UCLA's Mick Cronin Unsatisfied With Tournament Accommodations

“Right now, guys, it’s 12:40 a.m., and our season just ended. That's it. You're gonna ask me about next year?" Cronin said. "Right now, my biggest concern is how bad the seats are on the Allegiant flight, on that terrible plane that we’re gonna have to fly home tomorrow.”

So, there are two major takeaways: Cronin used his issues with Allegiant Airlines to deflect the question, refusing to talk about next year, and is he justified with his disgust of Allegiant? Obviously, the NCAA takes care of costs due to organizing the tournament, plus all the teams that qualify who may not be able to afford extra travel costs.

According to Will Hobson of the Washington Post, the NCAA Men's Tournament earns over $700 million annually. Considering UCLA typically travels with Delta, if there's a concern regarding player comfort, considering the typical length of players' legs and the limited space airlines allow for legroom, shouldn't teams be able to make their own plans and the NCAA just reimburse them? The programs and the players drive the product.

While that needs to be figured out, there could also be an issue for UCLA after Cronin's comments. UCLA is a member of the Big Ten. The Big Ten may be looking to move the Big Ten title game from Indianapolis to Las Vegas as they did with the football media day.

The stadium in Las Vegas is called Allegiant Stadium, as the airline owns the naming rights. It will be interesting to see if Cronin's words stir up issues for him with the conference.