Ever wanted to ask a sports personality a question? Now’s your chance. They will answer readers’ questions in The Denver Post’s “Fan Mail” feature.
In this week’s installment, Greg Christopher, chair of the women’s selection committee for the NCAA Tournament, talks about expanding the women’s field to 68 teams, bringing the Final Four back to Denver and why Title IX is still vital.
Keep an eye out for next week’s installment. Send your questions in an email to fanmail@denverpost.com.
Is there any talk about expanding the women’s field to 68 like the men? I think there are always teams you can argue for getting in to the bracket, but then once the tournament starts, the top seeds very rarely get beat. What are your thoughts?
–Josie, Colorado Springs
I think you’re right in that the last few choices are very difficult. You’ve got teams that look a lot alike. Expanding the field is something that has been talked about a lot over the last two years, but in the last six months or so we made a decision to stay at 64 teams. The field will remain at 64 for at least the forseeable future.
It’s the 40th anniversary of Title IX this year. How far do you think women’s sports have come since then? Are women’s college athletics in a healthy place right now? Will Title IX continue?–Katie, Stapleton
It’s clear that Title IX has made an incredible impact on athletics in general and women’s athletics specifically. As a father of two daughters, I’m very appreciative of what Title IX has brought to the landscape and the opportunities they have that past generations of women didn’t necessarily have.
I think Title IX is here to stay in some way, shape or form. But I also think there are potential changes in how it’s administered based on how athletics has evolved in the last decade-plus. From a health standpoint, women’s athletics never has been at a higher level, both competitively and the opportunities that young women have. I think those are only going to expand.
I think there are ways Title IX can be improved as far as how it’s administered. I think that’s just natural anytime you have something that’s been around as long as it has.
A lot of time people look at Title IX and say it’s an athletic thing – and it’s not. It actually has to do with education funding. It’s a much broader administrative act than just college athletics. Some people who look at it through just the athletic prism don’t realize how wide of a swath it actually covers.
When you have a team that has been as dominate this season as Baylor, what is the toughest thing about seeding the rest of the regional around them? And do you think Baylor can run the table?–Brennan, Edmond, Okla. Baylor has a tough road to Denver, let alone the championship game. But so far they’ve proven they stand out in the women’s basketball field. I don’t think it makes it any more difficult if you have a Baylor that’s undefeated or a team with one or two losses like the rest of the No. 1 seeds.
When we as a committee, the group of 10 of us, sat down and started to talk about each line – one through 16 – each line one at a time, there was pretty strong consensus who the (top seeded) teams were. I do think for most of the lines in the tournament – one through 16 – there were fairly natural groupings of teams as we went through there.
From that standpoint there were natural breaking points as we worked our way through the field.
What do players like Elena Delle Donne of Delaware and Brittney Grier of Baylor bring to the women’s game?–Barbara, Dallas They’re both incredibily talented. If you’ve followed the game over a longer period of time, it’s part of the evolution of women’s basketball that you just see the talent, from the youth stages up to the WNBA.
Women’s basketball as a whole continues to improve and evolve to the point where you’re getting incredibilty talented players who are multi-faceted and can do some really fun things on a basketball court.
I look at Brittney and Elena as almost the personafication of how the game has changed and improved. And we see it in the tournament with teams. I’ve been on the committee for four years, and I think each year the field gets a little deeper.
I’m not going to say all 64 teams have a really solid chance to win the national championship, but I do think the field has gotten deeper over the last several years.
I don’t like that money is involved in college sports, it only invites problems. But I also really enjoy being able to watch women’s college basketball on TV with my daughters. It’s important to them. Does the Final Four need to make money for it to stay on TV? Does the Final Four make money? I hate to ask that, but if it’s important to keep it going, then it’s important to me.–Bob, Arvada The NCAA has 89 championships over all its sports, and 88 of those championships fall under a contract with ESPN. The one that stands apart is the men’s basketball championship, which of course is with CBS Sports.
You push that on one side, then you have the 88 championships under the ESPN umbrella. The exposure they receive through ESPN is part of a much larger contract and is really determined by the marketplace.
And NCAA women’s basketball is probably the highest profile women’s championship in the United States, professional or amateur. From that standpoint, I think the exposure and platform is going to continue to grow over time.
What’s been the biggest surprise team for you watching the women’s title?–David, Loveland I think the St. Bonaventure vs. Marist game was surprising because it was two schools that aren’t necessarily from the power conferences. It caught a lot of peoples’ imaginations and attention. To have that game and for one of those teams to go to the Sweet 16 was a neat story, it’s probably one of the games over the last two days that caught my attention the most.
That gets back to that earlier question of the game getting better and the pool deepening.
I’d love to see more Final Fours in Denver, men or women. Why did you choose Denver this year? Could we get the tourney again in the future?–Carlie, Denver
I was part of the group that helped select Denver, and the entire committee thought Denver was a no-brainer. It’s a great sports city. It’s in a part of the country we haven’t been to, and there’s a clear pattern of support of major sporting events like the women’s Final Four. We are excited to be coming to Denver, and the foundation and the support from the community is very evident.
I can’t make any promises, but I certainly think Denver could be a repeat host in the future for the women’s Final Four.
The men’s Final Four is a little bit of a different animal with its current configuration of being played in domes. I guess when Denver decides to put a dome on Mile High Stadium, that could be discussed.
Is the women’s game dependent on the WNBA? Or vice versa? Is there pressure on the college game to be a breeding ground for the pros, like the men?–Lori, Thornton I don’t see that at this time. I think the two games really compliment each other in a variety of ways. I like the position of the WNBA season, as it relates to some of the international professional women’s leagues.
You see a lot of the players move from one to the next, from the WNBA to the international leagues. You do not see some of the challenges related to the one-and-done issues that you find on the men’s side in the women’s game, at least not yet.
Greg Christopher’s biggest challenge has been this past year as the chair of the women’s selection committee for the NCAA Tournament. He started working on the committee in 2009, and became the first man to chair the committee.
Christopher played football at Miami (Ohio) in the 1980s, and was hired as the athletic director at Bowling Green State in 2006.
He will be at the regional in Des Moines, Iowa, this weekend and then onto Denver for the Final Four, which is April 1 and 3 at the Pepsi Center. During a busy week, Christopher took time to take a questions from Denver Post readers.
