- NBA. Get the best seats for NBA games at Tickets MARCA
- NCAA. March Madness Tickets 2026: What fans are paying this year per round
- Dallas Wings. Geno Auriemma continues to 'mourn' the absence of Paige Bueckers, and the Dallas Wings star can't believe it
Geno Auriemma isn't one to stay quiet, especially when defending his players. As the NCAA Tournament approaches, the UConn Huskies head coach emphasized that what matters isn't the conference they compete in, but the team's overall quality.
Once again, Auriemma's Huskies entered March Madness as Big East champions, with a 34-0 record (20-0 in the conference). This earned them the top seed in the national tournament.
However, some critics have pointed out that UConn faces weaker competition in the Big East than other teams seeded lower than them.
Without mincing words, the legendary coach emphasized:
Whatever league we're in, if we win the national championship, it won't matter. If we don't win it, it won't be because of what league we play in.
Auriemma lashes out at Huskies critics
Not holding back, Auriemma quickly recapped the UConn women's team's record: "We have more national championships than the Big 10 and the Big 12 combined. And the ACC. So what does playing in those leagues get for those guys?"
It's worth noting that Auriemma has led the Huskies to the NCAA Tournament for 36 consecutive years. During that time, they've won the title 13 times, including last year.
"We have more national championships, 13, than all those leagues combined," Auriemma reiterated.
So, just because you play in those leagues, it doesn't make you a championship team. You still have to go out there and prove it on the court.
UConn is the heavy favorite to repeat as champion this year, and Auriemma made it clear that the reason is the level of the opponents they defeated outside the conference.
UConn beat the best of the best
"UCLA's biggest win was against Michigan. Well, we beat Michigan," the coach recalled. "And we beat Ohio State, they beat Ohio State. We beat Iowa, we beat Louisville-they're pretty good."
He explained that they won important games against Big Ten teams. "It's not like we didn't have games against really, really good teams; we just happened to play really, really well."
After mentioning that they also won championships when they played in the AAC, which he considered worse than the Big East, he concluded:
It really doesn't matter where you play; if you're good, you're good.