Will the NCAA ever get it right?

#1
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TMHoosierVol

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#1
Will the NCAA ever get it right about women's teams hosting the first two rounds of their basketball tournament? The men's side has never allowed teams to play on their home court. Why the double standards?

Are they surprised that the top programs just keep reloading while the lesser programs struggle to keep afloat? What are the chances of a 6 seed beating a 3 seed on their home court, or a 7 vs a 2, etc.?

Is it because ESPN's money dictates that the glamour programs advance solely for their TV ratings? Are they still trying to "Grow the game" because it probably peaked on its popularity long ago.

Making the Sweet 16 can hardly be considered an accomplishment with this format, yet some programs still hang their hats on it. It's time that women's basketball leveled the playing field once and for all. If they did, then a Sweet 16 berth would be something to be proud of.

Instead, it ranks right up there with participation trophies.
 
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#2
#2
The tourneys are about money. Plain and simple. Neutral sites have such low attendance, it's not worth it at this point in time.
 
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#3
#3
TMHoosierVol said:
Will the NCAA ever get it right about women's teams hosting the first two rounds of their basketball tournament? The men's side has never allowed teams to play on their home court. Why the double standards?

Are they surprised that the top programs just keep reloading while the lesser programs struggle to keep afloat? What are the chances of a 6 seed beating a 3 seed on their home court, or a 7 vs a 2, etc.?

Is it because ESPN's money dictates that the glamour programs advance solely for their TV ratings? Are they still trying to "Grow the game" because it probably peaked on its popularity long ago.

Making the Sweet 16 can hardly be considered an accomplishment with this format, yet some programs still hang their hats on it. It's time that women's basketball leveled the playing field once and for all. If they did, then a Sweet 16 berth would be something to be proud of.

Instead, it ranks right up there with participation trophies.
Click to expand...


The big reason why they still do that is to get attendance numbers up. While many women's teams have a loyal following, most have smaller numbers than their male counterparts. And until those that make decisions are confident that enough people will travel, it won't change. Then again, they may still do it just because it is the way they have always done it.

But no matter the format, I can't buy any Lady Vols fans being "proud" of a sweet sixteen berth. Getting to the eight should be a yearly expectation, and anything less should be looked upon as falling short of the standard. That is what having 8 national championship banners in the rafters does to expectations.
 
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#4
#4
Will the NCAA and media quit calling the tournament the men play in the NCAA Tournament but the one the women play in the Women's NCAA Tournament? Like one is more of a real tournament than the other.
 
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#5
#5
The NCAAs are more about match ups than location; especailly for those 5-8 seeds. I don't think location is gonna change the result of a 1 v 16, 2 v 15, 3 v 14, 4 v 13.
 
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#9
#9
TMHoosierVol said:
Will the NCAA ever get it right about women's teams hosting the first two rounds of their basketball tournament? The men's side has never allowed teams to play on their home court. Why the double standards?

Are they surprised that the top programs just keep reloading while the lesser programs struggle to keep afloat? What are the chances of a 6 seed beating a 3 seed on their home court, or a 7 vs a 2, etc.?

Is it because ESPN's money dictates that the glamour programs advance solely for their TV ratings? Are they still trying to "Grow the game" because it probably peaked on its popularity long ago.

Making the Sweet 16 can hardly be considered an accomplishment with this format, yet some programs still hang their hats on it. It's time that women's basketball leveled the playing field once and for all. If they did, then a Sweet 16 berth would be something to be proud of.

Instead, it ranks right up there with participation trophies.
Click to expand...

While I agree with you, I think it is more of an attendance issue with the women. You play two games at South Carolina with USC as the host team, you are going to have an average attendance of 12,000, however, if you played South Carolina against No Where State in Oklahoma City the crowd would be a lot smaller. The first two games usually do not include any one of the top 25 teams. Women’s basketball is getting better in its fan draw, at large, but not near on the level of men’s basketball. It is all about the Benjamins.
 
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#10
#10
In the Men's Tourney there's a chance that a #5 or lower seed could win the Tournament. On the Women's side it's rare that a #5 or lower even makes the Final Four.

In fact, since they started having schools host, only one team that didn't host has ever made it to the Final Four and that was Washington in 2016.
 
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#11
#11
bobkitten said:
Will the NCAA and media quit calling the tournament the men play in the NCAA Tournament but the one the women play in the Women's NCAA Tournament? Like one is more of a real tournament than the other.
Click to expand...

They will probably stop doing that at the same time they quit calling male athletes the Tennessee Vols and female athletes the Tennessee Lady Vols. Like one is more of a real athlete than the other.
 
#12
#12
TMHoosierVol said:
Will the NCAA ever get it right about women's teams hosting the first two rounds of their basketball tournament? The men's side has never allowed teams to play on their home court. Why the double standards?

Are they surprised that the top programs just keep reloading while the lesser programs struggle to keep afloat? What are the chances of a 6 seed beating a 3 seed on their home court, or a 7 vs a 2, etc.?

Is it because ESPN's money dictates that the glamour programs advance solely for their TV ratings? Are they still trying to "Grow the game" because it probably peaked on its popularity long ago.

Making the Sweet 16 can hardly be considered an accomplishment with this format, yet some programs still hang their hats on it. It's time that women's basketball leveled the playing field once and for all. If they did, then a Sweet 16 berth would be something to be proud of.

Instead, it ranks right up there with participation trophies.
Click to expand...

Money plain and simple. They tried it same teams won attendance and money brought in dropped tremendously
 
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