Notre Dame Football: Geno Auriemma Blames Irish for Conference Realignment

It’s not everyday that you hear a women’s college basketball coach calling out a premier college football program.

But that’s precisely the situation we find ourselves in as UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma just lashed out at the Big East’s annual media day on Thursday.

Auriemma thinks all of the conference realignment moves that are currently being discussed can all be blamed on one team—the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame:

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They've been in our league 17 years, so how long are we going to date before we just decide this ain't working. And I'm not happy about it. That's not the opinion of the University of Connecticut, the Big East Conference. ... That's just Geno Auriemma's opinion.

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It’s hard to argue against the man.

Notre Dame, who is a proud member of the Big East in every sport but football, refuses to give up their independent status so they can continue their traditional rivalry games against the likes of USC and Michigan. The Irish take pride in playing a difficult schedule.

The lack of competitiveness in the Big East is no secret when it comes to football, and it’s the main reason Syracuse and Pittsburgh left last month to the ACC for $greener$ pastures.

Big East commissioner John Marinatto is now on the trail to bring in teams like Boise St, Air Force, Navy, Houston and Central Florida to really stretch the meaning of the term “east.”

Auriemma even blames Notre Dame for the last round of realignment:

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If Notre Dame had come in as a football and basketball school when they came in, we wouldn't have a problem. Miami wouldn't have left. Virginia Tech wouldn't have left. Boston College wouldn't have left. We probably wouldn't have any of these issues, would we? 

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Notre Dame is a cash cow, and they don’t want to share it. It’s the right of the university to do as much. Yet they could have saved a lot of this realignment B.S. with one decision.

So no, Notre Dame isn’t wrong here. They aren’t breaking any rules or cheating in anyway…but it’s like the guy that looks at the lady who needs help crossing the street and walks right past her without as much as a glance.

I’ll leave you with one final comment from the most successful women’s basketball coach of all-time:

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We've got one school that holds the future of our league in the palm of their hand and they're not really that concerned about it.

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