BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — There was a time, not that many years ago, when predicting who would win the women’s NCAA Tournament was not that difficult. UConn or Tennessee, or Baylor or maybe Stanford, depending on the year, dominated the season and the tournament. But this year is not a year like that. South Carolina comes into Minneapolis as the favorite, but Stanford, UConn and Louisville have all been there before and each had to fight this season to get back to the top, as parity in women’s basketball continues to surge.
UNDATED (AP) — The arrival of Olympic champion Sunisa Lee, new, relaxed rules on athlete compensation and better exposure on TV are fueling interest in NCAA women’s gymnastics. Attendance figures have spiked at several schools this season, including Auburn, where Lee is a freshman. Women’s gymnastics as a whole is thriving, with several schools preparing to join at the collegiate level in coming seasons. Lee says college gymnastics is a “positive” place that plays in contrast to elite gymnastics, which has struggled to find a way forward since sordid allegations of physical, mental and emotional abuse.
