Auriemma: Men's College Basketball Is A 'Joke' And 'So Far Behind The Times'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma is a Hall of Famer, and he has his team on the verge of yet another national championship.

That would be title No. 10 for the seven-time AP Coach of the Year.

As for the men's game, the Final Four is this weekend, and it figures to be a classic. No. 7 seed Michigan State will look to upset No. 1 Duke on Saturday, and then Kentucky will continue its pursuit of perfection against upset-minded Wisconsin.

We think it's fair to say that Auriemma probably isn't too excited for the big games.

"I think the game is a joke," the iconic coach told SI.com. "It really is. I don't coach it. I don't play it, so I don't understand all the ins and outs of it. But as a spectator, forget that I'm a coach; as a spectator, watching it, it's a joke.

"There's only like 10 teams, you know, out of 25 that actually play the kind of game of basketball that you'd like to watch. Every coach will tell you that there's 90 million reasons for it."

He didn't stop there. In fact, he was just getting started.

"The bottom line is that nobody can score, and they'll tell you it's because of great defense, great scouting, a lot of teamwork," Auriemma told the website. "Nonsense, nonsense. College men's basketball is so far behind the times, it's unbelievable. I mean women's basketball is behind the times.

"Men's basketball is even further behind the times. Every other major sport in the world has taken steps to help people be better on the offensive end of the floor ... This is entertainment we're talking about. People have to decide, 'Do I want to pay 25 bucks, 30 bucks to go see a college scrum where everybody misses six out of every 10 shots they take, or do I want to go to a movie?'

"We're fighting for the entertainment dollar, here, and I have to tell you it's not entertainment from a fan's standpoint. That's just, I'm talking as a fan -- not as Geno Auriemma, the basketball coach."

The top-ranked UConn women will take on Maryland in the Final Four on Sunday night.