It’s time the NCAA gets away from awarding home games in the women’s hoops tourney

As a WVU alum, it hurt watching the Mountaineer women’s basketball season go out with a thud in the NCAA tournament.
West Virginia couldn’t score inside. The team couldn’t score outside. Star JJ Quinerly was held to eight points. It was tough to watch after the Mountaineers entered the game with a 25-7 record.
Of course, it was also tough watching some of the officiating. Four fouls on WVU in 26 seconds? Say it wasn’t so.
Which brings me to this blog’s point. It certainly didn’t hurt North Carolina’s cause that the game was played on the Tar Heels’ home floor.
My question: Why? Why, considering the popularity of women’s hoops in recent years, did the No. 3 seed UNC have a home court advantage over No. 6 seed WVU? Isn’t it time we move past that a la the men’s tournament?
In case you’re unaware, for the first two rounds of the women’s tourney, the top 16 seeds play on their home courts.
Significant? Very. Of the now-Sweet Sixteen teams, only three didn’t host the rounds. Only No. 5 seeds Kansas State (at Kentucky’s Memorial Coliseum), Tennessee (at Ohio State’s Value City Arena) and Ole Miss (at Baylor’s Foster Pavilion) broke through.
I’m not saying WVU would have won on a neutral floor with the way the team played on Monday. Give UNC’s team credit.
Yet what I am saying is women’s hoops have taken off. A report on Tuesday predicted women’s sports will be the next multi-billion-dollar industry reaching $2.35 billion in global revenue in 2025, according to Deloitte. It’s big business. The women’s tournament can be fashioned after the men’s event now instead of playing on home courts.
A little background. The women’s tradition of playing early rounds at the higher seeds’ arenas began in 2015 in an effort to boost attendance after 11 years of neutral-court rounds saw lackluster ticket sales.
“One of the things we’ve always considered to be important about the championship experience for student-athletes is that they get to play in front of packed crowds,” said Meghan Durham Wright, a spokesperson for the NCAA to Sportico in 2024. “When you’ve got a school that’s hosting, you’ve got a passionate fan base that’ll come out and support their home team, in addition to the people who would traditionally travel to watch the championship.”
The NCAA also loves it because the organization syphons all the revenue from the rounds.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma once argued for the current setup by saying it adds extra incentive for the regular season by rewarding teams for stacking wins.
“Every other sport, that’s what they do,” Auriemma said. “You have a great year; you play the regular season so you can have a home game. Major League Baseball, the NFL, NBA, NHL, every sport you can imagine. NCAA, every sport except men’s basketball. It’s a reward for the kind of season you have.”
The NCAA women’s basketball tournament’s hosts, however, are awarded by a selection committee to those SEEDED higher. It’s subjective, unlike the other sports.
Also, by having host teams in those rounds, it makes exciting, attention-grabbing upsets more unlikely. We could see even through our TVs on Monday the advantage for UNC.
Again, I’m not saying the Mountaineers would have defeated the Tar Heels on a neutral floor on Monday. They were stymied every which way including up.
What I am saying is women’s basketball has exploded in recent years. Thank Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese if you wish. The WNBA has soared. We’re watching more and more on TV and in-person.
The NCAA doesn’t need to give home games to subjective higher seeds to draw fans anymore.
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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.