Rick Pitino calls out NCAA Tournament press conference protocols after St. John’s loss

The top-seeded Duke Blue Devils held off a valiant effort from No. 5 seed St. John’s in an 80-75 victory in the 2026 NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 on Friday night in Washington, D.C.

After the game, St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino expressed frustration over the NCAA Tournament’s press conference protocols. Specifically, Pitino explained why he doesn’t think it makes sense for the losing team to have its postgame press conference after the winning team does.

“One suggestion for the NCAA is when you have interviews on the court for Duke, for the winning team, and they have time there — the game started before we even came in here — is to have the losing team go first,” Pitino said. “Because you left us disappointed in the locker room while the other team is celebrating, rightfully so. You should let the losing team go first and then let the winning team have as long as you want. Just a suggestion. Because you just left us hanging out there for over a half hour.”

“You just left us hanging out there for over a half hour.” – Rick Pitino wasn’t happy with the NCAA’s postgame press conference protocols pic.twitter.com/5N88XFFoE3

— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) March 28, 2026

This actually makes sense.

For one, the losing team is sulking and wants to go home anyway. The players just suffered a heartbreaking loss don’t want to wait around for a while to talk about it with the media.

And to Pitino’s point, having the winning team go second allows the media to have a longer session with an ecstatic group of players (and usually a less annoyed coach) who are probably happy to talk about their victory and what’s next.

So, maybe the NCAA will listen to Pitino on this suggestion.