WOW! That’s all I can say about the NCAA womens’s basketball “Final Four.”
One of the problems with women’s basketball has been that there were very few down to the wire games or buzzer beaters.There hasn’t been a lot of competitive balance with a few teams near the top and of course the dominance of UCONN.
Of course the “Final Four” is a different story because at least in theory the teams are evenly matched. Think about it the two semi-final games went to overtime and Notre Dame’s Arike Ogunbowale had a buzzer beater to beat UCONN and another buzzer beater to beat Mississippi State in the championship game. Don’t forget the Mississippi State buzzer beater to beat UCONN last year.
Notre Dame closed the deal in the championship game this year which is something Mississippi State was unable to do last year. That’s what I also have said about the US Olympic men’s hockey team in 1980. They beat the Russians, but if they didn’t beat Finland to close the deal the win over the Russians would merely be a footnote in history. Same here as again Notre Dame closed the deal and Mississippi State didn’t. Of course Mississippi State didn’t close the deal this year either after having a 15 point lead.
How about UCONN? Undefeated last year and losing at the buzzer in the semi and the same thing this year. With all its dominance, UCONN hasn’t won the national championship since 2016. It seems like so long ago.
Tonight’s Michigan-Villanova NCAA men’s basketball championship game in San Antonio doesn’t start until 9:20 Eastern Time [Ridiculous!]. Too late for me, I’ll check out the final score tomorrow, but my guess is that it won’t go down to the wire and Villanova won’t win it at the buzzer like it did two years ago. I think Villanova does win it though and will win by at least 15 points.