UConn is hoping to relive the spirit of the 2010s.
The Huskies’ male and female basketball teams are endeavoring to both secure spots in the championship final, a feat not achieved since 2014. The women are set to face co-number-one seed South Carolina on Friday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) while the men must overcome Illinois on Saturday.
UConn’s men’s team traversed a tense path to the championship in 2014, requiring extra time to overcome 10-seed St. John’s in the second round and securing no victory with a margin exceeding 12 points in their championship campaign, ultimately prevailing over Butler. The women’s team, conversely, progressed effortlessly through their competition, concluding an undefeated 40-0 season with a dominant 79-58 conquest over 2-seed Notre Dame in the final match.
It stands as proof of the remarkable excellence of UConn basketball that we need only recall a span of 12 years for the most recent occasion both their squads contended for a title. Still, a dozen years in popular culture is a vast expanse of time. Here is a retrospective on the global landscape during March of UConn’s triumphant year.
Pharrell’s “Happy” Dominates the Music Rankings
Initially launched in November 2013, Pharrell Williams’ optimistic track required some time to ascend to the summit of the charts. It eventually achieved this in March 2014, securing the leading position on the Billboard Hot 100 and marking Williams’ fourth chart-topping single. It ultimately became Billboard’s premier single for the entirety of that year.
Paltrow and Martin Deliberately Separate
The conclusion of a partnership can be a sorrowful period, but actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin can at least find comfort in the reality that their marital dissolution introduced a novel phrase. Paltrow’s announcement on her “Goop” website employed the phrase “consciously uncouple” to characterize their parting, and the term generated a multitude of analytical articles. A dedicated Wikipedia entry even exists for it.
The McConaissance Is Launched by “Dallas Buyers Club” Academy Award
Matthew McConaughey wasn’t perpetually such a prominent celebrity. The Texas native was well-known, certainly, yet primarily recognized for less serious portrayals in romantic comedies. In the 2010s, however, McConaughey demonstrated his capability to undertake more profound dramatic parts. His portrayal in “Dallas Buyers Club” as Ron Woodruff, a man diagnosed with AIDS in the 1980s, earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor. His co-star, Jared Leto, secured a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for the identical film.
“300: Rise of an Empire” Dominates Cinematic Revenues
The tale of the 300 Spartans (along with numerous other Greek warriors from various city-states, for complete historical precision) and their ultimate defense at the Battle of Thermopylae gave rise to a graphic novel, “300,” which was later adapted into an immensely successful motion picture. Its sequel, “300: Rise of an Empire,” did not entirely achieve the acclaim of its predecessor, but it nevertheless amassed $101 million in March 2014, establishing it as the globe’s foremost film for that specific month.
Dark Souls II Is Globally Launched
The successor to 2011’s Dark Souls, Dark Souls II maintained the franchise’s blend of somber ambiance and challenging gameplay. Within weeks of its March 2014 debut, one million players on PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 had acquired the game, and the title achieved a Metacritic score of 91.