Syracuse Women’s Hoops Coach Calls Having to Face UConn in NCAA Tournament a ‘Personal Attack’

Syracuse coach Felisha Legette-Jack had some fiery words after getting beaten by UConn again in the NCAA tournament. | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

The third time’s usually the charm —unless you’re playing the UConn women’s basketball team in the NCAA tournament.

No. 9 Syracuse got blown out of the water by the No. 1 Huskies in Monday’s 98-45 lopsided loss in Storrs, marking the school’s third straight early exit from the NCAA tournament at the hands of UConn in the last six years. Orange coach Felisha Legette-Jack, for one, has had enough.

Legette-Jack, who became the program’s head coach in 2022, has made the NCAA tournament twice in the last four years, and both times Syracuse has had to play UConn in the second round. Both times, Syracuse lost. Prior to Legette-Jack’s head coaching tenure, Syracuse also drew UConn in the second round in 2021 and lost.

Following a truly unfortunate string of defeats to one of the top women’s college basketball powerhouses in the country, Legette-Jack voiced her frustrations toward the NCAA selection committee for “unfairly” pitting the two teams against together so often.

“After being in this business for 37 years, and to have to come and be in this particular bracket every fricking year is unacceptable. It's wrong. If you're on the committee and you've been around for more than a year or two or five to 10, 15 years, you understand what that looks like,” Legette-Jack said after Monday’s loss.

“I have been on those committees to see how it's done, how you can put people on different lines. Put us on a 10 line, whatever. But for us to continue to come to Connecticut year after year after year is, to me, it's a personal attack, because I just think that we are way better than what we performed today.”

Syracuse coach Felisha Legette-Jack lamented her frustrations for her teams continuing to be eliminated by UConn in NCAA subregionals at Gampel

"After being in this business for 37 years and to have to be in this particular bracket every freakin' year is unacceptable" pic.twitter.com/gLEDqY17Mu

— UConn Women’s Basketball Videos (@SNYUConn) March 24, 2026

Syracuse got demolished by the defending champs in Monday’s tilt, already trailing 65-12 by halftime as UConn’s star-studded squad easily rolled over the Orange for another comfortable early tournament win.

Legette-Jack and the Orange made things a closer affair in 2024 when they lost to UConn 72-64, but that was when the Huskies were plagued by injuries and then-star Paige Bueckers took on most of the work by attempting 44% of the team’s field goals.

Fast forward to ‘26, and Syracuse are staring at another disappointing exit in March Madness—and one could argue the NCAA selection committee had an indirect hand in the Orange’s defeat.

Why has Syracuse drawn UConn so often in the NCAA tournament?

In total, Syracuse has faced UConn in five of the Orange’s last seven NCAA tournament appearances (and three of those games were hosted by UConn, since the top four seeds historically host games on their campuses in the first two rounds of the tournament).

Why have the two clashed so often in the marquee tourney of the year? The short answer: it saves the NCAA money.

In addition to following seed order, the NCAA is incentivized to place teams in brackets closer to their campuses as it limits out-of-pocket costs for the organization. Since the NCAA is required to pay for charter flights for teams traveling at least 400 miles during opening weekend and 350 miles during the regional finals and Final Four, it’s in the NCAA’s financial interest to place teams at a nearby site in the early rounds.

The NCAA also claims it wants to “maximize fan accessibility” which likely plays a part in their bracket-placement decisions, though perhaps isn’t as substantial as the money element.

Here’s more of Legette-Jack criticizing the NCAA selection committee:

“I just know that this team right here had a strong chance of getting beyond this particular level, and I am hoping that I'm not disrespecting anyone,” continued Legette-Jack. “I'm hoping that I'm not bringing shame to Syracuse by crying spilled milk, but after a while —I've never said anything in this kind of light before.

“A lot of people talk about rev share. I just want the young people that's in my locker room to have a fighting chance, and I am grateful to be in an NCAA Tournament, from where we've come from, but I think that we've earned the right to go anywhere outside of a four-hour radius. That's all I have.”

The trip from Syracuse to Storrs is roughly a four-hour drive—hence Legette-Jack’s plea.

The Syracuse coach noted that she would be fine being a No. 10 seed, instead of a No. 9 seed, if it meant they would avoid UConn. She ended her postgame presser sharing that she had the utmost respect for Geno Auriemma and the Huskies’ program, and she didn’t make any excuses for her own team after Monday’s blowout loss.

The Orange finished 24-9 in their regular season and probably deserved a longer run this March. We’ll see if their fates take a turn for the better next year.

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