UCLA's Mick Cronin Rips Big Ten for CBB Schedule, 'Don't Think They Care About Basketball'

With his team having traversed the Midwest, UCLA men's basketball coach Mick Cronin isn't a fan of how the Big Ten structured the Bruins' conference slate this year.

"I want to thank the Big Ten for giving us five of our first seven on the road, bringing Purdue here on Thursday night when we don't get back in L.A. until Saturday night and giving us the team picked to win the league on two days' rest after five of our first seven on the road," he told reporters after UCLA's 69-67 upset of No. 4 Purdue on Tuesday. "Really, I want to thank the Big Ten for that. ... I don't think they care about basketball. Truly. That's just my opinion."

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Cronin conceded there are obvious logistical challenges to being in the Big Ten as a school on the West Coast.

"But you ain't got to play five of the first seven on the road, and then come home and get the team picked to win the league on two days' rest," he said.

The scales will begin to even out.

UCLA hosted Purdue and has four of its next five at home. Then the Bruins head to Michigan for a two-game swing against the Wolverines and Michigan State. From there, they have four of their final five games in L.A. They play three times at Pauley Pavilion have their finale against USC.

Cronin's frustration is understandable, but this is the bargain UCLA signed up for when it ditched the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. There's no simple solution to overcoming the fact member schools span the entire continental U.S.