Surprising to none, the storyline for Saturday’s NCAA Tournament matchup between Arkansas State and the University of Connecticut is college basketball star Paige Bueckers, who was recently named a semifinalists for the 2025 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Women’s Player of the Year Award. It feels like Bueckers has filled buckets for the Huskies since the 1990s, her name forever synonymous with women’s hoops and ubiquitous on all media platforms.

Sure, it’s another banner year for Bueckers: 19.0 points and 4.9 assists per game, and she leads the nation with a 3.9 assist-turnover ratio. She’s already a millionaire. Bueckers, who has more than two million followers on Instagram, will likely be the #1 pick in the WNBA draft. And she plays for one of the most storied women’s basketball programs in college history, the UConn Huskies, winners of 11 national championships and led by a coach with his own celebrity, Geno Auriemma.

Meanwhile, Arkansas State saw its own star power skip town over the off season, with prolific scorer Izzy Higginbottom joining cross-state rival Arkansas and former Sun Belt Freshman Player of the Year Lauryn Pendleton leaving for Alabama A&M. As a result, head coach Destinee Rogers importing a bevy of capable but anonymous players with long range shooting ability and a understanding of their roles. Points are selflessly distributed across the team, with eight players averaging better than six points a game. Athletic ability is spread so even across the roster that Rogers deploys a five on/five off rotation.

Upon the tip, there will likely be little discussion of Arkansas State’s seven-headed three-point threat, or the stifling defense Rogers credits as the team’s ultimate strengths. Nah, it’s gonna be Paige Bueckers. We’ll likely be treated to a mini- Buecker’s infomercial as Arkansas State attempts to hang with the Huskies 10th ranked scoring offense (Vegas picks UConn to win by 44). When even the ABC announcers grow weary of Bueckers, the story will be Auriemma.

It’s okay. The Red Wolves are accustomed to sharing the spotlight.

Photo by UConn Athletics | Ella Pitonyak