UCLA's head coach, Mick Cronin, has created headlines for weeks now. Not for his team's basketball play on the court but Cronin's ability to complain about almost everything. He has a tirade on his players, he's complained about his assistant coaches, he's whined about the Big Ten, he's had things to say about the travel and sightseeing in New York. If there was a Big Ten award for the angriest and whinest coach, Cronin is ensuring he wins it.
Mick Cronin went OFF on his players following their loss to Michigan 😳
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) January 8, 2025
“We’re soft… Every day, I have more passion and energy in practice than anybody else. I’m tired of it. It’s a joke… The truth of it is, it’s really hard to coach guys who are delusional” pic.twitter.com/abGQdPkfQN
Wisconsin heads to the other side of Los Angeles to take on Cronin's UCLA Bruins after beating USC 84-69. It's a cross-town trip with a few days to get ready for it, but the trip from Madison, Wisconsin, to Los Angeles was a bit longer. The latest rant from Cronin was about travel in the Big Ten and how it's so hard for his team to travel all across the country.
Sorry but I have zero sympathy for these schools that actively chose to join conferences across the country from them. You have the right to do what you feel is best for your institution, but you have to live with the consequences. The Big Ten shouldn’t have to cave to you https://t.co/CYGDBvs0u3
— Bench Mikal Bridges (@MikeTomlinStan) January 18, 2025
Let's pause for a second before we dig into other reactions to Cronin's new complaint. We need to all remind ourselves which university was the impetus for the four schools that joined the Big Ten last year. There was one school that started it all, then convinced USC to join them, and then Washington and Oregon felt left out and worked their way in, too. That school was UCLA. The school that Mick Cronin now coaches at. His school is the one that decided to join the Big Ten; it wasn't forced upon them.
If coaching in the Big Ten is so difficult for Mick Cronin, then he’s welcome to abandon his 4.1 million dollar salary and leave.
— Chris Castellani (@Castellani2014) January 18, 2025
This is his 3rd tantrum in 2 weeks. You went to Nebraska and lost. Played U-M at home and lost. Went to Maryland and lost. pic.twitter.com/Z4O1NHe9yq
Maybe one day Mick Cronin will take a break from whining to coach his basketball team. https://t.co/GU3JAIrfRy
— Shane Dale (@ShaneDaleAZ) January 16, 2025
The travel is insane, and the Big Ten is literally spread out from one coast to another and across three time zones. However, this is the nature of the beast now, and Cronin is not forced to do it. There are no other Big Ten coaches actively complaining about it. They may mention it but it never devolves into whines. Washington's Danny Sprinkle or Oregon's Dana Altman hasn't tiraded about it. Neither has the other Los Angeles coach, Eric Musselman; he's working too hard to right his own ship, which is honestly what Cronin needs to do, too.