‘We’re not coaching Little League’: Fiery coaches Dan Hurley, Mick Cronin to meet in March Madness

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Connecticut and UCLA are two of the biggest brands in college basketball, but have a sparse history against each other, meeting only once in the Elite Eight of the 1995 Men’s NCAA Tournament.

That all changes at 8:45 p.m. ET on Sunday inside Xfinity Mobile Area, where a berth to the Sweet 16 will be on the line.

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It also features two of the more passionate, emotional, and fierce coaches in men’s college basketball with UConn’s Hurley and the Bruins’ Mick Cronin.

“It’s ridiculous. Everybody needs to get a life,” Cronin said Saturday, March 21 when asked if he cares about how people perceive Hurley and himself. “You want to win big? Do you think Coach Hurley’s not supposed to be intense, but you want to win? We’re not coaching Little League.”

UCLA associate head coach Darren Savino knows about Hurley and Cronin’s passion better than most. Savino grew up “literally on the same block” as Hurley in Jersey City, New Jersey and played for Hurley’s father, Bobby Hurley Sr., at St. Anthony High School alongside Hurley’s older brother, Bobby Hurley Jr. He has been on Cronin’s staff at UCLA for seven years and has been coaching with Cronin for 18 seasons.

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“Two of the most competitive coaches that you’ll come across,” Savino told USA TODAY Sports. “Both guys don’t like to lose.”

While there are other college coaches who are as fiery and competitive as Hurley and Cronin, Savino said what sets these two apart is how consistently they maintain their competitive edge.

“It’s not just on game day or once in a while. They’re elite at bringing the competitive edge every single day and that’s why their teams play that way,” Savino added.

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Hurley and Cronin met three times in their careers, first in November 2016, as coaches at Rhode Island and Cincinnati, respectively. When Hurley moved to take over UConn in 2018-19, Cronin took a 2-1 lead in the all-time series, sweeping the…

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Publish date : 2026-03-22 14:44:00

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