Mick Cronin did not want to offer too much thought Saturday about the initial top 16 NCAA tournament seeds revealed earlier in the day.

The fourth-year UCLA coach didn’t completely bite his tongue, though, calling the Bruins’ No. 8 overall slot “comical” after they trounced California, 78-43.

Answering a question from Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke, Cronin started off by saying he would “try not to laugh” and added that he would leave any further comment to UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond.

“This will be the only time I address it,” Cronin said. “When we left the Pac-12 (for the Big Ten), it cost a lot of people millions of dollars and there was going to be fallout. … And I think it’s a direct result of that.

“I’m not going to put the pieces together for you on how that affects that, but if you asked my one-word answer on that ranking? Comical.”

When asked a follow-up about how the ranking relates to conference rival Arizona, which was slotted two spots higher, Cronin referred back to his original statement and said those questions are for Jarmond and the administration.

So, let’s put those pieces together and decode Cronin’s displeasure.

With the No. 8 overall seed, that projection puts UCLA at the very bottom of the 2-seed line for the NCAA tournament. Alabama, Houston, Purdue and Kansas, in order, were the initial No. 1 seeds.

The Bruins were projected for the East Region, while the Wildcats had the coveted No. 2 in the West. A West Region path would come with a potential Sweet 16/Elite Eight appearance at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.