An emerging narrative in women’s basketball from some of the dim bulbs who cover the game: The UConn dynasty is over.

The Huskies haven’t won a national championship now - gasp! - in seven years. And while any hint of critical thinking suggests seven years isn’t a wart on Father Time’s fanny, it’s a veritable eternity in this era of The Hot Take, where the primary form of nutrition is low hanging fruit.

The facts, however, offer a rousing “au contraire.” The UConn dynasty isn’t merely alive, but will actually bear its proudest influence over this UConn-less Final Four. And this is even before how anybody with a sense of history - that old thing - would know that what befell the Huskies last weekend in the Sweet 16 has happened to them before. Frequently. It’s just that nobody was dumb enough to pronounce them dead at the time.

See, this is a major issue with today’s media. It trends younger because younger people are often cheaper to employ. The result is a bunch of kids who certainly, like, know how to get likes on social media, but have the institutional knowledge of potato salad.

The recent proclamations of UConn’s demise either overlook or offer cursory reference to Paige Bueckers’ season-long injury and Azzi Fudd’s injury issues that lasted much of the season. That’s the two best players. Know who wins without their two best players? Nobody. That’s who. Healthier versions of Bueckers and Fudd give the Huskies a wonderful chance at banner No. 12 next season.

Now the history part. Injuries have derailed really good UConn teams of the past more than any other factor. You think 11 championships are a lot? There would be more. Consider that the 1997 team was 33-0 when Shea Ralph blew out her knee in the first round of the NCAAs (the team lost in the Elite Eight). The 1998 team lost Nykesha Sales (Achilles) late in the regular season and went out in the Elite Eight. The 1999 team lost Sue Bird (knee) and lost in the Sweet 16.

What’s different about 2023? Nothing. There were no Bueckers and a limited Fudd, whose impacts would be as great or greater than what Ralph, Sales and Bird meant to their respective teams. But then, you’d need to understand history.

Speaking of: UConn’s history has its prints all over this Final Four - and is a major factor why this women’s tournament has been such a success, with ratings and crowds bigger than ever. UConn and Tennessee, Geno and Pat, showed the country for many years what could happen when athletic departments invest in women’s sports. Big crowds for early round games in Bloomington, Ind. and Blacksburg, Va., outposts that weren’t necessarily passionate over the women’s game 20 years ago, are evidence of that.

It was 20 years ago that the UConn women played a regular season game at Duke on a Saturday night. The Cameron Crazies were in full throat. Wonderful infomercial for the game. When the game ended, there were probably 30-40 journalists on deadline when the representative from the New York Times asked Geno Auriemma if this night “helped grow the game.”

Good question. Just not timely, given the deadline parameters for the rest of us. But “growing the game” was a frequent question for Auriemma (and Pat Summitt) at several Final Fours. No two programs grew it better. Competitive games and animosity. Animosity and competitive games. The same recipe came with UConn/Notre Dame some years later. Here was UConn again in the middle. Growing the game.

Now that sufficient time has passed, there are more good programs and good players than ever. UConn is both directly and indirectly responsible for that. So when you’re watching the Final Four this weekend and you hear the next “the dynasty is dead” narrative, remember this: Its tentacles have never been more alive.

Next season, there may be even more good teams with chances to play deep into the tournament. But the one with Bueckers and Fudd may do the Glenn Close thing and emerge from the water, swinging the knife. The dynasty lives, folks. And it’s not going anywhere soon.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro