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GOATs?
Is this UConn run up there with Duke in the early 1990s?
It's hard to say no. Granted, there is no Christian Laettner and they did not have to topple what was a juggernaut UNLV team, but dang this UConn bunch is husky.
Or as my momma always said, big-boned.
The numbers point to the complete dominance that is currently running at 12 straight NCAA tournament wins by 13 points or more.
Sure, they are going to have to turn over a lot of the roster since there are three NBA first-rounders about to leave Storrs, but man that was mighty impressive.
This is truly one of the great runs in the modern version of the NCAA tournament because this is not like Indiana in the 1970s when Bobby Knight would beat his players with leather straps (allegedly) if they lost a game.
And in some ways this is more impressive than Duke's back-to-back or even Florida's back-to-back crowns in the mid-2000s because of the roster turnover after losing their top two scorers from the 2023 title team.
Those Duke and Florida teams returned almost completely intact.
It also begs the question where does the UConn program rank among the all-time bluebloods of the sport.
In a team picture that should be extremely limited, UConn has every right and reason to make a modern claim for every bit the blueblood treatment that UCLA gets because John Wooden dominated a top-heavy era.
How many true bluebloods are there gang?
UK is there. UNC and Duke are too. Kansas is. UCLA begrudgingly is but Bill Walton ain't walking through that Pauley Pavilion door any time soon.
And UConn is too.
With a husky — or big-boned — exclamation point last night.
Masters
Ah, Augusta National.
Let the weather be pretty. Let the flowers be in bloom. Let Bryson D and Patrick Reed shank more tee shots than a nervous Tin Cup on the range hitting chili peppers up Lee Jansen's tuchus. Let the back nine Sunday be filled with drama, and let the roars echo through those majestic East Georgia pines.
It's a true treasure, and I know I enjoy it more than most. But if you can't get romantic about Augusta National — a place where the best of all time are revered and still treat the joint with reverence — then you are too cynical a sports fan.
And that's not criticism because maybe golf's not your thing and I understand that.
Horse racing is not really my thing, but I appreciate the tradition and the fanfare of Churchill Downs.
Those Formula 1 cars are not my thing either, but Indy is Indy for a reason, milk and all. (Side note: Man, after 500 miles at break-neck speeds and risking your life in a convertible, the last thing I'd want hopping out of the cockpit is a big swig of milk. "Hey pit boss, hold the cow juice, get me a Budweiser.")
This is it. This is the Masters. And for a week I hope that all the romance returns and the division subsides.
Will it? Doubtful, but we can hope, right?
After all, hope springs eternal, and spring will eternally mean the Masters for me.
Any questions?
So, I have said for a hot minute that Caitlin Clark is the biggest star in basketball.
Not women's basketball. Not college basketball. In basketball.
I have believed that just on the direct evidence of the interactions we have had here and the conversations I have had with my friends, my kids and my kids' friends.
Now I know it to be true. Want proof? OK, how about this?
The Iowa-South Carolina title game Sunday was the most watched basketball game since 2019.
Not the most-watched women's game. Not the most-watched college game. The most-watched basketball game, yes NBA too, in the last five years.
From SportsMediaWatch.com: "Sunday's South Carolina-Iowa NCAA women's basketball national championship averaged a 9.3 rating and 18.7 million viewers on ABC and ESPN, per Nielsen fast-nationals — marking the largest basketball audience (college or pro, men or women) since the 2019 Virginia-Texas Tech men's national championship on CBS (19.6M). The previous high over that span was 18.6 million for Game 6 of the 2019 Raptors-Warriors NBA Finals on ABC."
Gang, it was the largest non-football TV audience since the 2022 World Cup Final.
And we're talking about women's hoops on a Sunday afternoon at 3.
Here's more perspective from SportsMediaWatch.com as South Carolina vs. Clark drew more than:
— All but four college football games in 2023.
— Every World Series game since Game 7 of the 2019 WS.
— Every NBA Finals game since G5 of 2017 NBA Finals.
