Given the increase in early defections and in LeBron wannabes, we might look back at these Huskies as one of the best, most deeply talented teams in the last decade, right there with Rick Pitino's 1996 Kentucky team of Antoine Walker, Ron Mercer, Walter McCarty, Derek Anderson and others.

By the end, Connecticut wasn't just playing for a title. The Huskies were laying claim to a legacy. As scrappy and well-coached as Tech was, few gave the Yellow Jackets much chance here Monday night. Fewer predicted the burning the Atlantans took.

The 82-73 final wasn't that tight. Connecticut led by 25 with 14 minutes left and went soft after that. "Into conservative mode," coach Jim Calhoun said. Georgia Tech, effective from three-point range Saturday night against Oklahoma State, fired blanks until it didn't matter on Monday.

The Jackets, bless 'em, picked the wrong year to play for it all. They played with a champion's heart, but without his talent. "We fought as hard as we could," guard Marvin Lewis said, a plea for respect that should be heeded. The Jackets scrambled all night; ultimately, they looked like a man with a putter on the driving range. The depth of their futility was revealed in the last five seconds of the first half. Down 13, Will Bynum missed two free throws. (Bynum, the hero Saturday night, was 2-for-6 from the free throw line Monday. Apparently, he can only hit those last-second, drive-the-lane layups.)

The Huskies rebounded Bynum's second miss, jet-streamed the ball upcourt and Rashad Anderson nailed a jumper at the buzzer. What might have been a manageable 10-point deficit ballooned to an impossible 14. We won't say the celebration had begun. But the Huskies were being handed scissors in the dressing room.

Great players win championships. Or, in this depleted day and age, very good players. When the talent is as good as UConn's was, a coach can only mess it up. Jim Calhoun already had 679 wins and one national title. He wasn't going to mess it up.

(Pleasant local thought of the night: By the time UC gets to the Big East, year after next, these guys will all be gone.)

UConn was so good, its best player, center Emeka Okafor, had 24 points and 15 rebounds and you barely noticed any of them. The Huskies are deep enough that Hilton Armstrong, averaging nine minutes a game, had six defensive rebounds in seven minutes in the first half. That was three more defensive boards than any Yellow Jacket.

The last time the junior guard Ben Gordon went to the foul line, Huskies fans behind the basket began chanting, "One More Year!" Fat chance. Gordon had 21 points, including 12 of UConn's first 24. "I just kept telling myself I won't be denied," Gordon said.

"Gordon took advantage of some (defensive) breakdowns," Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. "You give a player like that room ... he made us pay."

Georgia Tech couldn't get back into the game late, partly because it was missing too many shots, but also because the Jackets couldn't press Gordon or his backcourt mate, Taliek Brown.

As for Okafor, he was named the best player of the Final Four, and now he will make millions in the NBA. He deserves it all, a junior who got his degree and will graduate with honors. "Georgia Tech was a great team," he said. "(But) we wanted it, and we took it. Now, I have to celebrate."

Please do. History should judge these Huskies kindly.

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E-mail pdaugherty@enquirer.com