UCLA coach Mick Cronin goes off on Big Ten schedule makers: ‘I don’t think they care about basketball’

Mick Cronin isn’t a big fan of Big Ten travel.

Last season, the UCLA basketball coach groused about logging so many miles during conference play that his team saw the Statue of Liberty twice and the U.S. Capitol once during trips to the East Coast.

His latest gripe?

A road-heavy conference schedule followed by one of the nation’s top teams at home.

Mick Cronan sounded off about the Big Ten schedule makers. Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

“I want to thank the Big Ten for giving us first of our five of our first seven on the road, bringing Purdue here on [Tuesday] night but we don’t get back to L.A. until Saturday night and giving us the team picked to win the league on a two days’ rest after five of our first seven on the road,” Cronin said facetiously after his Bruins upset the No. 4 Boilermakers, 69-67, at Pauley Pavilion. “I want to thank the Big Ten for that.”

The stretch included recent road games against Iowa and Wisconsin followed by a home game against Maryland – which might as well have been another road game considering the Bruins immediately went back on the road to face Penn State and Ohio State before returning home to play Purdue.

When a reporter implied that the conference might make his schedule worse next season based on those comments, Cronin doubled down on his disdain for the way games are being slotted.

“It couldn’t be much worse,” Cronin said. “A, I don’t think they care about basketball – that’s just my opinion. B, look, man, they ain’t moving the city of Los Angeles, I don’t want them to and they damn sure ain’t moving UCLA and I don’t want them to and we’re in a league in the Midwest, but you ain’t got to play five of your first seven on the road and then come home and get the team picked to win the league on two days’ rest.

Donovan Dent reacts to his score during a 69-67 Bruins win over the Purdue Boilermakers at UCLA Pauley Pavilion on January 20. Getty Images

“I had two Hall of Fame coaches send me a text, ‘Why do you play Purdue tonight? I just saw you play Saturday at Ohio State.’ I said, ‘I’ll give you one better – they’ve been here since Thursday.”

Cronin was referring to the Boilermakers being in L.A. to play USC last Saturday before remaining in the city to face the Bruins.

The flip side for UCLA is that it just started a stretch of five of six games at home, with the outlier being a game at Oregon next week. That doesn’t sound like anything to complain about.