For those who are college basketball fan, you may have spent a lot of time in the past couple of weeks like I have: in front of the TV, watching the games. You probably also watched as the Iowa Hawkeyes women’s team to the Final Four round on Monday, April 1.
To be completely transparent, I have not always been a college basketball fan. I grew up playing basketball but watching it was never the most entertaining to me. Then, I watched last year as Lisa Bluder, the head coach, and Caitlyn Clark, the star player, led the 2022-2023 Iowa Hawkeyes women’s team to the championship game.
Growing up in Iowa, I had heard about the amazing coaching for Iowa women’s basketball, but it seemed like last year the players were able to put together all the pieces to create a highly dynamic team. They paced up the play of the game and were so fun to watch.
Hearing about Clark, also an Iowa native, sounded familiar. I then remembered hearing about a Dowling Catholic player who broke records as the student section of the other team chanted overrated at her. Now, she plays with a level of skill that few others can keep up with, becoming the NCAA’s women’s basketball all-time leading scorer and the all-time leading scorer in D-1 basketball for men or women earlier this year..
It’s been incredible to see the passion, the competitiveness and the sportsmanship displayed by not only Iowa but most of the other women’s teams in the NCAA tournament.
However, the teams that played at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon may be questioning the fairness of the tournament. The NCAA said one of the 3-point lines on the court in Moda Center used for the women’s basketball regionals in was about 9 inches short of regulation at its apex, a mistake by the contractor that makes the courts used throughout March Madness.
The line on the court at was corrected, the NCAA said, ahead of Monday night’s UConn-USC game, but five games had already been played on it, the first four with the mistake unnoticed.
It’s unfair to the teams. If a team was up going into the second half, and switched to the half with the overly short marking, then would their opponent have a true shot to come back? The teams should be able to go the courts and expect everything from the floor marking to the height of the hoops to be correct.
The mistake overshadows the two weekends worth of basketball that were played in this location and causes people to question if the outcomes may have been different if the mistake had not occurred.
Women’s basketball is finally gaining more attention, viewers and fans, so it is imperative that the checks are done beforehand to ensure everything is fair and accurate. Otherwise, the NCAA is doing a disservice to the players, the coaches and the fans.
