| Especially with the juxtaposition of the current turmoil at Kentucky, there is no question Connecticut has become one of the true defining blue bloods of men's college basketball.
A program that top recruits and transfer-portal players gravitate toward. A program where the head coach can mold them into winners.
A program that has an unquestioned air of invincibility right now.
With a sixth national title in the past quarter-century and its second in a row courtesy of Monday night's 75-60 win over Purdue in Glendale, Ariz., UConn has to be considered in the same class or better than traditional super-programs such as Kentucky, Kansas, Duke and North Carolina.
UCLA once was at the head of that class, with 10 titles in a 12-year span bridging the 1960s and '70s, but the Bruins only have taken the crown once (1995) in the past five decades.
 UConn won its 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament game, all by double digits.
Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK
As Kentucky scrambles to replace Arkansas-bound coach John Calipari — and with zero Sweet 16 appearances since 2019 — Jersey-bred Dan Hurley and the Huskies have established themselves as the top program in this or any part of the country (even if Big East rival Villanova briefly staked that claim with two titles under Jay Wright — with Knicks superstar Jalen Brunson at the helm — in 2016 and 2018).
In crushing Purdue, the Huskies became the first back-to-back Big Dance winners since Billy Donovan and the Florida Gators did so in 2006 and 2007. Duke (1991-92) is the only other repeat champions over the past 51 years since the UCLA seven-time title dynasty from 1967-73.
And the Huskies steamrolled their way through this tournament for a second straight March and April. They won their six games by an average of 23.3 points. Just as they did last year, the Huskies won every game by double digits.
It didn't even matter that their star big man Donovan Clingan was bested in a personal showdown with Purdue's 7-foot-4 two-time national player of the year Zach Edey (37 points) in the first battle of 7-footers in the championship game since Georgetown's Patrick Ewing and Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon 40 years ago.
 Cam Spencer and Donovan Clingan start to celebrate as the clock winds down on UConn's win, which came despite 37 points from towering Purdue star Zach Edey.
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Of course, the UConn women's team also has brought 11 championship trophies back to Storrs since 1995.
But let's hear it for the boys.
Today's back page  New York Post
Isle be seeing you Brace for impact, New York hockey fans.
The Islanders and the Rangers will face each other twice over the next five days — Tuesday night at UBS Arena and Saturday afternoon at the Garden — with those head-to-head matchups late in the regular season potentially determining whether the local rivals also will square off in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in 30 years later this month.
While the Blueshirts still are looking to lock up the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and the Presidents' Trophy (awarded to the NHL team with the most regular-season points), the Isles remain in a logjam just to clinch a playoff berth with five games remaining.
They are in the No. 3 spot in the Metropolitan Division, but if they fall into the second wild-card slot in the East, they likely would face the top-seeded Rangers in the postseason for the first time since they were swept during the first round of the Manhattanites' championship run in 1994. (They met seven times in the playoffs between 1975 and 1990, with the Islanders holding a 5-2 series advantage in that span, including three times during their Stanley Cup four-peat in the '80s.)
 Ryan Pulock's Islanders will try to fend off Alexis Lafreniere's Rangers twice this week during their playoff push.
Robert Sabo for the NY Post
The Isles (85 points, five games left) are 16-12-4 since Patrick Roy was hired in January, but they have revived their season with a four-game winning streak entering Tuesday's UBS showdown.
The current second wild card Red Wings (84 points, five games left) and division rival Penguins (84 points, four games left), Capitals (83 points, five games left) and Flyers (83 points, four games left) are each within two points of the Isles in the standings, meaning a loss or two to the first-place Rangers could contribute to them getting knocked out altogether.
Peter Laviolette's Rangers are five points clear of the Hurricanes in the Metro and three ahead of the Atlantic-leading Bruins for the conference lead with four games to play.
The Knick of time Following a signature win Sunday in Milwaukee, the Knicks find themselves in an even tighter cluster of teams jockeying for playoff positioning before the NBA regular season concludes at the end of this week.
The NBA was dark Monday night due to the NCAA championship game, but Tom Thibodeau's squad moved within one game of the No. 2 Bucks behind should-be MVP candidate Jalen Brunson's 43 points the previous day.
 Jalen Brunson's scoring exploits have the Knicks in position to claim as high as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
AP
More importantly, the Knicks are three games ahead of both the Sixers and the Heat in the loss column for the play-in cutoff with their final four games of the season kicking off Tuesday night against the Bulls in their second visit to United Center in the past five days.
That gives the Knicks a magic number of one to clinch no worse than a top-six seed in the East, with a viable chance still to secure a coveted No. 2, No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the playoff pecking order and home-court advantage in the first round.
Getting the second or third seed would guarantee the Knicks avoid the NBA-leading Celtics — whom they play Thursday in Boston — until the Eastern Conference Finals.
Brunson, by the way, is now up to 28.2 points per game for the season, fourth-best in the NBA, and currently the fifth-highest scoring average in team history.
 Cole Anthony, Mo Wagner and the Magic are surprise candidates to host Game 1 of a first-round playoff series.
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Only Bernard King (32.9 in 1984-85), Richie Guerin (29.5 in 1961-62), Carmelo Anthony (28.7 in 2012-13) and Patrick Ewing (28.6 in 1989-90) have averaged more for the Knicks.
Remaining games
2. Bucks (47-31): vs. Celtics, vs. Magic, at Thunder, at Magic
3. Magic (46-32): at Rockets, at Bucks, at 76ers, vs. Bucks
4. Knicks (46-32): at Bulls, at Celtics, vs. Nets, vs. Bulls
5. Cavaliers (46-33): vs. Grizzlies, vs. Pacers, vs. Hornets
6. Pacers (45-34): at Raptors, at Cavaliers, vs. Hawks
7. 76ers (44-35): vs. Pistons, vs. Magic, vs. Nets
8. Heat (43-35): at Hawks, vs. Mavericks, vs. Raptors, vs. Raptors
The scoreboard Mets 8, Braves 7: The most meaningful win of the Mets' young season. Brandon Nimmo had five RBIs including two game-tying home runs, and DJ Stewart hit the go-ahead jack in Atlanta. The Mets had to overcome a 4-0 deficit, and the bullpen hung on for dear life to finish it.
 An overjoyed DJ Stewart gets high fives in the Mets dugout after his go-ahead home run in Monday night's road win over the Braves.
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Yankees 7, Marlins 0: Anthony Volpe and Juan Soto each hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning and Nestor Cortes delivered eight innings of two-hit, shutout ball as the Yankees improved to 9-2.
What we're reading 👀 ⚾ The Post's Joel Sherman goes deep on baseball's pitcher-injury crisis: possible causes, potential solutions, the labor implications and what we all lose when the game is played in this punishing style.
🏀 A record-setting TV audience of 18.7 million viewers tuned in for Caitlin Clark's college finale. Think we're onto something here.
⛳ How did Tiger Woods look in Masters practice?
🏒 Score one for the USA against Canada at the women's hockey world championships. One of the best rivalries in sports.
🏒 You don't see this every year: Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews has 65 goals, and still has five games remaining.
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