Story by
Clear your calendars. Iowa vs. LSU rematch is March Madness must-see TV
- Story by
- Clear your calendars. Iowa vs. LSU rematch is March Madness must-see TV
ALBANY, N.Y. — Cover your ears and eyes and put your tender sensibilities aside because Iowa and LSU are about to go at it again.
Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Epic trash talking and even better basketball. A grudge, errr, rematch a year in the making.
Advertisement
If you're not clearing your calendar for Monday night, you obviously don't like sports. Or fun. This is the biggest game of March Madness, men's and women's tournaments. It would be better if a national title was at stake rather than just a trip to the Final Four, but you take games like this whenever, and in whatever round, you can get them.
"It's just super awesome. If I was just a basketball fan in general, I'd be glued to the TV like no other," Clark said Sunday. "I think women's basketball fans know how special and cool this moment will be. I think the viewership numbers will show that.
"More than anything, it's just great for our game. I'm lucky to be a part of it."
Angel Reese (10) shows Iowa Caitlin Clark her ring finger during the final seconds of the women's 2023 NCAA Tournament national championship game.
As everyone already knows, last year's title game between LSU and Iowa took what was already growing interest in women's sports and sent it into stratospheric territory. Nearly 13 million people watched the game at its peak . Clark and Reese became instant crossover celebrities.
Advertisement
The complaints about the refs were at a volume usually reserved for the men's game. There were societal debates about the "appropriateness" of female athletes trash talking and cussing, and whether Reese had crossed a line. The First Lady even got involved — and then quickly realized she shouldn't have .
It was high drama and even better theater, and the carryover effect has been seen all season in skyrocketing ratings , increased attendance and interest in players not even named Clark or Reese. The fact we get to do it all over again a year later is nothing but a good thing.
Scratch that. A great thing.
"It's just another game to help grow women's basketball," Reese said. "It's going to be unfortunate, of course, to play them just in the (Elite Eight), but of course we're just happy to be a part of it."
Advertisement
The NCAA overlords should be giving thanks for Monday night's game. Maybe kicking a few bucks to the NIL collectives at LSU and Iowa while they're at it, too. Three years after the NCAA didn't think the women's game was even worth a functional weight room , let alone the March Madness tagline, it's the women's tournament that's generating the buzz .
More: Women's NCAA Tournament blew up in 2021 over inequality. It was a blessing in disguise.
There have been entertaining games here and there in the men's tournament — we see you, Oakland ! — and Alabama fans are surely thrilled about their team making its first Final Four . But with UConn leading by 30 or more in each of its first four games, this feels like an inevitable grind to the title for the Huskies .
We endured that excruciating exercise last year . Subjecting us to it twice is just mean.
Advertisement
It doesn't help that the men's game is largely devoid of stars these days. No offense to Zach Edey or Donovan Clingan, but it says something when the breakout player of the tournament is a 24-year-old graduate student who was done after the second round.
The women's tournament, meanwhile, has been chock full of fun. Close and competitive games. Old favorites like Clark, Reese and Paige Bueckers delivering while rising stars like JuJu Watkins and Flau'jae Johnson are showing the game will continue to be in good hands.
There was even a controversy over a nose ring .
"I just remember being a kid growing up and there was never any women's basketball games on TV. You didn't really hear about the WNBA. I was looking up to men's players. I wanted to be Kyrie, and I wanted to be Steph. I wasn't like, I want to be Sue Bird. There just wasn't any coverage," said Hailey Van Lith, who recalled the excitement she felt watching last year's title game before transferring to LSU for her final season.
Advertisement
"Today, young girls can see themselves in other female athletes. We're there on TV. We're in their face. They can relate to us. I think that that's really special," Van Lith said. "At the end of the day, that's what it's about."
Magic Johnson and Larry Bird's showdown in the NCAA men's title game 45 years ago forever changed the trajectory of March Madness and, then, the NBA. What Clark and Reese are doing is no less transformational, even if they're not old enough to fully appreciate the comparisons.
"Both of us want to win more than anything, and that's how it should be when you're a competitor and you get into a situation like this," Clark said. "That goes for LSU's entire roster. That goes for Iowa's entire roster. Every single one of us want this so bad. We want to advance to the Final Four so bad.
"We both grew up loving this game, and we're going to do anything we can to help our teams win."
Advertisement
Buckle up. Rivalries like Clark and Reese's are intense and chippy, and absolutely fabulous for the game.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour .
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Women's Elite 8: Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese own March Madness talk
