WBB: National Media Bias? A Lesson Learned From Sesame Street

Auriemma took exception to the former Notre Dame head coach’s claims of a Connecticut bias in the national media.

Muffet McGraw no longer patrols the Big East sidelines but she and UConn basketball head coach Geno Auriemma are apparently engaged in another basketball battle.

Auriemma struck back against McGraw’s claims of a Connecticut bias made on ’Off The Looking Glass’ podcast on ESPN December 22nd. McGraw’s original comments came in response to a query from hosts Kate Fagan and Jessica Smetana over whether UConn had an “outsized” impact on the women’s basketball scene. Her response directly linked the Huskies to the Worldwide Leader in Sports, a connection Auriemma did his best to sever when asked about McGraw’s monologue by longtime women’s basketball announcer Bob Joyce.

“I don't know why anybody would think ESPN is our network,” Auriemma said on the most recent edition of “The UConn WBB Coaches Show”, released on Monday. The longtime Huskies head coach called upon some help from Jim Henson’s Muppets to theorize why UConn games regularly appear on ESPN’s family of networks: “I think the bias has something to do, if there is any, with the 11 national championships, which is a lot more than two (McGraw has won). At least I remember that on Sesame Street."

The former Notre Dame head coach held nothing back against the national media at that time, calling out ESPN for showcasing the Huskies’ women’s basketball program in excess.

"UConn has done great things and they've won way more than anybody else, except Tennessee. What they've done has been amazing,” McGraw acknowledged. “But I think it goes over the top with ESPN. That is Connecticut's network. Notre Dame has NBC. Connecticut has ESPN. That is absolutely complete bias there.”

ESPN is the parent company of ACC Network, where McGraw has worked as an analyst since departing the South Bend hardwood after over three decades of service in 2020. That included 52 matchups with Auriemma’s Huskies, who won 39 of them (though McGraw’s Fighting Irish had a 5-3 advantage in Final Four get-togethers).

In one aspect of coverage, Connecticut has six games on ESPN’s family of networks this season, including the first women’s basketball telecast on broadcast television network ABC. Two more games on the Worldwide Leader’s networks are currently scheduled for Jan. 17 against Oregon (ESPN2) and Jan. 27 against South Carolina (ESPN). Notre Dame, on the other hand, primarily sees its national coverage come on ACC Network, with one game potentially scheduled for ESPN on Feb. 27 against Louisville.

Auriemma brushed off McGraw’s comments during his conversation with Joyce, helping to reignite a rivalry that appeared to have thawed when McGraw left her post at South Bend.

"I guess Muffet's bored. I guess she doesn't have a whole lot to talk about. Usually when she was coaching, when she did talk, nobody listened anyway. I guess she figures she's got a platform now,” Auriemma said. "If people didn't want to watch us on television, I'm sure they wouldn't put us on. If we didn't generate the ratings, I'm sure people wouldn't have us on. When you tend to win a lot, people want to watch you play a lot."

Auriemma sarcastically thanked ESPN for its role in the Huskies hardwood success while noting that contractual obligations make it impossible for such a lasting relationship to be formed. Most nationally televised UConn games wind up on the networks of Fox Sports, which has been the flagship television station of Big East basketball since 2013 (coinciding with the formation of Fox Sports 1).

Other Husky women’s basketball games are broadcast in the New York City metropolitan tri-state area on SNY, a relationship formed in 2012 when the network claimed regional broadcasting right from Connecticut Public Television. ESPN owns ACC Network, as well as several other specialty college channels (i.e. SEC Network, Longhorn Network).

Notre Dame’s football program, which competes as an independent, has enjoyed a relationship with NBC Sports since 1991, which ensures that most, if not all, of their home games are played on broadcast television. Auriemma used that relationship to slip in another jab toward McGraw’s former program.

"I don't know why anybody would think ESPN is our network. I'm just glad we don't go 30 years between winning championships,” Auriemma said, partly referencing the 17-year gap between McGraw’s national titles at Notre Dame. “So maybe NBC ought to help them a little more."

In his weekly conversation with Joyce, Auriemma covered the Huskies’ ongoing hardwood affairs, which have endured a hiatus in the wake of the ongoing health crisis. UConn (6-3, 1-0 Big East) last played on Dec. 19 (a 69-64 loss to third-ranked Louisville) and has since had three conference games postponed due to COVID-19 protocols, including this Wednesday’s visit to Georgetown.

The Huskies’ next scheduled contest lands on Friday night at Villanova (7:00pm ET, SNY), though Auriemma expressed doubt that the game would be played in its penciled slot. An already depleted roster (as Auriemma said that Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, Nika Muhl, and Aubrey Griffin would not be ready to return for a potential Friday game from their respective injuries) has not gone untouched by positive cases, though Auriemma declined to reveal the exact number. One identified player, he said, tested positive at home and has not yet returned to campus.

“We have to see if, between now and Friday, someone can be ready to go,” he said. “But the problem that you run into is if someone comes off the protocols, they still need five days of practice before they’re going to be able to play, so it doesn’t give you much time between today and Friday.”

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags