The State of women's basketball

I was flipping channels tonight and came across an interview with Connecticut forward Maya Moore. It was a post game interview so I continued to watch. Shortly after, I realized something: UConn just won the national championship.

NCAA women's basketball has a serious problem. Well, more than one. Here's a few off the top of my head.

1) There are over 300 irrelevant teams, maybe 10-15 good teams, and only really good team. UConn is good for the sport, but nobody else can hang with the Huskies. Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma calls himself "the bad guy" but he's doing good things for women's basketball. Like it or not, UConn is pushing the limits and that's a good start. Everyone else needs to follow.

2) After Duke won the men's national title, I shut off the college basketball section of my brain. I've never understood why the women finish the NCAA Tournament after the men. Why not take a page from the NFL, who recently moved its irrelevant Pro Bowl to the week before the super bowl, and have the women play first? If that had been the case, I would have at least known they were playing. 

3) Marketing. It has to be difficult, I mean lets face it, we aren't talking about men's basketball here. There is a difference. So how do you market this product? Two ways: improve the product and improve the hype. Right now, the problem is the product. More games are being broadcast, and most teams have a loyal following (even if it is small). But, programs need to improve. Better basketball means more fans. People love a winner.