— Every Daytona 500 since 2006.
— Every Masters final round viewership since 2001.
Forget being the biggest basketball star on the planet, Caitlin Clark may just be the biggest sports star in America right now.
Wowser. And it will almost assuredly blow out the men's title game numbers from last night too.
(Side question: Who's the mouth-breather that makes the men's title game tip at 9:20 on a school night? I understand wanting to get to crunch time with the West Coast in play, but man for two schools east of the mighty Mississippi, that's a tough ask.)
This is a must-make moment for the WNBA, no matter how much the old guard of women players and pioneers wants to celebrate the growth and then say Clark's going to be in for a rude awakening when she gets to the WNBA.
Women's basketball can't let this be the Brandi Chastain moment in time like soccer did 25 years ago. Heck, in a time when almost every TV broadcast across all genres declines for a variety of reasons, the women's NCAA title game has increased each of the last five years.
That's the big-picture good news. The focus moving forward must be on capturing the lightning in the bottle that Iowa's 22 has generated.
Caitlin Clark must be on the Olympic team. She must be the face of the league now. She needs her own shoe — my daughter would love a pair. She needs to find a nemesis, because let's be clear, Magic was an all-time great and Bird was an all-time great, but together they saved the NBA.
Whether that is Angel Reese, great. I hope the first time Clark sees Dianna Taurasi, the former Iowa star drops 50 on her. In fact the league would be wise to fan that flame of the old guard against Clark.
Heck, because if Clark is the hero the WNBA and women's basketball needs, then we'll need a villain too.
This and that
— And the answer is yes, we will have the Masterfully Mastering the Masters Masterpiece Challenge again this year. Rules are simple: Pick five golfers, top four scores count, and you get a point for the finish of your best four (First = 1, T-Fourth = 4, etc.) and the low score wins. Deal? Deal.
— Also, meant to post this last week since was decided before the Final Four, but we had a slew of entries in the "Last In, First Out" tournament challenge and we put the names in a hat and drew a winner. Congrats Kate on your NC State, UNC entry. Man a fun run for the Wolfpack faithful this March, huh?
— Has UK hired a coach yet?
— Hey, why was everyone talking about a Mitsubishi Eclipse yesterday? Fine car, I suppose, but man, it was all over social media.
— Georgia may be on the short list of the most important electoral college states in the country come November, which makes Biden's decision to expand his offices in the Peach State seem pretty savvy.
— Man, we need more Powwow celebrations because we need more uses of "Powwow" in headlines too.
— Speaking of golf, Baylor School alum Keith Mitchell did finish T14 over the weekend in Texas and made $131-plus-K. That's a nice check. Sadly, Keith is the lone Baylor School alum among the four card-carrying PGA Tour players (Stephan Jaeger, Harris English and Luke List) who was not invited to the Masters this week.
— Man, Rick Barnes and Co. are going to have some major roster overhauling to do, no? Here's another portal defection, as Paschall details, from the Vols hoopsters.
— Speaking of Paschall, and rules being rules and all, here's a Tide transfer looking to make his Big Orange mark this fall.
Today's question
True or false, it's Tuesday. Morning, Ernie.
True or false, you watched more of the women's title game that the men's.
True or false, 9:20 p.m. on a Monday is too late to start any sports event for you.
True or false, Caitlin Clark is the biggest star in team sports in the U.S.
True or false, the Masters is the best non-football sports event in the U.S.
True or false, Augusta National is the greatest golf course on the planet. (Side question: Have I mentioned that I have played it twice? Side question on the side question: Did you know I made birdie on 7 there? Hoi polloi. Elhue would you loofah my stretch marks?)
You know the drill. Answer some T or Fs, ask some T or Fs.
As for today, April 9, let's review.
Gen. Lee surrendered at Appomattox on this day in 1865.
"All the President's Men" debuted on this day in 1976. Excellent flick.
Rushmore of movies with a hard connection to newspapers. Go.