head coach has lamented the amount of money in women's that other schools are spending. He spoke out in response to yearlong questions about other schools catching up to his dynasty. Auriemma, 69, has been head coach of the Huskies since 1985. He's been on the sideline for all but the first 11 seasons in program history. Over those 39 years, he has seen the sport transform beyond all recognition while leading Connecticut to 11 national championships. But parity has prevailed over recent years, and the school hasn't won a title since its record four in a row from 2013 through 2016. It is the longest time without a championship since Auriemma led them to the Huskies to their first in 1995. The coach acknowledged that drop-off days before this year's March Madness. “We're not as good as we used to be," he told a crowd at the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce breakfast. "So, it's not like they've all caught up. We've backed up a little bit. "But we still have a top-three recruiting class every single year. So, I'm not worried about whether good players are gonna want to come to you or not. The problem is with all this money flying around that people are throwing at kids. That's a huge issue. Auriemma added: "Do we have the money that has? No. Or Alabama? No. Or ? No. Or or any of those schools? Or ? But they don’t have 11 national championships either. So, screw them.” The veteran coach allowed himself to reflect on those triumphs on the eve of the school's 35th consecutive tournament appearance. “It's incredible, really, what was transpired here in in the time that I've been here,” he said. “It couldn't have been imaginable in 1985 … It took people with some vision and took some hard work, and it took some investment. And those same people now can't even imagine us not being where we are today.” This year, the injury-hit team is the No. 3 seed in the Portland 3 Regional, something Auriemma sees as a positive. “The players at UConn today have a unique opportunity,” he explained. "They are actually going into an tournament as underdogs. "That never happens at Connecticut. You are always expected to win the whole thing. We won 31 games last year, and we lost in the Sweet 16, and everybody said, ‘The program is dead. The demise of the UConn program.’ "Because you're supposed to win all the time. And not just win all the time, win a national championship all the time. So, when no one's expecting you to win it, that's a little bit of a motivator in itself.” Auriemma is only adding to that motivation by downplaying their chances. “Winning national championships is hard," he acknowledged. "And it's especially hard when you only have seven players available to you [because of injuries]."