Does March Madness have a new villain? UConn basketball catapulted back to the National Championship game in taking down Illinois 71-62. Head coach Dan Hurley threw his arms up in celebration, but overheard boos.

“Are they booing? The headbutt? I don't know what they're booing,” a genuinely perplexed Hurley told Tracy Wolfson after the game.

He was standing in front of Illinois fans, likely sparking the boos.

Hurley did walk with a confident look before the game. He clearly entered with the belief his team would beat the Illini. The two-time national title winner even got caught dropping a “yeah mother f—–” on camera as he walked off into the tunnel.

He also unapologetically told reporters the mindset of him and his team.

“We are a group of fighters, I bet it’s not for some people in here, soft pudding. It’s a fight to win a championship,” Hurley told reporters postgame.

He also remembered who was favored in the opening round of four contest.

“You’re coming into the game as an underdog against a team you beat by 13 points earlier in the season,” Hurley said. “Sorry, just had to get that out of my system. I’ve been sitting on that,”

Still, Hurley's attitude is likely what rubs fans and media the wrong way.

“I don’t think I like Dan Hurley as he seems like a jerk,” Matt Jones of KY Sports Radio/ESPN posted on X, formerly Twitter. “But I also know that for pretty much any College BB fan (me included), if he was your coach, you would completely ride with him.”

Hurley created new bravado for the Huskies men's basketball program. And he's pulling it off in the shadow of Geno Auriemma and Jim Calhoun.