WATCH: Dan Hurley's UConn crew thrilled with special gift from Kobe Bryant's wife Vanessa ahead of Sweet 16 clash

The No. 1-seeded UConn Huskies are on the hunt for a repeat national championship. Standing in their way are last year's championship game opponents, the No. 5-seeded San Diego Aztecs.

Before their game, the Huskies received a special surprise from Vanessa Bryant, the wife of the late L.A. Lakers star, Kobe Bryant.

The whole team received unreleased Nike Kobe 6 "Italian Camo" Protro kicks. The moment was captured on cameras as the team unwrapped their gifts.

Kobe and Vanessa's daughter Gianna 'Gigi' Bryant hoped to join UConn before her untimely passing in the helicopter crash in 2020. This explains why Vanessa gifted the team with the shoes.

Dan Hurley has the UConn machine purring

The UConn Huskies only returned two starters from last year's all-conquering team and have still been just as dominant, if not better.

They came into the NCAA tournament on the wave of an excellent season and were unduly rewarded with a No. 1 seed to make their quest for a repeat national championship even easier.

Dan Hurley's team has lost only one game since Christmas and just three the whole season to go with a 33-win season.

The Huskies are a winning juggernaut and are possibly the only top team that has not underwhelmed throughout the heralded NCAA tournament, where elite teams usually find their less illustrious opponents more than up to the task.

The No. 16-seeded Stetson Hatters were easily dispatched 91-52 in the first round of the Big Dance. Then the Northwestern Wildcats were dealt with 75-58 in the second round to set up the showdown against the San Diego Aztecs.

Before the game against the Aztecs, Hurley credited the team's chemistry for turning the Huskies into such a relentless team.

“This team fits. I just think the pieces fit so well,” Hurley said. “I think a lot of it’s been trial and error. Those couple of years when we weren’t successful in the tournament, just the personalities, the skill set.

"Obviously adapting to the analytics and the modern game from an offensive standpoint, the growth there as a coach and in terms of roster construction… We finally have kind of figured out the formula.”

It helps that Hurley is a superstitious man and the suit that he wore during the Huskies' run to the national championship game is the same one that he is wearing during every game of this tournament as well.

If the UConn Huskies, under coach Dan Hurley, repeat, very few people would begrudge them another title because they've probably been the most consistent team throughout the season.