85-51! Yes, those were the numbers on the board when UConn knocked UCLA out of the women’s NCAA basketball final four. One could say it was Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong who led the way instead this time around, momentarily stealing the spotlight from Bueckers. However, the team’s golden girl is nowhere close to receding to the shadows. Paige Bueckers had scored a total of 105 points in the three games preceding last night’s, where she bagged 16. And these are all while hitting 2,000 career points faster than any other Husky before her. So its no surprise that the sports anthem of the century, Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline, recently appropriated by the Huskies, is now being used often to celebrate our sweet Bueckers!

Now, the song has been used famously across sports and countries (Team England famously appropriated for the 2020 Euro Cup). Yet UConn staking their claim on this one, carries weight, because of the universities history with ‘anthem-ic’ songs. Back in the 1940s, Herbert France, founder of the university’s music department and general legend, penned “UConn Husky,” the rousing fight song still heard today. This, after Fred Waring (developer of the Waring Blender) debuted “The Connecticut Husky” on NBC radio in 1939. So, UConn’s musical history is longer than most rivalries, and far catchier.

Uconn makes Sweet Caroline their own

And so how did UConn land at Sweet Caroline? Well, some say the origins can be traced back to recent history. It may have started at the jubilant Fenway Bowl win against UNC. That’s when the stadium speakers blasted Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline, and backup punter Nathaniel Wallace-Dilling punched the air in mock-approval. Fans launched into a spontaneous rendition, echoing the Red Sox tradition and soon claiming it as their own. It was joyous, loud, and very UConn-like!

Others, however, say that the tradition dates further back. Legend has it, that for anyone who was a student at Storrs during the mid-2000s, there was another version. A thumping, slightly unhinged techno remix of the song. This version became a second-half staple at the Gampel Pavilion. The Red Sox may have inspired it, but the pulsing BPM twist gave it a distinctly Husky feel. That remix mysteriously disappeared around 2007 (a decision no one has ever properly explained), but it has lived rent-free in the minds of UConn fans ever since.

And, as we roll with the tides, and the talent, the song has most recently found a new life — and a new face. Paige Bueckers, UConn’s glittering basketball star and a walking highlight reel, brought the anthem back into the spotlight with a now-viral karaoke moment. Backed by a live band, Bueckers can be seen belting the classic out with her teammates. Claiming even more ownership over the song. This caused  some fans to wonder whether the famous ‘ba ba ba’ refrain was actually just a prophetic build up to UConn’s golden girl…Ba-b-Bueckers? And will it follow her into her promising NBA future?

Another theory is perhaps, it was for, Ba-B-Bob Howard, head of the training staff, who strutted into Fenway Park alongside the UConn medical team’s Instagram caption: “Hey Siri, play Sweet Caroline.” Either way, Sweet Caroline is now inexplicably UConn and vice versa.

Three Cheers (and One Handshake) for Tradition

UConn has a lot more in terms of game traditions and victory rituals to boast about. Now, when you’ve got a song going on, you’ve got to have some moves to go along with it, and the Huskies are not short on those. First up, is the Husky Victory Clap. This isn’t your standard polite golf clap. No, this is a synchronized, full-bodied expression of triumph that erupts after every win. Players, coaches, fans, all clapping as one, like a perfectly timed percussion section.

Then there’s the “U-C-O-N-N” chant — a four-letter. To make it even more interesting, the last N is repeated like an echo. A symphony led by the student section known as Husky Nation. It starts strong and somehow gets louder and more guttural, as the game goes on. After a big shot? It’s deafening. After a win? It’s shakes up the whole arena!

And finally, the pièce de résistance: the Husky Handshake. After every victory, the team forms a line and goes through a ritual handshake sequence. Just like a basketball version of a secret society greeting. It’s weirdly touching. In a sport obsessed with stats, it’s a moment of pure connection.

Together, the UConn trifecta, the clap, the chant, the handshake, are more than just fanfare. They’re choreography of a culture. Now depending on how things go tomorrow when UConn plays South Carolina for the National Championship, you just might have to learn the moves and bring out your Neil Diamond in celebration!