Braun: The Connecticut Huskies didn’t really have to make a statement going into the NCAA Tournament, but that didn’t stop them.

As if their 27-4 pre-tournament record wasn’t enough to give everyone the impression they were among the nation’s best, their performance in the big dance so far has me wondering if these Huskies can possibly lose.

After breezing through the first two rounds — and I really mean breezing — they put it to Purdue and proved to be too much for a very good Missouri team. I mean surely, if the Tigers were able to hold AJ Price and Hasheem Thabeet to only 23 combined points, they would be able to beat a Huskies squad that was already without one of their best players, Jerome Dyson.

Well, it turns out freshman Kemba Walker had different ideas. He scored 23 points of his own en route to the win and yet another Final Four appearance for Connecticut.

But don’t think it ends here for the Huskies.

With Price injured and Calhoun ill in the first round, the Huskies had to conquer some adversity. What happened? Well, with winning margins in the first two rounds of 56 and 26 respectively, UConn proved it could get by even without some of its most integral aspects.

Badger fans know how dangerous the Huskies can be after their 19-point win over UW in the Paradise Jam earlier this year. Think about that team with a full season of experience playing its best basketball of the year. That team is Connecticut, the best team in the country.

Solochek: America needs a hero. More specifically, Detroit needs a hero, and he comes in the form of a muscle-clad mascot dressed in green and white armor.

When Sparty and Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans roll into town next weekend for the Final Four, they will be playing for more than the right to play in the national championship game. They will be playing for the hopes and dreams of Detroit, which desperately need assistance.

The essential home court advantage they will get will not only propel Michigan State past the UConn Huskies, but it will also help them win the championship game.

For the past week, it seems as if the Spartans have been playing with a purpose. Last weekend, they steamrolled over the No.1 seed Louisville, holding the Cardinals to just 38.3 percent from the field and star Terrence Williams to just five points.

When they play the Huskies this weekend, the Spartans have all the tools necessary to walk away victorious. They have the speed guards in Kalin Lucas and Travis Walton to keep up with AJ Price and Kemba Walker of Connecticut. They also have a dominant big man in Goran Suton, who can compete with shot-blocker Hasheem Thabeet.

Will all the right pieces in place, the Spartans will walk out of Detroit victorious, not just for themselves, but for the Motor City itself and the people who live there.