Geno Auriemma Calls NCAA Tournament Expansion a 'Money Grab'

The Evolution of the NCAA Tournament

Geno Auriemma's UConn women's basketball team has made 37 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances since its first in 1989, with 30 of those as an automatic qualifier by winning its conference tournament. The Huskies' chances of continuing this impressive streak seem to have improved with the recent announcement that the Division I event for men and women will expand from 68 to 76 teams in 2027. This expansion includes the addition of eight at-large teams.

However, according to Auriemma, the benefits of this expansion are not likely to be evenly distributed. He suggests that more of the now 45 at-large bids will go to the Power Four conferences: the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big Ten, Big 12, and Southeastern Conference (SEC).

"I don't think there were 68 teams that deserved to be in it this year," Auriemma said earlier this week. "So where are you going to go? And that's been written everywhere. To me, this is strictly a money grab for the Power Four conferences to get teams that finish 6-10 in their conference to get into the tournament."

Auriemma criticized the current system, highlighting the case of the Miami of Ohio men's team, which went 31-0 in the regular season but lost in the Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinals to UMass. The RedHawks received an at-large bid but were sent to the First Four in Dayton. They defeated SMU out of the ACC but lost in the Round of 64 to Tennessee from the SEC.

In the 2026 women's tournament, only the Big East (UConn, Villanova) and Atlantic-10 (Rhode Island, Richmond) received multiple bids outside the Power Four. The Big Ten got 12 teams, the SEC 10, the ACC nine, and the Big 12 eight. Twenty-five conferences were one-bid leagues.

The Impact of Expansion

Auriemma expressed his concerns about the direction of the tournament, stating, "I'm saying, if that's not the plan to let more (mid-majors) in, then it doesn't make any difference. And that is not the plan, because this is the prequel to there only being 86 or 88 or 92 teams in the tournament and they all come from four conferences. Or the way it's going now, maybe there's only 64 teams, and they come from two conferences?"

He added, "I don't know, but no, this is not about, 'We want to give more people opportunities.' Now, some people have said that those play-in games, or these other teams that get in, financially, are benefits to them. Only if you give it to the teams that need the money from that tournament."

For the men, it's the largest expansion of the tournament since it went from 48 to 64 teams in 1985. The women's tournament expanded from 48 to 64 teams in 1994. Instead of the "First Four" format used when the tournament went from 64 to 68 teams (men in 2011, women in 2022), the NCAA is introducing a 12-game "Opening Round" featuring six games with automatic qualifiers and six games with at-large teams. The 12 lowest-seeded at-large teams and the 12 lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers will compete.

The men's "Opening Round" games will be held in Dayton, Ohio and a second site to be announced the first Tuesday and Wednesday of the tournament while the women's games will be held on campus sites the first Wednesday and Thursday.

Criticisms and Concerns

On the women's side, seven Power Four teams — Arizona State, USC, Illinois, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Kentucky, and Georgia — received at-large bids with .500 conference records in 2026. Three Power Four teams — Alabama (7-9), Oregon (8-10), and Nebraska (7-11) — got in with losing conference records. The Lady Vols were also invited having lost seven games in a row.

"My thing is, and I love when they say, 'Well, if you played in this league, what would your record be?' " Auriemma said. "Well, we don't play in that league and we don't have $20 million budgets, so suck it up and win more games. Like Rory McIlroy said, 'Play better.'"

Auriemma favors having the conference regular-season champion and the conference tournament winner receive automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament. However, he questions the purpose of the conference tournaments, stating, "But then it's, 'Why are you having a (conference) tournament?' Think about it. Why are you having a tournament? There's only two reasons to have a tournament: make a lot of money, get more teams in the tournament. Well, how many teams is the America East going to get in the tournament? One."

He concluded, "It's a rigged system when you think about it. You don't play anybody, but nobody wants to play you. It's a rigged system, and it's a system that's intended for now, going forward, to benefit those schools that supposedly play in leagues that are so difficult that you have a below 500 record you should get in."