Tennessee's the Choice, but It's Not Automatic

The 2004-05 women's college basketball season has a tough act to follow.

A very deep senior class, lifted the sport to new heights in skill and athleticism last season, which culminated in a widely watched NCAA tournament.

The three games of the women's Final Four were the most watched and highest-rated of their kind in ESPN history. The championship game was the most viewed college basketball game -- men or women -- broadcast by the cable network. (ESPN is in an estimated 89 million homes. The championship game averaged 3.8 million viewers, with a 4.3 rating.)

And now ... what?

To keep its profile high, the women's game needs to continue pushing toward parity, which is possible because the talent pool has deepened with a generation of players getting some of the advantages their male counterparts enjoy, from competitive traveling teams to improved coaching and physical training.

"The one thing that stands out to me after seven years is how many good payers are out there," said Auburn Coach Nell Fortner, who is back in college basketball this season after working as a WNBA coach with Indiana, and as a television analyst.

"When I left in 1997, I'd see 30 coaches at a game watching two players. Now we're watching every player on the floor. I'm shocked at the amount of talent in the country, coast to coast. There is plenty to go around. There will be players with no accolades who are very good. From my perspective, parity is going to hit hard in next four years."

And despite the 2004 championship game being yet another installment of the Connecticut-Tennessee feud -- Connecticut won again, joining Tennessee as the only teams to win three consecutive titles -- Minnesota and Louisiana State brought new faces to the Final Four and performed well in semifinal losses.

"That is also indicative of an approaching parity," Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt said. "You look at [the tournament] and saw all these close games. Our last three games we played before the championship game we won by a total of six points.

"I think it speaks to a competitive environment in the women's game that the men's game has enjoyed for years."

There were also a couple of mid-major breakthroughs in the tournament. Santa Barbara, seeded 11th, upset Colorado and Houston to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time.

Santa Barbara Coach Mark French expects other mid-major breakthroughs this season, even if his team isn't among them. He's also not counting out his Gauchos.