A crazy thing happened the other night while I was watching the NCAA Tournament. I turned off the men’s game and switched to the women’s game because, well, the women were better. It’s the first time in my 42-year NCAA tournament watching history that’s ever happened. Much has been written about the disparities between the men’s facilities in Indianapolis and the women’s setup in Texas. The men’s tournament brings in so much more money than the women’s that the NCAA feels justified in spending more on the men’s event. According to a recent New York Times article, in 2019 the NCAA spent $28 million on the men’s tournament and $14.5 million on the women’s tournament. Officials pointed out that the men’s tournament is simply larger and had a net income of $865 million in 2019 while the women’s tournament that same year lost $2.8 million. I have a feeling the spending gap is going to shrink in the coming years and not because of lawsuits or watchdogs but because the women are just so damn good.
Consider the two games in question on Monday. The first half of the Elite Eight matchup between Houston and Oregon State was virtually unwatchable. If I was head of sports programming at CBS, I would have put up the emergency warning page and told our viewers we were experiencing technical difficulties until the play dramatically improved. Oregon State reverted to its regular season form and played like a middling Division III team while Houston looked like a bunch of dudes at a pre-pandemic LA Fitness open gym at lunchtime. At the half, the score was 34-17 and you were left sitting on your couch wondering how you could get that 60 minutes of your life back. For the game, Houston shot 32% and Oregon State 37.5%. It was depressing, like watching a recent Clint Eastwood film where despite the fact that we know he’s near death in real life he’s somehow still strong enough in the movie to beat up a few twenty year-old punks who stole his car.
Meanwhile, the UConn-Baylor game was more entertaining than anything on AMC+. On the UConn side you have Paige Bueckers – who is the closest thing to Steph Curry we’ve seen in a long time – and Christyn Williams, who reminds me of Maya Moore in terms of her ability to take over games. Baylor was led by DiJonai Carrington, who is smooth as silk and features braids so long they can whip across another girl’s face at any moment serving as an additional offensive weapon, and NaLyssa Smith who is an absolute beast on the block. Watching the girls game was far more entertaining, and I’m not the only one who thought so.
After the controversial ending, and it was definitely a foul, the coolest thing was realizing that Lebron and I had both decided the women’s game was more worth watching than the men’s game. Of course there are still more blowouts in women’s basketball than on the men’s side. South Carolina beating Texas 62-34 in the Elite Eight surely isn’t good for the sport although you can argue Gonzaga’s dismantling of USC was equally unsatisfying.
The truth is when it comes to skilled players, the women have been men’s equal on the court for some time. I’d certainly take Paige Bueckers in a three point shooting contest over anyone on Houston or Oregon State. (Kispert would give her a run for her money). Maybe there will come a day when the women’s tournament is moved forward or back a week or two so it doesn’t directly compete with the men’s event for viewership. Or maybe we’ll all start to recognize that the women’s game has continued to evolve and we’re getting painfully close to the point where we can all agree, the girls are just better than the boys.
6 responses to “Can We Finally Admit Girls Are Better Than Boys?”
Girls rule! Boys drool! Loved reading this. The girls are obviously also better than the boys at soccer too. #UWNT
Better how? I’m an NBA fan, so I’ll take superior athletes who can shot more accurately, run faster and jump higher any day. I do think the women’s game is entertaining. I also think they deserve better funding from the NCAA, however, given we know the NCAA and in fact our entire society is built around money, the numbers you cite in terms of revenue generated answer the question of “Why the disparity?” pretty well. And, that was a FOUL!
would the wonen beat the men in a game? Why not pit the ncaa winners against each other? I would pay to see that
I was thinking the same thing watching the Iowa/UConn game.
I admit it, I am a huge homer here in Connecticut. I watch every minute of every UConn women’s game. And indeed, my next comment is tempered by the fact that UConn this year has received major contributions from multiple freshmen. But the key difference between the men’s game and the women’s is the men can leave after one year while the women are there for four, making the women more coachable as a cohesive bunch. And it shows. And it makes it more enjoyable in terms of team play and player identity. I have a hard time rooting for someone knowing it will be short-lived. I have a harder time rooting for anyone who is playing outside of any system, and quite frankly, I am not sure there are too many systems in place in men’s college basketball. It is simply jump higher and keep chucking.
The longer you play together, the better you play. Tough to argue with that. Except if you’re Paige Bueckers or Jalen Suggs. Then you’re just ridiculous, no matter how long you’ve been playing with your team.