Getty Image / Bob Drebin
There was a shocking upset in the Round of 32 at the Women’s NCAA Tournament.
An 8-seed took down a 1-seed yesterday.
Anybody that’s used to the chaos of the men’s tournament probably doesn’t see that as all that shocking, but it is much more unusual for a 1 to fall early on the women’s side.
In fact, one hadn’t lost before the Sweet Sixteen since 2009.
That run came to an end when Ole Miss shockingly toppled Stanford 54-49.
The upset was especially shocking because it came against a program with a long history of success in the tournament.
Stanford hasn’t missed an NCAA Tournament since the late 80s and has made 13 Final Four appearances since then.
For whatever reason, despite all of that success, Stanford’s coach, Tara VanDerveer, decided that she needed to remind everybody how unsuccessful the men’s program at Stanford is following her team’s shocking loss.
Tara: “I know our men’s team would be ecstatic to play two games in the NCAA tournament.”
— marisa ingemi (@Marisa_Ingemi) March 20, 2023
She’s not wrong about the men’s basketball program. They haven’t been to the tournament since a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2014. They actually won the NIT the following year, but have struggled since then with just one NIT appearance and a few seasons below .500.
This season, they were one of the Pac-12’s worst teams, struggling to a 7-13 record during conference play and a 14-19 record overall.
Still, this comment just seems extremely unnecessary. The struggles of the men’s program have absolutely nothing to do with the women’s program falling well short of expectations in the tournament.
It’s also kind of a weird approach to take for a coach to decide to roast their own school after a loss. It’s not like Matt Painter watched his team lose to Fairleigh Dickinson and then made a comment about how bad Purdue women’s program is.
I guess to VanDerveer, disappointing results don’t matter as long as another team at your school is doing worse.