Geno Auriemma Fires Back At UConn No. 1 Seed Doubters
The UConn Huskies women's basketball team secured the country's top seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, as was revealed on March 15.
On the surface, there's very little to dispute about UConn receiving this No. 1 seed. They're the defending champions, went undefeated this year, and beat many top non-conference teams.
But as with every year, some detractors have tried to use the argument that UConn not playing in a Power Five should be a reason why they don't deserve that top seed, as opposed to a team like UCLA, who were the Big Ten champions and only lost one game this season (to Texas).
Geno Auriemma Pushes Back On UConn Top NCAA Tournament Seed Criticism
UConn head coach Geno Auriemma set the record straight about his squad's top-seed worthiness during a March 16 appearance on Sirius XM's "College Sports Radio".
"UCLA's biggest win was against Michigan. Well, we beat Michigan. And we beat Ohio State, they beat Ohio State. We beat Iowa, you know? So, we played a lot of really, we beat Louisville. They're pretty good, you know? So, we won a lot of games against the Big Ten. It's not like we didn't have games against really, really good teams. We just happened to play really, really well," Auriemma said, per an X post from @SXMCollege.
"And yeah, will it matter going into the tournament? No. We were in the American Athletic Conference for seven years, when we had [Breanna Stewart] and those guys. And that conference was worse than this one, that we're in right now and that people say is not a good conference. And we won four straight national championships," Auriemma continued.
He was then asked whether his scheduling philosophy is "Anytime, anywhere," and he said, "Yes! Exactly that. Exactly that. I remember one year, when we went to the regionals, we had played 13 of the other 15 teams. So yeah, that's kind of what we do here. So the fact that whatever league we're in, if we win a national championship, it won't matter. If we don't win a national championship, it won't be because of what league we play in."
"We have more national championships than the Big Ten, the Big 12, [and the ACC] combined. So what does playing in those get for those guys? We have more national championships, 13, than all those leagues combined. So just because you might play in those leagues, that doesn't make you a championship team. You still have to go out and prove it on the court," Auriemma concluded.
"We were in the American Athletic Conference for seven years when we had Stewie and those guys and that conference was worse than this one... and we won four straight national championships."
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) March 16, 2026
Geno Auriemma isn't here for your doubts about the @UConnWBB strength of schedule. pic.twitter.com/v4v6yUAhQV
Auriemma makes a very fair point.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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