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Double dribble in Titletown

Preseason polls are something college basketball fans are supposed to ignore. Roster turnover makes predicting the nation's top team as hard as predicting bracket seedings—there are always surprises. Even Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun knows better than to buy into November rankings. "The No. 1 ranking matters because it does put some highlights on your program and helps some of the kids get recognized," he said. In other words, it's good for publicity and little else.

For the amount of grief preseason college basketball polls receive, this year's predictions were uncanny. Both the coaches and the sportwriters polls slotted Connecticut as the preseason No. 1. With victories over Georgia Tech and Duke in the Final Four, the Huskies proved the pollsters right. But it was what the UConn women did the night after the men's championship game that changed tiny Storrs, Conn., into Titletown. The Lady Huskies knocked off bitter rival Tennessee for their third straight national championship and first-ever dual national championships between men's and women's basketball teams at the same major university. Like the men, the women entered the season ranked first in both polls. Sometimes the pollsters know what they're talking about.