A huge disparity between the men’s and women’s weight rooms drew attention to the 2022 NCAA women’s tournament for all the wrong reasons, sparking a debate about fairness that has continued to this day. Then this season brought the mismatched three-point lines to Portland, Oregon.
The misdrawn lines were part of a series of mistakes that provided the backdrop to what was otherwise a great moment for women’s basketball.
The problems haven’t really had anything to do with the players on the field or the fans in the stands. There have been record crowds and historic TV ratings, Caitlin Clark and JuJu Watkins moments, and epic Elite Eight clashes between Iowa and LSU, and UConn and USC.
Just two seasons ago, the number of teams participating in the tournament grew to 68, as did the men’s, and the women were finally able to use the March Madness and Final Four brands that were previously exclusive to men.
The three-point lines are different on each side of the court in Portland for the Elite Eight. The NCAA measured before the game and confirmed that one side has a different three-point length than the other. 🤦
NC State and Texas have agreed to play. #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/UnBo13kBUi
Exponential growth means mistakes are possible along the way, UConn coach Geno Auriemma said.
“The attention that’s gotten in this sport today is such that things like this are blown out of proportion. Maybe this happened 10 years ago and nobody paid attention. Maybe nobody was even smart enough to notice or pay attention,” Auriemma said of the court issue.
“That doesn’t take away from the performance of these kids and what they did. Sometimes things move so fast and explode so quickly that we rush and miss a step.”
“It’s a disaster”
The missteps began with Utah’s experience in Idaho, where the team was housed in a hotel about 35 miles from the Utes’ home opener in Spokane, Wash. While in Coeur d’Alene, the team said it was the target of racial slurs that were yelled at players as they walked to and from a team dinner.
The players were eventually moved closer to Spokane, but questions arose about the logistics, such as why the men’s and women’s games were scheduled in a smaller city like Spokane with fewer hotels that met NCAA standards for lodging — when there was also an 800-team women’s volleyball tournament in the city.
Lynn Holzman, the NCAA’s vice president for women’s basketball, told the AP that the selection committee is expected to revisit the format in 2025, but perhaps sooner. That was little consolation to Utah.
“The fact that our players and staff don’t feel safe in an NCAA tournament environment is a disaster,” Utah coach Lynne Roberts said.
There have been other, less serious embarrassments. In a first-round game between Chattanooga and NC State in Raleigh, a referee was pulled at halftime after it was revealed she had an apparent conflict — a Chattanooga master’s.
Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo was forced to remove the nose piercing she had worn all season during a Sweet 16 game against Oregon State. It’s unclear why she wasn’t informed of a rule prohibiting piercings before the game.
“It’s hard because you know I was on a roll and to have to sit there for five minutes because of a nose ring is bullshit,” she said.
Error in 3-point lines
The biggest problem was the two different three-point lines on Portland’s court. The arc on one side was about 9 inches from the regulation line at its top, a mistake by the contractor who made the courts used throughout March Madness.
“For a mistake of this magnitude to overshadow two incredible weekends of basketball, with incredible teams and incredible individual performances, is unacceptable and extremely upsetting,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said.
In 2022, Oregon’s Sedona Prince caused a stir when she posted a viral video on social media showing the inequality between the men’s and women’s weight rooms for the NCAA tournament. The men’s weight room was fully equipped. The women’s had a small set of dumbbells.
NCAA spokeswoman Meghan Durham Wright said in a statement that the organization “acted immediately to address isolated incidents that in no way affected the incredible performances of the women competing in this tournament.”
The NCAA is likely to continue to grapple with such issues as the women’s game continues to grow. Clark and Iowa played the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history. Iowa’s 94-87 win over LSU on Monday night averaged 12.3 million viewers on ESPN, according to Nielsen. More ratings records are likely to fall with the Final Four this weekend, including a matchup between Clark and Paige Bueckers.
It is true that the super regional format raises concerns. While the men’s tournament is divided into four regions, the women’s teams are grouped into two teams located on each side of the country.
With so many teams in one place, scheduling practices and locker rooms becomes a challenge. Some teams, like UCLA and Oregon State, landed in Albany, while UConn was in Portland, making it more difficult for fans to attend.
Auriemma was direct.
“With eight teams,” he said, “it’s a bit of a mess.”
