TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Millions tuned in to watch women’s basketball powerhouses UConn and South Carolina dominate in the Final Four on Friday. Many more watched Houston and Florida stun their opponents in the men’s Final Four a day later.
Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman sees a world where both premier events happen in the same place.
It’s not a new conversation, but Ackerman believes the exponential growth of women’s basketball in a landscape long dominated by the men makes now an ideal time for a joint Final Four.
“You will get people to say that it shouldn’t happen,” said Ackerman, who has been commissioner of the Big East since 2013. “That the women’s tournament is doing just fine. And that’s not without merit. I’m saying if the NCAA is looking for growth — and it is — and is looking for revenue growth — and it is. I can’t think of many ways you could accomplish that in a significant way versus in an incremental way than combining the two Final Fours.”
The men and women’s basketball tournaments would hold their semifinals and title games in the same city on the same weekend, with similar staggered scheduling as there currently is. Though a combined Final Four likely couldn’t take place until at least 2032, with sites on both sides locked in until 2031.