“Ruined the game”: $18 million worth Geno Auriemma sounds off about women basketball’s March Madness schedule

Geno Auriemma criticized the scheduling of the 2025 NCAA women's basketball tournament ahead of No. 2-seeded UConn's Sweet 16 matchup against No. 3-seeded Oklahoma on Saturday. The coach highlighted the number of rest days teams have as they advance deeper into March Madness.

The Huskies and Auriemma, who has a net worth of $18 million (per Celebrity Net Worth), had a three-day rest between the opening game and the second round, and four off days before Saturday's showdown. However, in case they make it to the next stage, they will only have a day of rest before playing the Elite Eight game. The Final Four and championship game will occur within the next six days.

"God Bless whoever wins Monday (Elite Eight) night, OK? And then they've got to fly cross country, which is Tuesday, then they have two days — Wednesday and Thursday — to play the biggest game of their life," Auriemma said to reporters on Friday.

Auriemma also compared the scheduling with the men's tournament, which gives Elite Eight winners a five-day breather before playing the Final Four round. No. 1-seeded Duke will play No. 2-seeded Alabama on Saturday. If they win, they will play the tournament semifinals next weekend.

"The guys who don't know sh*t about sh**, according to a lot of women's basketball people — they finish Sunday," Auriemma said. "Then they have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and they play Saturday.

" ... So whoever came up with this super regional stuff, and I know who they are, ruined the game, they did, they ruined the game."

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Geno Auriemma will have to deal with Super Regionals until 2028

Introduced in 2023, the Super Regional concept centralized the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight into two locations instead of four. While it helps reduce travel for some teams, many programs are forced to fly cross-country to play games. The structure is locked until 2028 and regional venues for the upcoming years have already been announced.

Geno Auriemma's UConn Huskies have already traveled 2,679.5 miles from Gampel Pavilion to Spokane Arena for Saturday's matchup. They also had to plan their practice throughout their stay in Washington.

Training was limited to only an hour of practice on Friday to accommodate the other three Spokane and four Birmingham regional teams.

In case Auriemma and his team advance to the Final Four, they will have to travel 2,813.5 miles more, from Spokane Arena to Amalie Arena in Tampa.