UConn's Geno Auriemma calls 'bulls***' on women's regional format, attendance, scheduling and more. Does he have a point?
· Yahoo Sports
FORT WORTH, Texas — Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma did not suddenly wake up on a Saturday morning and decide to be cranky. The veteran brought receipts he set in front of him at the table in a Texas-sized storage area in Dickies Arena, and a simple question.
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“What are we doing here?” he asked.
Auriemma’s long-standing gripes took aim largely at the NCAA women’s basketball committee’s decision to squeeze its regionals into two super-sized sites and the negative impact. It included a drive-by swipe at why he believes the field goal percentages throughout the first day of the Sweet 16 are so poor.
None of it is new ground for Auriemma, who made such points a year ago. Not only has nothing changed, but the committee extended the format another three years through 2031. The move from the traditional four region sites the men’s tournament still uses began in 2023 under the guise of creating a better atmosphere with increased attendance.
What started as an experiment appears to be staying for the long haul.
Geno Auriemma has never been shy about voicing his displeasure with the way the women's tournament is set up. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)Elsa via Getty ImagesAuriemma critiqued it for negatively impacting the game, media and practice schedule. The locations and limitations of the two regional sites, combined with the geography of the Final Four, also create logistical challenges for fans in an era of booming interest.
“I just don’t understand some of the decisions that are made about our game when we’re trying to grow the goddamn game,” Auriemma said.
As the most established voice in women’s basketball, Auriema’s words have the ability to stand for those less willing. And since UConn wins anywhere and any time with a record 12 national championships, he can more comfortably speak for the collective without being labeled a poor loser.
“I think there is a level of frustration right now among the coaches that's higher than any time I've ever seen it,” Auriemma said.
Here’s what Auriemma said on Saturday morning ahead of the Fort Worth 1 regional final, and data behind it.
Attendance
The Fort Worth 1 regional games on Friday were sparsely attended given the capacity, coming in at an official 9,375. In Sacramento, the attendance was 9,446 for a total day 1 mark across the two sites of around 19,000.
“If we have four regions and you got a minimum 5,000 people — I mean, I went to Westchester State University. It's a great university. I think that comes out to 20,000,” Auriemma quipped.
The darkened lights at Dickies Arena hide plenty of empty seats during the Sweet 16. (Photo by Chris Swann/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)Chris Swann via Getty ImagesThe most recent four-site tournament was in 2019 at Chicago, Portland, Albany, New York, and Greensboro, North Carolina. The spread-out nature of the locations allowed for more fans to take shorter trips. They hosted a combined 64,723 fans over the regional round, a 27 percent increase from the previous year, according to the NCAA. That’s an average of 8,090 fans on each day of the tournament, which is in line with the super regional site attendances.
“I think a lot of times decisions are made; fine, prove that it's a legit reason why,” Auriemma said.
Interest in women’s sports has exploded since 2019, particularly in women’s college hoops with the rise of Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and JuJu Watkins. Name, image and likeness has helped the women become more well-known than their male counterparts, who often leave for the NBA after a single season.
The Albany super regional in 2024 bulged with talent and exceeded attendance marks of previous four-site regional brackets featuring nearby UConn. All four days were sellouts of 13,000-plus.
Halving the number of regional sites does the same for on-site personnel and planning, which directly correlates to costs and revenue. But by dropping eight teams into a singular site, it creates logistical nightmares.
Schedule
Azzi Fudd could use an extra hour of sleep, the UConn senior said first thing on Saturday morning in the Huskies locker room. UConn secured its Sweet 16 bid in the Fort Worth 1 regional afternoon game that ended around 6 p.m. local time. They returned for media, radio and broadcast responsibilities that began at 8 a.m. and will come back nine hours later for their actual practice.
The championship game is on Sunday at 12 p.m. CT on ABC.
The prior day was worse. Before the two Fort Worth 1 games, the four teams competing in the Fort Worth 3 regional completed their media responsibilities, beginning with Louisville at 7:30 a.m. Meanwhile, on the court, UConn was already finished with its short 6:30 a.m. shootaround.
At a time of the year when everyone is tired and a focus is placed on consistency, the super regionals are anything but.
“Does anybody who makes these decisions ever ask the coaches and the players, hey, does this work?” Auriemma said. “Do you guys do this during the regular season? Is this normal?”
With eight teams at each site for the Sweet 16, players are forced to practice and fulfill media obligations at odd hours. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)Stacy Revere via Getty ImagesShooting percentages
Auriemma’s receipts listed the 3-point field goal marks of six of the eight teams that played in the Sweet 16 on Friday.
4 for 20 (UConn)
4 for 22 (North Carolina)
1 for 17 (Notre Dame)
5 for 18 (Vanderbilt)
4 for 16 (UCLA)
7 for 26 (Duke)
Minnesota was 6 of 12 in its loss to UCLA, and LSU shot 3 of 8 in its buzzer-beater loss to Duke.
“How many arenas are we going to sell out with that bulls***?” Auriemma said. “Now, maybe it was just a bad day shooting by everybody. These are all teams that average probably 30, over 30 [percent], for the season.”
It was one of the worst perimeter performances of the season for all of the teams he listed. Better opponents at this stage and teams having an entire season to build chemistry defensively could be the reason, but Auriemma sees a different cause.
“They bring in new baskets, new basketballs right out of the box,” Auriemma said. “Got people dribbling the ball off their feet. You got people missing layups all over the place. You bounce the ball, and it goes up to the ceiling.
“There's just no concept of how basketball is played. Not that I have any of the answers. Believe me, I just have questions.”
Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico, whose team started 1-of-4 but finished around its 33% average, did not see the merit in this one.
“I can't believe that Geno has had this much time to really analyze all this, but not a shocker,” Barnes Arico said. “Shout out to Geno. Thanks for finding something. Was that because they scored in the 60s yesterday?”
Gyms and sight lines are different in every gym, which is why players have favorites and least-liked locations, even if they don’t share those willingly. Barnes Arico credited that more.
“I didn't even really look at the numbers today,” she said. “I can't answer his question, but if he analyzed it, I'm sure it's probably correct.”