Geno Auriemma seemed both amused and bemused.
The legendary Connecticut women's basketball coach described himself as "shocked" after ESPN's Scott Van Pelt jokingly referred to the Huskies as "pesky underdogs" following their 78-64 victory over USC on Monday night.
With the victory, Auriemma and UConn advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA women's basketball tournament for the 24th time since 1991 and the 21st time in the last 22 years in which the tournament was held (it was canceled in 2020 because of COVID-19). The Huskies, who will face UCLA on Friday in a national semifinal, have won the NCAA title 11 times, most recently in 2016.
Van Pelt knew all that when he made what was clearly a tongue-in-cheek reference to Connecticut being the only remaining team that didn't enter the tournament as a No. 1 seed.
Read more:USC women fall again to Paige Bueckers and UConn in Elite Eight of NCAA tournament
Still, Auriemma seemed to be caught a bit off guard by the SportsCenter anchor's comment during a postgame interview that took place with him on the court in Spokane, Wash., and Van Pelt in a Washington, D.C., studio.
"I'm still shocked that the word underdogs and UConn are coming out of your mouth at the same time." 😅
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 1, 2025
Geno to @notthefakeSVP 😂 pic.twitter.com/mncHcMhOlr
“I was just calling you guys the ‘pesky underdogs,’ the only two seed," Van Pelt said to start the interview. "Twenty-four of these, man, you’ve done it so often. What do you appreciate most about this team and this journey you’re on?”
Auremma paused and chuckled slightly.
“Well, you know, um, we’ve been, um," the coach said before chuckling a bit more. "I’m still shocked at the ...
