Auriemma: Expect One UConn Title Every Eight Years

The 2025-26 UConn Huskies went 38-1.

That record, which included the national player of the year in Sarah Strong, ended in a loss to South Carolina in the national semifinal at the Final Four in Phoenix. For head coach Geno Auriemma, the defeat and the subsequent public scrutiny changed how he views his program’s future.

Auriemma said he is done expecting his team to win the national championship every year it reaches the Final Four.

He used the odds of the tournament format to explain the shift. Of the eight teams in the Final Four, all are capable of winning the title. If that is true, a team should reasonably expect to win the championship once every eight years.

“So, theoretically, you should maybe expect to win a national championship once every eight years,” Auriemma said. “Because when you get to the final eight, are all eight of those teams capable of winning a national championship? If that’s the case, you should win one every eight years.”

The coach acknowledged that UConn’s recent success has raised expectations to an unrealistic level. The team won four straight titles from 2013 to 2016 and has won a record 12 national championships in Auriemma’s 41 seasons as head coach. He said the habit of expecting a win every time the Huskies reach the final eight creates a false sense of entitlement.

Auriemma pointed to the Philadelphia Phillies as a parallel. He noted that fans criticize closer Jhoan Duran for giving up a three-run homer to Austin Riley in a recent loss to the Braves, even though the pitcher is paid $30 million to prevent exactly that kind of hit. The comparison highlighted that no single player or team is entitled to a specific outcome.

The 2025 season was not without its difficulties. Auriemma said the coaching staff knew the team had deficiencies that they could hide for a long time while the win-loss record looked perfect. The loss in Phoenix exposed those gaps.

“We were 38-0 but we would go to practice every day and our coaching staff would go, ‘Do you think we can hide this for one more weekend?’” Auriemma said. “And, unfortunately, we couldn’t.”

He did not spend the entire summer agonizing over the loss, though he admitted some players did. He said that disappointment is a good thing and part of the process. The team accomplished a lot, and the one game where they fell short does not erase the season’s work.

Auriemma, who is 1,288-166 since being hired in 1985, said he embraces a new word for how he handles the job: perspective. He focuses on the things he can control, such as making players better and preparing for games, rather than the final result.

He said he prefers a world where no one thinks he is great and no one thinks he is an ass. That balance allows him to appreciate the wins when they happen and accept the losses when they do not.