Lack of parity isn’t a problem. Goliaths in women’s Final Four is good for the sport
UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina are all back in the Final Four for the second consecutive season, only the second time that all four national semifinalists have repeated. The Huskies, Bruins, Longhorns and Gamecocks are coming off an Elite Eight round in which they won their games by an average of 23 points, the largest scoring margin in that round in tournament history. These four teams have been atop the polls for the entire season, even if I personally deviated by putting Vanderbilt ahead of them in The Athletic ’ s power rankings at one point or another.
The women’s tournament may finally be officially branded as March Madness, but the results are chalkier than ever. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Even if parity is the goal of the NFL and every major men’s professional sports league, the women’s tournament shouldn’t chase that standard.
Sustained success and brand names are good for college basketball. The women’s game has become popular thanks to the longevity of Geno Auriemma and UConn, Pat Summit and Tennessee, Tara VanDerveer and Stanford, Muffet McGraw and Notre Dame, and now Dawn Staley and South Carolina. Cinderellas are fun in the first couple of rounds, bringing drama to the day-long slates of games.
Goliaths are good for business when the tournament comes to a close. They draw troves of fans, and perhaps more importantly, just as many haters. When a crew like this makes the Final Four, everyone will have an opinion.
We’ve spent the entire season debating the merits of these teams. Yes, UConn was undefeated, but did the Huskies really have a better season than UCLA considering the gantlet the Bruins had to face? Texas and South Carolina split their meetings 2-1, but the Gamecocks didn’t lose to any other teams in regulation all season (their loss to Oklahoma was in overtime); do the Longhorns still have a clear advantage?
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