The celebrations on UConn's campus after the men's
basketball team won the national championship last season led to 39 arrests, 16 injuries, six students getting expelled, overturned vehicles and significant vandalism. Thousands of UConn fans, most of them students, spilled onto campus after watching a broadcast of the Huskies' NCAA Tournament win over San Diego State, with some pulling down signs and light poles, smashing windows and causing other damage. https://t.co/jNq9sVHX4n pic.twitter.com/vF2EFR58GR This year, the school is taking preparations to ensure there isn't a repeat in the event the Huskies beat the Purdue Boilermakers on Monday night and become the first back-to-back men's champions since
Florida pulled off the feat in 2006 and 2007. According to the Associated Press , the school removed the aluminum light posts along the campus' main drag, Hillside Road; limited the official watch party inside Gampel Pavilion to only 6,700 students—the general public won't be permitted to attend—and won't be selling alcohol at the event. "We felt that the large number of people at Gampel last year might have contributed to the actions that followed on campus," school spokesman Mike Enright told the AP. "We're trying to spread the celebrations out a little bit." He noted that university
police have worked with state and local authorities to ensure a more civil celebration in the event of a men's victory, and that Final Four watch parties for both women's and men's teams on Friday and Saturday, respectively, went off without any major issues. "Overall, the students are very well behaved," Enright said. "And Saturday night they were exceptional during the semifinal against
Alabama and on Friday for the women's game as well."