UConn basketball coach Geno Auriemma sounds off on the NCAA about decisions made with the tournament. (3:19)
PHOENIX -- NCAA president Charlie Baker pushed back on UConn coach Geno Auriemma's recent criticism of the two-site regional format, saying Friday that "it's pretty hard to argue" the formula is not working.
During a brief media availability before the Women's Final Four, Baker was asked about comments Auriemma made last week in which he ripped the NCAA and said, "I just don't understand some of the decisions that are made about our game when we're trying to grow the goddamn game."
Last week at the Fort Worth Regional, Auriemma pointed out a host of problems, including using new baskets that have not been broken in and scheduling practices and shootarounds that are not conducive to the teams' schedules because they have to work around limited court times.
"If you look at all the data, the ticket data, the attendance data, the viewership data, it's all gone up dramatically over the past few years," Baker said. "We talk to the teams, and the committee will go back and take a look at all the stuff that was raised around all of those issues and make decisions about what to do going forward.
"But it's pretty hard to argue when attendance is up, viewership is up and ticket sales are up consistently year over year that this formula isn't working. I understand the issue around the scheduling, and that's something I think the committee will take a very hard look at."
The women's NCAA tournament moved from a four-site regional format to two sites in 2023. The NCAA told ESPN's Michael Voepel this month that the two-site setup is guaranteed for at least five more seasons.
Auriemma has complained about the two-site regional format since its inception. In his comments last week, he noted the team's shootaround before its game Friday was not held at the arena and began at 6:20 a.m.
He also complained last week, "Title IX legislation, in practice, is pretty much out the window. ... I think most of the NCAA laws have gone out the window."
In response, Baker pointed to an increase in scholarship numbers for women across the board, in addition to new sanctioned women's sports, including wrestling, acrobatics and tumbling, and stunt.
"Before the House injunction got passed, we had limits all over the place on scholarships, and those limits often translated in women's sports into a quarter for you, a quarter for you, a quarter for you and a quarter for you. The fact that we now have roster maxes in all sports, but scholarships are uncapped, I think the data at the end of the year is going to show an enormous increase in the number of fully scholarship women athletes," Baker said.
