March Madness, Sad Water and Women’s History Month

This year, the stars of March Madness are the women.

Every year at this time, I send out my “March Madness and Sad Water” post. Back when I was coaching college basketball, the men’s March Madness was a special time. I attended eight consecutive Final Fours, and each was memorable. Even though I was coaching at the Division III level, I was very familiar with the top teams and the top players. Along with looking forward to the Final Four weekend in whatever city was hosting that year, we also looked forward to seeing how the players we all knew well would perform on what was the biggest stage they had ever been on in their careers.

For some reason, this season’s March Madness on the men’s side does not have that same allure. Actually, I know the reason: the best men’s collegiate players go to the NBA after one or two seasons, and we don’t get to know them nearly as well as years past. Also, many of the top picks come from abroad and don’t participate in the NCAA tournament — to pick a name at random, Victor Wembanyama.

Instead, this year’s shining collegiate basketball star, the one player everyone knows, is Caitlin Clark, the wondrous guard playing for Iowa. She just broke all the Division I scoring records — men and women — and is far and away the most well-known player in college hoops this year.

And it does not end with Caitlin. The second most famous college basketball player this season may be Angel Reese, the star forward playing for defending champion LSU. In last season’s championship game, her Tigers beat Caitlin Clark’s Iowa team.

Here in Los Angeles, we have a third women star who also may be more well-known than any men’s player: USC’s first-year player JuJu Watkins (I just learned first year students are not called “freshmen” any more). Watkins is truly great, and may become more famous than anyone in either the men’s or women’s game before she graduates.

The most famous men’s player this year? Probably Zach Edey of Purdue. Yawn. Or Bronny James, who is averaged 5 points, 3 boards and 2 assists per game. USC, the team Bronny plays for, will not be in the tourney. In his final game, a 70-49 loss to Arizona, he scored 3 points, got one rebound and had no assists in 22 minutes, so it is probably better we don’t have to see that in the tournament. Without any true stars, this year’s men’s March Madness may be like the Oscars in those years when films like Nomadland or Moonlight win for Best Picture, even though few people actually saw the film.

But the women’s March Madness may be more like the 2024 Oscars with blockbusters such as Barbie and Oppenheimer vying for the top prize. But instead of famous actors, directors and movies, it will be Clark, Reese and Watkins and their teams competing for the big awards, while having to beat other strong teams such as South Carolina, Stanford, Texas and UCLA. With March being Women’s History Month, it is only appropriate that we recognize that the NCAA women’s March Madness has more compelling storylines in 2024 than the men’s.

This basketball season, my March Madness and Sad Water post should be about the 132 teams competing in the men’s and women’s tournaments, not just the 68 in the men’s. Because at least for 2024, the stars are in the women’s Madness. And speaking of great films, Sad Water could be how the Fremen in Dune describe tears.