Amore, college basketball upset, defending national champion UConn, New England college basketball rivalry, BC men's basketball historic win
Veteran college basketball reporter Dom Amore made the widely discussed assertion in his latest Hartford Courant column, after unranked Boston College pulled off a shocking 73-61 home win over top-ranked, defending national champion UConn in a cross-conference matchup in January 2024. UConn entered the contest riding a 15-game winning streak to open the season, sitting atop both the AP and Coaches Polls and holding the shortest odds to repeat as national champions, while Boston College came into the game with a middling 10-6 record, having finished near the bottom of the ACC standings in 7 of the past 10 seasons.
The Eagles delivered a near-perfect defensive performance across 40 minutes of play, holding UConn's high-powered offense to just 22% shooting from three-point range, forcing 14 turnovers, and limiting the Huskies' star backcourt to a combined 11 points on 4-of-18 shooting. BC senior center Quinten Post led the way for the Eagles, notching 22 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists to dominate the paint on both ends of the floor. When the final buzzer sounded, thousands of BC students stormed the Conte Forum court to celebrate with players, marking the program's first win over a top-ranked opponent since 2009, and its first ever win over a defending national champion.
Amore emphasized that the victory carries far more weight than a regular season upset, due to the decades-long New England regional rivalry between the two schools, who have competed for local fan support, recruiting talent and media attention for generations. For over a decade, BC's men's basketball program has flown under the radar, failing to qualify for the NCAA Tournament since 2009 and struggling to attract top high school prospects amid the sustained success of regional powerhouses like UConn and Providence. The matchup drew 1.2 million viewers on ESPN2, making it the highest-rated regular season college basketball game on the network that week, with social media conversations about the upset trending nationwide for over 12 hours after the final buzzer. While UConn head coach Dan Hurley dismissed the loss as a minor regular season blip that would not derail the team's title defense goals, Amore noted that the result will deliver lasting benefits for BC, including boosted ticket sales, increased recruiting interest, and restored program morale that could shift the trajectory of the Eagles' rebuild for years to come.
Featured Comments
As a BC alum who has sat through 11 straight losing seasons, I cried when the final buzzer went off. Beating the defending national champion, No. 1 ranked UConn on our home court? This is the kind of win we tell our kids about, and I truly believe it's the turning point our program has been waiting for.
I'm a lifelong UConn fan and I hate that we took the L, but credit where it's due: BC played flawless basketball for the full 40 minutes. Our three-point shooting was ice cold all night, and we had no answer for Post in the paint. This is a good wake-up call before we hit the thick of Big East play.
Dom Amore is 100% right here, this win is transformative for BC. They've been stuck in the ACC cellar for so long that a lot of casual college basketball fans forgot they even had a men's hoops program. Pulling off an upset this big against a powerhouse like UConn is going to completely shift their recruiting momentum for the next few cycles.
As a neutral college basketball fan, this was the most fun game I've watched all season. The energy in Conte Forum was electric, and it's always great to see a underdog program that's put in the work get a moment like this. I'm already looking forward to the rematch next season.