Geno Auriemma blasts NCAA over 'frustrating' Sweet 16, Elite Eight setup

Meghan L. Hall, USA TODAYSat, March 28, 2026 at 4:13 PM UTC

0

FORT WORTH, TX — UConn Coach Geno Auriemma blasted the NCAA over the setup for the Women's NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games.

Auriemma, who has been at UConn for 41 seasons, walked into his morning press conference, sat down and unleashed pointed fury in his opening statement. The veteran coach began a burning rant as the air slowly went out of the room.

"I'm gonna read you some numbers, OK? Four-for-20, four-for-22, one-for-17, five-for-18, four-for-16, seven-for 26," Auriemma said. "That's the three-point shooting yesterday across the country. How many arenas are we gonna sell out with that (expletive)?"

On Friday, UConn, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, UCLA, Minnesota, LSU and Duke all played in Sweet 16 matchups between regional sites in Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, California. Auriemma said it could have been a bad shooting day by all the aforementioned teams ― Notre Dame made just one 3-pointer during its upset win over Vanderbilt ― but he wasn't convinced.

Auriemma said he believes the low shooting percentages might be attributed to new baskets and basketballs described as "out of the box." He lamented how players were dribbling basketballs off their feet and missing numerous shots. Auriemma said the balls seem to have so much air in them they bounce unusually high when players attempt to dribble.

"I just don't understand some of the decisions that are made about our game when we're trying to grow the (expletive) game," Auriemma said. "There's just no concept of how basketball is played."

The UConn coach also complained about scheduling provided by the NCAA for practice and media availability. The Huskies had a shoot-around at 6 a.m. Friday before it played North Carolina at 4 p.m. Notre Dame had media availability in the morning with a 5:30 p.m. practice Saturday evening. Auriemma questioned why UConn and Notre Dame needed more media sessions when they had just spoken after their games on Friday evening.

"Does anybody who makes these decisions ever ask the coaches and the players, 'Hey, does this work'? Do you guys do this during the regular season? Is this normal?" Auriemma asked.

Advertisement

The UConn coach did take questions about UConn's impending rivalry matchup with Notre Dame on Sunday in the Elite Eight and explained how his rant wasn't about UConn. He says there is a lack of coaches' input across the country on how decisions are made, including reducing regional sites from four in previous years to two.

Auriemma said the attendance on Friday between Sacramento and Fort Worth regional sites was 18,000. They would get more fans and have more people in different parts of the country be able to see the game in person with four sites for regionals.

"If we have four regions and you got a minimum 5,000 people ... I think that comes out to 20,000," Auriemma said.

"I just don't understand some of the decisions that are made about our game when we're trying to grow the god damn game. And I'm thrilled to be playing Notre Dame, because they're damn good right now."

Auriemma said he would be happy if the NCAA would listen to its coaches and players.

"The NCAA sends representatives to schools, to our school every year, at the end of the tournament. What would you change? What do you think works? What do you think doesn't work? That's been going on for about eight or nine years, and nothing changes. It's always the same thing. So I think there's a frustration," Auriemma said.

"Hopefully, I'm speaking for the other coaches. Some coaches might think I'm full of it. And this is not about UConn. I hope everybody understands that ... I think there is a level of frustration right now among the coaches that's higher than any time I've ever seen it."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Geno Auriemma criticizes NCAA over March Madness 'frustrating' setup

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Sports”