Connecticut defeated Florida on Saturday night to advance to the NCAA championship. For The Win looks at UConn’s improbable journey to the title game.

1. A No. 7 seed has never made the NCAA championship.

UConn was only the second-ever No. 7 seed to make the Final Four and the first since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Kevin Ollie’s team is just the second No. 6 seed or lower to make the final in the past 29 years.

2. The Huskies weren’t ranked in either poll at the start of March.

On March 2, Connecticut wasn’t ranked in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll or the Associated Press poll, the byproduct of a loss to SMU on Feb. 23. At the start of 2014, UConn lost to Houston and SMU back-to-back to drop to 0-2 in the AAC. At the time, here’s how coach Kevin Ollie talked about his team.

“We’ve got to come together. We’ve got to go back to the drawing board, try to beat Harvard (at home on Wednesday). We’ve got to do something quick.”

UConn was ranked No. 19 in the final coaches poll and No. 30 in the Pomeroy Ratings entering the AAC tourney.

3. The Huskies finished tied for third in the AAC.

The Huskies were 12-6 in a mediocre AAC and finished tied for third with SMU and Memphis. In the inaugural conference tournament, UConn fell to Louisville in the final. There hasn’t been an NCAA tournament champion that hadn’t either won its conference’s regular season or tournament title since Arizona in 1997. This year, there is guaranteed to be one, as neither Kentucky nor Wisconsin did either.

4. Florida entered the Final Four on a 30-game winning streak.

Then again, that’s been a kiss of death for Final Four teams. The last three teams to enter the Final Four on similar streaks — 1979 Indiana State, 1991 UNLV and 1999 Duke — all failed to win the title. Meanwhile, UConn lost by 33 in its final regular season game.

5. UConn was almost out of the tournament on its first day.

No. 10 seed St. Joseph’s led UConn 50-47 with 47 seconds remaining in their opening-round game. But freshman center Amida Brimah converted a three-point play on the Huskies’ next possession and UConn went on to win in overtime.

6. The Huskies were down 16-4 with 8:57 left in the first half to Florida.

From that point on, UConn outscored Florida 59 to 37.

7. Kevin Ollie is making his NCAA tournament coaching debut.

Just one coach has ever won the title in his first-ever tournament: Steve Fisher did it with Michigan in 1989.