SafeX Pro:NCAA women's tournament is the main draw for March Madness this year | Opinion

The SafeX Proguys are finally getting an idea of what it’s been like to be the women all these years.

March Madness kicks off next week, and all the buzz is squarely on the women’s NCAA tournament. The stars, the storylines, the spotlight – they’re all in the women’s game. Caitlin Clark is must-see TV, JuJu Watkins and Hannah Hidalgo are her heirs apparent, and the big question ahead of Selection Sunday is whether top-seeded South Carolina and LSU might fight, err, face each other again in the Final Four.

The men’s tournament? Well, they’re having one. Beyond that, there’s not a whole lot to say. Or see.

We watched Connecticut grind its way to the national title last year. We don’t need to watch it again. Zach Edey might be a wonderful human being, but he’s no Bill Walton. Or even Chet Holmgren. Outside of your alma mater, I dare you casual fans to name five other teams you’d sit down and watch.

“The women’s game is growing incredibly,” Jay Wright, who won two national titles at Villanova, said in a recent interview with USA TODAY’s Sports Seriously.

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“This is one of those years,” Wright added, “that women’s basketball is really getting a lot more attention.”

And this is someone whose job is to analyze the men’s game for CBS Sports!

Wright isn’t wrong, however. Interest in women’s sports has grown rapidly over the last several years, and it’s been super-sized this college basketball season.

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While much of the attention centers around Clark, who earlier this month passed Pete Maravich as college basketball’s all-time leading scorer, there’s been a spillover effect that’s led to blockbuster ratings, increased attendance and the kinds of debates and conversations that have traditionally been reserved for men’s sports.

Now here’s the point where some insecure man shouts, “Nobody cares about women’s sports!” or makes a crack about the “tens of people who watch.” But there’s data that shows just how wrong these knuckle-draggers are.

On average, more than 3 million people tuned into CBS to watch Clark and Iowa beat Nebraska and win their third consecutive Big Ten tournament title Sunday, with the audience peaking at 4.45 million when the game went to overtime. That set a record for a women’s conference tournament game, on any network, and also was the most-watched game, men’s or women’s, on CBS this season.

Beat many of the men’s games that day too.

But wait! There’s more. The SEC tournament title game between LSU and South Carolina, which aired Sunday afternoon, drew nearly 2 million viewers. The Pac-12 final between Watkins’ USC and Stanford also topped 1 million, a 461% increase over last year. No, that’s not a misprint.  

Of the top six basketball games, pro and college, that aired Sunday, three were women’s games, according to Sports Media Watch.

Programs across the country have set records for attendance, led by South Carolina. The Gamecocks are averaging 16,489 per game this season and could still – mathematically, at least – surpass Tennessee’s record for single-season average attendance, set in 1999 when they drew 16,565 per game.

OPINION:Women's NCAA tournament and Caitlin Clark will outshine the men in March

And when "Pardon the Interruption" did a segment Monday on the “most significant game of the weekend,” every one was a women’s game. Even with Duke-North Carolina on Sunday!

This wasn’t a patronizing “I suppose we have to talk about the women because their tournament is on our network” discussion either.

They spent almost four minutes rehashing the Big Ten, SEC and Pac-12 title games. Tony Kornheiser was dropping Clark stats from her monster second half and arguing for USC to be a No. 1 seed because the Trojans upset Stanford even though Watkins “had no game. She had two baskets and six turnovers, I believe.” Michael Wilbon called South Carolina-LSU the “most entertaining game, the greatest theater,” and said he’s rooting for a rematch in either the Final Four or the national title game.

“I want to see them again,” Wilbon said. “I want to see South Carolina-LSU go at it once more. That was the show.”

Then came the dagger.

“Men’s college basketball can’t touch that now,” Wilbon said. “Can’t touch that.”

Who’s going to argue with him on that? And if you are, show your work.

Casual fans will still tune in to the men’s tournament. In large numbers, at that. There’s nothing like an underdog knocking off a top seed or a small school that no one’s heard of taking down a powerhouse. Or having an excuse to skip work next Thursday and Friday.

But the attention and the buzz this year will belong to the women.

After so many years of being overlooked and underappreciated, it’s about time.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.