March Madness shuts out mid-majors as none reach 2nd round of women's NCAA Tournament for 1st time
March Madness wasn't for mid-majors this year. For the first time since the women's NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1994, no programs from mid-major conferences advanced to the second round, leaving 32 teams representing the Power Four conferences and the Big East. In the men's tournament , five mid-major teams made the second round.
“NIL at work,” ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo told The Associated Press. “There have got to be some players who helped mid-majors last year and excelled that are now on Power Four rosters because they could make more (money) by jumping ship. Typically you wouldn’t do that if it meant less playing time.
That’s a big part of that. ” There were 23 teams in the first round from smaller conferences, and they went 0-23. Colorado State, a 12 seed, got the closest, losing 65-62 to Michigan State.
The rest lost by double digits, including Southern, which fell by 69 points to South Carolina. “I’m all about getting a mid-major in. I think it’s good for the game, but we got to get some of them to win some of those games, too,” said Illinois coach Shauna Green, who previously coached Dayton.
Green was an assistant with the Flyers in 2015, when they became the last mid-major to reach the Elite Eight. “I don’t know if that will ever happen again,” she said. Deb Antonelli hadn't worked as a broadcaster for women's first- or second-round games over the last decade, instead calling the men's tournament.
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