Alabama will face off against the defending national champion and undisputedly best team in the nation Connecticut Huskies in its first-ever Final Four appearance.
UConn has been absolutely tearing teams apart in its path to 10 straight tournament wins and now back-to-back Final Fours.
Evidently, the school already feels as if a repeat is coming.
University officials have had the light poles removed from campus ahead of Saturday’s matchup and potentially Monday’s national championship should the Huskies advance, according to TMZ.
Last year, property damage and chaos ensued in Storrs after students used light poles to damage campus building during the celebration:
chaos in storrs #UCONN pic.twitter.com/FQcwoVW6M0
— Just Noogs (@justnoogs) April 4, 2023
UConn administration is not taking any chances and already planning on an uncontrollable crowd once again, but this time around things will be a little bit different.
“Given the prevalence of damage to the aluminum campus light poles along Fairfield Way last year, the University is temporarily removing them and has installed wall lights in that area. They provide the same amount of illumination without being vulnerable to being removed and misused, as occurred last year,” a UConn spokesperson told TMZ.
While the Huskies are 11.5 point favorites over Alabama, some may say that UConn could be jinxing themselves by making advanced plans in anticipation of celebration.
The Tide will take on the Huskies on Saturday night from Phoenix at around 7:50 P.M. CST.
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP