In the high-stakes world of women's college basketball, emotions run as deep as the rivalries themselves. Six weeks after UConn's heartbreaking 62-48 loss to South Carolina in the Final Four, Huskies coach Geno Auriemma opened up about the postgame moment that sparked a national debate—and he admitted he's been kicking himself ever since.

"When I walked into the locker room afterward with the coaches, you are just shaking your head, thinking, 'Five more seconds, you couldn't keep it in for five more seconds,'" Auriemma said during his first press conference since the incident. "You just feel dumb for the way that it played out. We are all human and we all do dumb stuff."

The controversy erupted in the final seconds of the game in Phoenix, when cameras caught Auriemma approaching South Carolina coach Dawn Staley in what appeared to be a heated exchange. Coaches from both benches rushed to separate the two icons of the sport. When the final buzzer sounded, Auriemma walked straight to the locker room, bypassing the traditional postgame handshake line.

The root of the tension? A missed pregame handshake between the two coaching legends. Auriemma later issued a written apology, but the moment had already gone viral, drawing criticism from fans and analysts alike.

"I didn't see a lot of it, but that is to be expected," Auriemma said of the backlash. "I think maybe some of it was warranted, and some of it was people who have been lying in the weeds waiting for that moment. It doesn't matter what you've done for the game; it is what you just did."

Reflecting on the fallout, Auriemma drew a parallel to an earlier era of the sport. "The people who understood what it was all about in a different light, they are not going to go on the air and say it. They are not going to write about it because now they are going against a major internet or media frenzy. I brought the criticism on myself. I didn't bring the stuff that came after it on myself."

He even compared the situation to what might have happened if social media had existed in 1998, when he controversially arranged for injured star Nykesha Sales to score a basket to set a school record—a move that sparked its own debate at the time but would have ignited an even bigger firestorm in today's always-online world.

For fans who love the passion of the game, this moment is a reminder that even the greatest coaches are human. And in the end, it's that same fire that makes women's college basketball so compelling to watch—and so inspiring to wear on your sleeve.