RSS
Home
NCAA makes lame effort to help promote women's basketball in Western Athletic Conference
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
.jpg)
Photo courtesy NMSU athletics
The New Mexico State Aggie women's basketball team finished with an impressive 23-9 mark for the 2007-08 season, including an 11-5 record in the WAC, despite averaging only 900 fans for home games.
Last season, the Aggies "lost" their winning ways, as the team finished with a disappointing 9-22 record, and 5-11 in WAC play. The average attendance for home games last season was 990 per game.
Last week, the WAC was awarded $85,000 as part of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Grant Program. The WAC was one of 18 Division I institutions and conferences to receive funds. The program, in the second of three years, was designed to increase awareness, exposure and attendance for women's basketball. NMSU applied for the same grant in 2007-08, but their request was denied by the NCAA.
Megan Allen, who serves as the WAC director of marketing, told the Las Cruces Sun-News that the grant will be used to establish an incentive awards program for fans who support women's basketball across the WAC, as well as establishing an academic achievement component. Aggies fans who attend multiple games or purchase season tickets will be rewarded after attending a certain number of games, and the marketing department at each school will receive $1,000 to help promote their women's basketball programs.
So, the question is this: Why wasn't't this grant approved for the previous season, when the Aggies were winning and actually needed the extra boost for home attendance? If the Aggies would of had more of a home fan base in 2007-08, the team may have won two or three more games, which would of improved the chances of NMSU receiving an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament, or at least an invite to the National Invitational Tournament.
It may just be coincidence, but it seems to me the NCAA is always late to react to the needs of its member schools, especially those schools who are not in the power conferences (PAC-10, ACC, Big East, etc.)? It's time the NCAA stops playing favorites; give mid-major schools a chance to survive in the money market world of the power conferences. The Aggies may not be a traditional powerhouse in women's basketball like Connecticut or Tennessee, but the playing field should be leveled, since NMSU can't draw a measly 1,000 fans for home games.
So, for the future, the NCAA needs to make quicker decisions regarding topics like the one discussed in this article. What the Aggies should do, along with other members of the WAC, is use the money to fund the NIT, NJCAA and the NAIA, just to show the NCAA that its measly $1,000 contribution was put to good use.
Related Articles:
Comments
