Only In Women's Basketball

If it was an April Fool's joke, it might've been funny.  Instead, it was embarrassingly real.  The court being used in Portland for the NCAA Women's Basketball Regionals were not the same distance.  What's worse, no one noticed it until prior to Sunday's Texas-NC State game...which was the fifth game being played on the court this weekend!  They played two games on Friday and two on Saturday with one three-point line incorrectly measured!

Upon discovering the error, they gave the teams two options.  They could either play the game with the floor as it was or wait for them to re-mark the line, which would've delayed the start about an hour.  Both sides agreed that there was no advantage to be gained since they'd both shoot at that basket for a half (and had both already played a game with the wrong distance on the one side), so they decided to start on time and play with the shorter line.

In his postgame press conference, Texas Head Coach Vic Schaefer joked that he'd have a lot of friends texting him "only in women's basketball."  Sadly, that's true.  The NCAA would never let something like this happen on the men's side.  With the women, it doesn't just happen.  It happens and no one realizes until three days later.  And the only response is "Whoops!" 

The timing of all this really makes you think it's an April Fool's joke, but it's far too real.  And it's the NCAA, once again, unnecessarily getting egg on its face in embarrassing fashion with something regarding the women's tournament.  A women's tournament that has otherwise been spectacular, yet is now being overtaken by an unforced error.

This is the second time in four years that the NCAA has been called out for a situation at the women's tournament.  In 2021, a player's social media post of the weight room (or lack thereof) in the San Antonio bubble went viral, highlighting the disparity between the men's and women's weight rooms.  It caused understandable and justifiable outrage that led to much greater reforms which finally put the women's tournament on (actual) equal footing with the men's.

Since then, the women's tournament has skyrocketed in popularity.  They moved the Championship Game to Sunday afternoon on ABC and the ratings were higher than they've ever been, completely validating the move.  And not just because of the star power of Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Juju Watkins, Paige Bueckers, Kamilla Cardoso and so many others.  But, instead of capitalizing on that, the NCAA shoots themselves in the foot with the "manufacturer error" on the court in Portland.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the NCAA blamed the contractor that makes the courts for the error.  The email that they sent out explained how it occurred, including the process used.  None of which explains how the court was measured nine inches short in the first place...or how nobody caught it.  Especially since the women's and men's three-point lines are the same distance!  So that can't even be used as an excuse!  It's not even like it was an inch or two, which would be a little more understandable.  We're talking about NINE FREAKIN' INCHES here!

I actually don't know what's worse, either.  That it happened or that no one realized it.  Stanford Head Coach Tara VanDerveer, whose team lost to NC State in the Sweet 16 on Friday night, didn't hold back in her statement, calling it "inexcusable and unfair."  She said, "For an error of that magnitude to overshadow what has been an incredible two weekends of basketball featuring sensational teams and incredible individual performances is unacceptable and extremely upsetting."

While VanDerveer is right, the incorrect three-point line at least didn't have an impact on any of the games.  They showed a stat that the three-point percentages in the five games with the incorrect distance were actually lower on the short side than they were on the side where it was correct.  And, as the Texas and NC State coaches noted, both teams shoot at both baskets, so there was no advantage to be gained unless it went to overtime, which none of the games in Portland did.  So, there's no grounds to replay any of the games.  But, still, it shouldn't have happened.

Once the error was discovered, they vowed to fix it, which they did in time for Monday night's UConn-USC game.  Except the solution may be even more embarrassing since it draws such obvious attention to the mistake.  The area inside the three-point line is stained in a lighter color than the rest of the court.  They did cover up the shorter line.  I'll give them that.  But there's also a sliver of that darker stain between the original line and the correct line.

It's not noticeable on TV, but the color that they painted over the three-point line with doesn't even match!  The NCAA statement said that the color matches the wood grain "as closely as possible" and that the correct three-point line was repainted in black.  The change "brings the court into full compliance with NCAA playing rules."  So, basically what they're saying is that the playing court at one of two Regional sites was NOT in compliance with NCAA playing rules until then!

Now just imagine this happening at the men's tournament.  You can't.  Because it never would!  That, frankly, is the bigger problem.  The men's tournament is the crown jewel, and the revenue it generates provides a majority of the NCAA's operating budget.  The women's tournament is a close second, yet it was treated like the men's tournament's little sister for far too long until the uproar about the weight room in San Antonio resulted in the changes that did make them separate but equal events.  Now this.

We shouldn't be talking about a floor.  When you walk onto a basketball court, especially for an NCAA Tournament game, whether the lines on the floor are correct is the last thing you should be thinking about.  That would be like marking the free throw line at 14 feet, 8 inches instead of 15 feet or setting the basket to nine and a half feet instead of 10.  You wouldn't use a men's ball for a women's game, would you?

Obviously, you would not.  And, while the mistake with the three-point line was the result of human error and simple oversight, it still never should've happened.  The NCAA has vowed that they'll "establish additional quality control measures to ensure this does not happen in future tournaments."  That should go without saying.  And, frankly, those quality control measures should already be in place!  Because what happened in Portland is simply unacceptable.