UCLA Coach Goes Off On New Big Ten Travel Schedule
The massive realignment within college athletics based on the importance of college football has created unfortunate circumstances for other sports. And it's having massive ripple effects across college basketball at elite programs.
UCLA Bruins head coach Mick Cronin isn't exactly shy with his opinions, calling his players "soft" and "delusional" after a blowout loss to the Michigan Wolverines at Pauley Pavilion.
Well, Cronin is at it again. In a press conference on Friday afternoon, Cronin turned his attention to the new travel challenges facing teams, including his, in the expanded, coast-to-coast Big Ten Conference.
Cronin was asked about the "wear and tear" for teams making the trip to play UCLA on the west coast, and if it was comparable to going from east to west. He first asked if it was a joke, then went on an all-time rant.
EUGENE, OREGON - JANUARY 26: Head coach Mick Cronin of the UCLA Bruins yells out to his team during the first half against the Oregon Ducks at Matthew Knight Arena on January 26, 2020 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
Mick Cronin Goes Off On UCLA's Travel Problems
"Have you ever looked at the NBA stats, with the gamblers and what all those people do with west versus east?" he said. "Talk to (USC coach) Eric Musselman. Ask him that question. He coached in the NBA. Good luck west going east. Ask me UCLA’s record east of the Mississippi in the last 20 years because when I got the job, I looked it up for scheduling purposes. It’s under .500.
"We have to go back four times. The Big Ten teams get to come to Los Angeles, where it’s 70 degrees, one time a year. They don’t even have to switch hotels. We’re 12 miles apart. Are you kidding me? Please tell me you’re kidding me. Is this a plant? Is this a planted question? You cannot be serious. Meanwhile, we’ve seen the Statue of Liberty twice in the last three weeks while we were landing. We also saw the Capitol building. And we’re still got to go back. And then we’ve got to go back for the Big Ten tournament."
UCLA played North Carolina at Madison Square Garden in New York on December 21st, losing 76-74, then came back to LA against Gonzaga on the 28th, went to Nebraska on January 4th, LA on the 7th, and back to Rutgers on January 13th. That's brutal.
And there are multiple trips to Indiana and Illinois looming in the coming weeks.
This is the inevitable result of conference realignment; ridiculous travel schedules necessitated by conferences that no longer center on a specific geographic area. The Big Ten and ACC in particular are absurd; Cal and Stanford now play in the same conference as Boston College and Miami.
It's no surprise that the SEC has dominated college basketball. On top of the talent advantage most teams now have, the longest trip in the conference is Texas to South Carolina. And the average trip is 469 miles, compared to the now massive Big Ten.
Turns out, chasing every last television dollar doesn't always make the most sense.