Be their guest ...
As women’s hoops grows, the scrutiny increases on NCAA hosts to manage hotel offerings and travel times
Eastern Washington savored the thrill of claiming a Big Sky Conference Tournament title that secured its second trip to the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
Yet, with the Eagles part of March Madness for the first time since 1987, there was at least one damper on that buzz: having to stay in a hotel 40 miles out due to limited availability near Oregon State’s arena, leading to a gameday trip that took an hour.
“To be an hour away, we were pretty bummed,” Eastern Washington athletic director Tim Collins told The Associated Press.
Arizona women’s basketball coach Adia Barnes had a similar complaint about the proximity of her team’s accommodations to Uconn’s regional in Storrs.
“Crazy how are we staying 1 hour well 55 minutes to be exact away from the arena,” Barnes said in a post on X, formerly Twitter at 1:42 a.m. Friday. “Just crazy … there has to be certain criteria that is met to host. Like a hotel within 10 miles of the arena, maybe. Just saying.”
The post was deleted Friday morning. Barnes put up a post Friday at 10:32 a.m.: “Playing on the road at Uconn has been a great experience for our young players. The NCAA staff has been remarkable.”
There is little hotel space in Mansfield and many visiting teams stay in Hartford, which is about 30 minutes away. Barnes said after the press conference Friday afternoon that the team was staying in Windsor Locks, which is normally about a 45-minute ride from Storrs but longer on a bus.
It’s an example of the logistical headaches that are part of the equation for a tournament that has long relied on host schools for opening-round games and the better attendance that comes with it. Yet with those sites not determined until days ahead of time compared to years on the men’s side, there are more variables such as limited hotel availability displacing teams from the local scene — an issue highlighted by Utah reporting that it experienced a series of hate crimes in Idaho while staying 30 miles from its games in Spokane, Washington, before changing hotels.
“Seeing packed venues at first- and second-round games was incredible, and it is certainly an important aspect of our student-athletes’ NCAA Tournament experience,” Texas A&M deputy athletic director and senior woman administrator Kristen Brown said in an email to the AP.
“However, there also needs to be a certain standard and consistency across all host sites when it comes to areas like hotel accommodations, nutrition, and the competition facility that are prioritized as part of the student-athlete experience as well.”
That’s a balance facing the NCAA as it evaluates the next steps for the tournament at a time of unprecedented growth and popularity for the sport.
Lynn Holzman, NCAA vice president for women’s basketball, told the AP this week that the selection committee was scheduled to review its championship format after the 2025 tournament, though she is pushing for that to begin this year. That would include the advancement from the First Four through the early round hosts and then to the two-regional format introduced last season.