Win or lose, college basketball fans around SB Nation are finding reasons to get excited about their school's women's basketball teams.
For those not involved in postseason play, a couple of recent coaching hires stood out.
- Matt Sussman of Hustle Belt reflects on the news that Curt Miller will be moving from Bowling Green to Indiana. While he laments the loss of one of the MAC's most successful coaches, he finds comfort in the fact that it might be easier to recruit players to play in the Stroh Center than the old Anderson Arena. (You can click here for more background on Miller as a coach.) Read more >>>
- 4pointshooter of One Foot Down is now on board with the Notre Dame Fight Irish's quest to win a national championship after last night's dominant 80-49 win over the Maryland Terrapins. He celebrates with a "badass" picture of Skylar Diggins. Read more >>>
- Greg Alan Edwards of A Sea Of Blue didn't want to get into the stats of the Kentucky Wildcats' 80-65 loss to the Connecticut Huskies last night, but writes that "Kentucky never quit hustling, they never quit playing, they quit executing." Nevertheless, he reflects on an outstanding season by saying he has become a true fan of UK's women's basketball. Read more >>>
- SB Nation Dallas' storystream has been updated with the schedule for the women's Final Four, which begins at 5:30 pm CT on Sunday. Read more >>>
- Sean Keeley of Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician briefly previews the Syracuse Orange's WNIT Final Four matchup with the James Madison Dukes. In looking back on how the Orange got to this place, the win over the Toledo Rockets to get to the Final Four is the most fulfilling for him. Read more >>>
- AndyPanda of Building The Dam evaluates second-year Oregon State Beavers coach Scott Rueck after completing a season with the most wins in 20 years, including a sweep of cross-state rival Oregon. Using pictures and analysis, he breaks down the season and despite a few bumps in the road it's hard not to say that Rueck did an outstanding job this season. Read more >>>
- norcalnick of California Golden Blogs recaps the 2011-12 California Golden Bears' season with the Defining Game of the Year, MVP, best performance, and things he's looking forward to. Something to add: that DGoY wasn't even televised locally; all Pac-12 fans have to be looking forward to the new TV network next season. Read more >>>
- The folks at Testudo Times celebrate Alyssa Thomas being named a First-Team All-American yesterday and one fan says it's the best news for Maryland athletics of the entire year.
With most of the above bloggers finding something to feel good about in women's basketball - even if they don't normally follow women's basketball - I'll re-pose a question posed yesterday: "What would you tell a basketball fan about why they should watch the women's Final Four?" Click here to offer your input.
For more on the 2012 NCAA women's tournament, visit our "NCAA Tournament 2012" section.