Whenever Dan Hurley of the Connecticut Huskies speaks his mind about something, people stop and listen. The head coach of the defending national champions is a respected name for turning a team that hasn’t been relevant since 2016 into March Madness mainstays in only his second year in charge.
While he usually speaks about things that matter to his team and their bid to defend their college basketball crown, he’s letting his thoughts known about an entirely different matter. He is specifically targeting the NCAA for what he believes is a grave injustice when it comes to providing spots to teams within the Big East.
Connecticut Huskies’ Dan Hurley calls out NCAA for giving limited March Madness spots to Big East teams
Hurley didn’t mince words when it comes to verbally assaulting the NCAA’s selection committee on the teams they invited for this year’s iteration of March Madness.
Aside from them, only Marquette and Creighton got invites to participate in the tournament. All of them made it to the Sweet 16, which says a lot about the quality of basketball being played in the league.
Meanwhile, teams like Kentucky and Kansas have fallen short, upsetting plenty of basketball brackets. He believes that St. John’s, Providence, and Seton Hall could have performed better than these teams.
The Spun’s Andrew Holleran wrote about Hurley’s unabashed criticism on the selection of the 68 teams invited to the competition:
“You’ve see how other leagues that got the bids that our league deserved has underperformed,” he told reporters.
“Obviously the mistake was made. It sucks.”
It’s a big claim, but the fact that all Big East teams are deep into the tournament makes it clear that they’re the best collegiate basketball league in the country. He has the right to gloat about his conference when its representatives are thriving.
Will the Huskies defend their title?
Dan Hurley built a juggernaut of a team in Connecticut, and it will be tough for any of the final 16 teams in the tournament to take them down.
All of their starting players are scoring in double digits, led by seniors Cam Spencer and Tristan Newton. Freshman Stephon Castle is a particular highlight in the UConn roster, establishing his spot in the team despite only being a freshman.
Vegas has them as one of the heavy favorites to defend their title, and San Diego State will have a tough time trying to bring them down.
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