By: Victor Olorunfemi

Friday night saw UConn's bid to end their championship futility end in the final four for the fourth tournament in a row. While that may be a disappointing end to a promising season, there is plenty for UConn to be excited for, particularly with the dynamic Paige Bueckers and the upcoming recruiting class. The combination of these two things is why I believe the UConn basketball team will not only win the NCAA tournament next year but that they will also do it with an undefeated record.

Welcome back to Far-Fetched Friday, where every Friday we give you a bold prediction that we believe will come to fruition. This Friday, we look at one of the most dominant programs in college sports history.

Paige Bueckers is the first freshman ever to be named Women's college basketball player of the year but simply saying it does not give that incredible accomplishment enough credit. Women's college basketball is not like men's college where freshmen like Zion Williamson, Anthony Davis, and Kevin Durant have a great chance of winning the award. Because for the most part, the one-and-done generation of men's college basketball means the best players are playing one year and leaving.

In Women's basketball, players must be four years removed from high school to be draft eligible. So the best freshmen do stay for four years and get better and better. It is why every winner in history has been a junior or senior until Paige Bueckers. She really is that good.

Then there's Azzi Fudd, a player ESPN recently named the best women's college basketball prospect in decades. In 2019 she became the first high school sophomore to win Gatorade Female National Player of the year.

And although, she had a major setback injury in an ACL tear in 2019, Fudd has since recovered and looks to be at her best once more. 

She will be a freshman at UCONN next season . . . That means UCONN may have an incoming freshman better than the one that just became the first freshman to win college basketball player of the year.

There is also the fact that this UCONN team, which ended the season 28 and 2, only has one academic senior on the team in Evina Westbrook, and even she could return as she has one year of eligibility left. So UCONN could potentially return their entire roster and add someone many in basketball consider to be the best high school prospects in decades?

It almost seems like a foregone conclusion.

My Far-Fetched Friday prediction is that the UConn Women's Basketball Team will go the entirety of next season undefeated.