Date Posted:02:27:50 04/11/04 Sun Author: Observer Subject: On women's hoops In reply to:
MHMD
's message, "Food for thought" on 12:04:57 04/10/04 Sat
For the record, there have been 21 different schools in the men's Final Four in the past nine years, and 17 different women's schools. Over the past five years, 12 different schools have reached the women's Final Four (16 for the men in the same span), including this year's first-timers Minnesota and LSU.
Duke, which has been to the women's Final Four four times in the last six years, including the last three, had never been there before 1999. Now that Alana Beard is gone, they will not be expected back next year. Connecticut and Tennessee clearly have a pedigree like no others and once again reached the title game, but it is interesting to note that all four men's national semifinalists were top-3 seeds, whereas the women saw a No. 4 (LSU) and a No. 7 (Minnesota) get to the national semis this year. The women's game, and the tournament, is more competitive than people think, but it gets disguised by Connecticut and Tennessee's performance.
Keep in mind that Tennessee squeaked out three straight 2-point wins to get to the final (over Baylor, Stanford and LSU). Of the 7 women's regional finals, national semifinals, and national championship, 3 were decided by 2 points, and 6 were decided by less than 10 points (same for the men).
Keep in mind also that Connecticut got to play four games in its home state before reaching the Final Four despite not being the top seed in its region. This is a problem the women's tournament needs to fix: either reward the top seeds with home games, or play true neutral-site games. You can't have a No. 1 (Penn State) playing a road game at No. 2 (Connecticut), or even worse, a No. 12 hosting a No. 5 in the first round.
Great stuff, Observer.. I guess it's just the perception then... I thought the minn. run was the best thing for women's basketball possible as it was a feel good story and another team besides the "usual". The women's final was certainly more entertaining then the men's final.
A happy Easter to all..
peace
