Warming up for March Madness
As winter weather brings heavy doses of couch surfing and streaming to the family room, sports fans are finding it is often necessary to spend some extra cash to watch professional and college teams.
For NFL football fans the debate this weekend was whether to pay $5.99 to stream the Chiefs game against the Dolphins, teams playing in subzero temperatures at Arrowhead Stadium Saturday night. The exclusive streaming of a wild-card game is only the beginning of paying premium prices for NFL content.
Meanwhile, access to women’s sports programming is getting better.
The NCAA announced an agreement with ESPN that will cover 40 of its championships throughout the U.S. — including 21 women’s events — that is worth a reported $920 million over eight years, or $115 million per year, according to Sports Business Journal.
“The deal is also a major victory for women’s sports, which continue to see rises in viewership and interest. LSU’S win over Iowa in the 2023 NCAA women’s basketball title game on ABC, for example, marked the mostwatched women’s college hoops game on record. Texas’ win over Nebraska in the NCAA women’s volleyball championship in December was also the best audience for any college volleyball match on record,” SBJ reported.
Peacock/nbc is a good investment in excellent sports programming. I purchased it weeks ago to watch No. 3 Iowa and Caitlin Clark take the court against Purdue. She’s the biggest draw in women’s college basketball — home and away — and she is expected to break the NCAA all-time scoring record held by Kelsey Plum of Washington, who had 3,527 career points. If Clark stays healthy, it’s anticipated she will break the mark sometime in February. (Cassandra Negley of Yahoo Sports has a game tracker.)
Peacock has awesome women’s sports exclusives and specials. Big 10 women’s basketball is regularly featured and eight teams from the conference are expected to compete in the NCAA women’s March Madness tournament.
Consider this column your guide to watching NCAA women’s basketball and preparing for the NCAA women’s basketball tournament regional in Albany from March 29 through April 1. For the second year, the NCAA’S Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games are being held at just two sites, instead of the four used in previous tournaments.
Here’s my second in a series of columns highlighting games and players to watch leading up to women’s March Madness:
Big Ten action: You’ll get your money’s worth watching Peacock. On Tuesday night, the streaming service features Clark once again in action as No. 3 Iowa hosts Wisconsin. On Wednesday night, No. 17 Ohio State takes on Maryland and No. 14 Indiana hosts Minnesota. Being from the middle of the country, many Big 10 teams have a shot at playing in either the Albany or Portland, Ore., brackets, although Iowa is expected to be in the Portland regional.
Siena: Get out and see the Siena women featuring the play of senior guard Ahniysha Jackson of Albany High, who scored a careerhigh 31 points recently in a 64-45 victory over Saint Peter’s. Siena’s gritty road loss Saturday against Fairfield, a team that earned two votes in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll, proves the Saints are a team in contention for the MAAC'S NCAA bid. Best upcoming game to watch will be on Saturday when the Saints play the Iona Gaels at Marcelle Athletic Complex. The college is commemorating 50 years of Siena women's basketball at the game as alumni get the VIP treatment and get to relive their glory days. Following the game, women's basketball alumni and guests of women's basketball alumni will be honored guests at a private reception.
Ualbany: Watch the Danes in the friendly confines of Broadview Center, where the team rides an eightgame home winning streak and a 10-game overall winning streak after a road victory at Binghamton Saturday. Senior Kayla Cooper led the way against the Bearcats with 23 points. After two more road games this week, a trio of home games tips off with the return of rival Maine on Jan. 25; a celebration of
National Girls and Women in Sports Day on Saturday, Jan. 27, when the Danes take on New Hampshire; and a Feb. 1 battle against defending America East champ Vermont.
Saint Rose: The College of Saint Rose women’s basketball team had another stellar road win Saturday, a 61-47 win over Adelphi. The Golden Knights are now a remarkable 11-2 on the season and 7-2 in the Northeast-10 Conference. Upcoming home games include a Tuesday matchup against Southern New Hampshire and a Hoops 4 Hope Fundraiser Day against Pace on Jan. 27. Syracuse: After cracking the top 25 with a win over ranked Notre Dame, coach Felicia Legette-jack’s team is projected as an eightseed for the NCAA Tournament. The big game for the Orange this week will be on Thursday as Rochester native and graduate student Dyaisha Fair leads her team against ACC rival No. 14 Florida State. Fair recently moved into sole possession of 16th on the
NCAA Division I all-time scoring list for women’s basketball.
A good cause
After Times Union night sports editor Kyra Santicola wrote the story of Saint Rose student/athlete Delphine Sosu, her teammates set up a Gofundme to help keep her in America to pursue her dream of finishing her education and playing soccer. She spent her life savings to get herself to the United States. Her visa appointment was denied more than once, and she was forced to travel between Ghana, Uganda and South Africa during a two-month ordeal that led her to finally make it to Albany late in the semester. Saint Rose announced the school’s pending closure a mere 11 days after Sosu arrived on campus. Read her story at Timesunion.com and donate here: https://gofund.me/fca2f1a1.