The excitement of March Madness is always more than enough for college basketball fans to enjoy this year. But, whether you love or hate Dan Hurley, there has been one aspect of the NCAA Tournament and the UConn Huskies winning back-to-back titles over the past two years that has been even more blissful: the ineffable presence of actor Bill Murray.

Murray isn’t just a big Storrs, CT guy but, rather, is simply a proud father who has been enjoying March Madness from the stands quite prominently over the past two seasons. Luke Murray, Bill’s son, has been an assistant on Hurley’s staff for several years now and, of course, has two rings to his credit as a result of that following previous stops at Xavier and Louisville, as well as working with Hurley at Rhode Island.

Any time that you get to see Bill Murray on your TV, though, it’s a good feeling. There are few celebrities who are as widely beloved as him, so having him encroach on college basketball has been more than welcomed.

Sadly, we won’t get that outside of the first weekend of the 2025 NCAA Tournament now.

Bill Murray, UConn don’t have another March Madness run ahead

After a largely disappointing regular season, UConn still made it into the 2025 NCAA Tournament field but as a No. 8 seed. The Huskies picked up a win over Oklahoma in the Round of 64, which then set up a date with the No. 1 seed in the West Region, the Florida Gators, on Sunday in the Round of 32.

Despite the woes of the regular season, Hurley had UConn looking like the March kings of the past two years in the matchup with the third-overall seed in the tournament. His Huskies took the Gators to the absolute limit and had the biggest upset of March Madness to date this year brewing. Unfortunately, he came up just short in a 77-75 loss to Florida, thus ending the longest winning streak in NCAA Tournament history (tied with Duke from 1991-93) at 13 games.

While there are certainly a large number of Hurley haters who are dancing on the March grave for the Huskies on Sunday, let’s be real, this is a shame for the entertainment factor of college basketball.

Hurley himself is an enigmatic presence with a true gravitational pull for eyes when it comes to his antics, whether over the top or justified. Then you throw in the Bill Murray factor, and it’s truly just a good time to watch UConn play, which they proved despite being nearly 10-point underdogs in the matchup against Florida.

Sadly, Bill Murray and the Huskies won’t be returning to the Final Four for another run. We’ll always have the memories, though — and there’s also a good chance that UConn and, thus, Murray aren’t going anywhere either.