Polantz: Women’s tournament deserves more attention

It’s time to give Agnus Berenato and her stellar roster the attention they deserve. I’m not… It’s time to give Agnus Berenato and her stellar roster the attention they deserve. I’m not saying Pitt women’s basketball doesn’t get attention, but this year, Pitt should care more about the women’s tournament than the men’s.

Jamie Dixon and his fine team surely deserve all of their accolades. But the Panther women have set themselves up for quite a show, as colleges across the country plunge into the choppy waters of the NCAA Tournament.

Dixon’s roster will be flexing its muscles in front of crowds in Buffalo, N.Y. After a tumultuous year of excitement in the Oakland Zoo, fans should take heed: The men’s tournament is only television.

As a Zoo fan myself, I know how special it feels to watch our campus celebrities strut through the red-carpet tunnel into the Pete. But these games in person we shall not see.

However, the all-knowing gods of the NCAA have smiled upon Pitt with the first two rounds of the women’s tournament set to be staged in Pitt’s very own backyard. The Zoo can still bring some “Alleghen-ee” to March Madness, in spite of a noticeable lack of testosterone on the court.

For those of you out there who cry, “But it’s women’s basketball!” let me kindly remind you: Basketball is basketball. And Pittsburgh – may it be Pitt students, alumni or anyone who’s lived in Western Pennsylvania for more than five years – loves basketball. Pittsburgh loves all sports.

The Panther women don’t storm the Pete twice a week purely because of Title IV. People across this region support the lady Panthers and will have some more chances to show it in-person, since hosting teams play at home in the first and second rounds.

Whether it’s men’s or women’s, Pittsburgh should cheer for the love of the game. Leave the politics of athletics to the NBA and bring some good ol’ rowdiness to the Oakland Zoo on March 18.

We have to give Pitt women’s basketball more credit for its accomplishments. Berenato’s women have continuously climbed one of the steepest mountains in the NCAA: They’ve played their season beneath a hailstorm of media coverage of a nationally ranked men’s team.

The nation’s eyes have been on Pitt’s men since the beginning: Remember that No. 2 ranking? “So long top 10,” said Georgetown, Marquette and Louisville. The men have squandered away their ranking game after game and, I’d say, stumbled upon a bit of luck to produce a three seed on Sunday.

But the women have earned their tournament berth. Is it more fun to watch the women fight back and win after a 20-point deficit like they did at the home game versus DePaul or to watch the men failing to close the score for a win after yet another sorry first half?

In honor of that perennial friend of competitive sports – adrenaline – I’d rather see the former from the women than shake my head at the latter.

And with some dramatic wins and losses for both the men and the women in the past few weeks, I wonder how far our Panthers can go.

The women are underdogs.

The men can’t perform under ranked-team pressure and sometimes seem to walk onto the court without an ounce of basket-making or rebounding capabilities.

Shavonte Zellous and Marcedes Walker have been scoring machines as of late, with Zellous scoring almost 20 points per game and Walker pounding in the double-doubles at the post.

As for the 7-foot supposed basketball demigod Aaron Gray? Eh, he’s had some rough days lately.

The women, compared to the men, in spite of their rankings, aren’t looking too shabby in a mere numbers situation, either. The women have the record for the most wins on the season and claim only eight losses.

The men’s record of 27-7 sounds quite similar, especially after another fall – or should I say nosedive? – from grace at the Big East Championships.

I predict that the women, with the grace they’ve shown recently, will play a more entertaining tournament than the men. The only question that remains is, who will finish higher? Sweet 16 for the women? Elite Eight for the men?

Does it even matter?

You could either put your five dollars into a pool just to lose it come April 2, or you could put that pocket change toward a seat in the Pete for the women’s first or second round next weekend.

I love Pitt men’s basketball, but I’m looking forward to a good show from our women.