On Sunday, March 13, to great fanfare, the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament bracket was announced, and March Madness was underway. However, just a day later, when the Women’s pairings were unveiled, seemingly nobody noticed. Despite the media’s intense coverage of the men’s tournament, this year’s women’s tournament is looking to be equally engaging. With a more open playing field than there has been in previous years, the NCAA women’s tournament right now seems to be rather exciting.
Many people are naturally prejudiced against the women’s tournament. Sam Cramer, a current junior, said, “I don’t care about women or women’s sports.” He went as far to say, “If NCWAA is National Collegiate Women’s Athletic Association, it should really be National Cookers’ and Washers’ Athletic Association.”
Additionally, even those who embrace women’s sports often forget about women’s college basketball because it is overshadowed by the men’s activities. As a result, Paul Austin said regarding the women’s tournament, “Nobody watches it. At all.”
However, there are many fascinating aspects of this year’s tournament. Womens’ basketball is far more graceful and the pace of play is maintained because of the endurance of women. Additionally, there is not one team which seems undoubtedly poised to win. Through the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons, the University of Connecticut, in Storrs, CT, sustained a 90-game winning streak. However, on December 30st, the winning streak was snapped in a 71-59 loss to Stanford University, of Palo Alto, CA (latimesblogs.latimes.com).
Unlike previous years in which powerhouses like the University of Tennessee and Stanford have dominated, the times have changed. Brendon Gallagher, a wise senior, mentioned, “This year should actually be competitive after UConn lost in a dramatic game to Stanford.”
As a result, this year had a very engaging tournament. In two major semifinal upsets, the Texas A&M Aggies from College Station beat Stanford 63-62, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from South Bend, Indiana, beat UConn 72-63. In a thrilling final, A&M won 76-70 against Notre Dame.