south carolina won last year's women's ncaa tournament.
south carolina won last year's women's ncaa tournament.
who won last year's women's ncaa tournament?
south carolina
prior to 1975, only one team per conference could be in the ncaa tournament. however, after several highly ranked teams in the country were denied entrance into the tournament (e.g., south carolina, which was 14-0 in acc regular season play during 1970 but lost in the acc tournament; southern cal, which was ranked #2 in the nation during 1971; and maryland, which was ranked #3 in the nation in 1974 but lost the acc tournament championship game to eventual national champion north carolina state), the ncaa began to place at-large teams in the tournament, instead of just conference champions. at times during the pre-at-large era, the nit tournament competed for prestige with the ncaa tournament. however, in the 1950s the ncaa ruled that no team could compete in both tournaments. but when 8th ranked marquette declined its invitation in 1970 after coach al mcguire complained about the warriors' regional placement and instead went to the nit (which it won), the ncaa changed the rule to forbid a team that declines an ncaa tournament bid from participating in any post-season tournament. since then, the ncaa tournament has clearly been the major one, with conference champions and the majority of the top-ranked teams participating in it.
ncaa division i men's basketball tournament
in 1939, another national tournament was implemented by the national collegiate athletic association (ncaa). the location of the ncaa tournament varied from year to year, and it soon used multiple locations each year, so more fans could see games without traveling to new york. although the nit was created earlier and was more prestigious than the ncaa for many years, it ultimately lost popularity and status to the ncaa tournament. in 1950, following a double win by the 1949–50 ccny beavers men's basketball team (when the nit comprised 12 and the ncaa 8 teams), the ncaa ruled that no team could compete in both tournaments, and effectively indicated that a team eligible for the ncaa tournament should play in it. not long afterward, assisted by the 1951 scandals based in new york city, the ncaa tournament had become more prestigious than before, with conference champions and the majority of top-ranked teams competing there. the ncaa tournament eventually overtook the nit by 1960. through the 1960s and 1970s, with ucla leading the way as winner of ten ncaa tournament championships, a shift in power to teams from the west amplified the shift of attention away from the new york city-based nit. when the ncaa tournament expanded its field of teams from 25 to 32 in 1975, to 48 in 1980, to 64 in 1985, and to 68 teams in 2011, interest in the ncaa tournament increased again and again, as it comprised more and more teams, soon including all of the strongest ones. (expansion also improved the distribution of playing locations, which number roughly one-third the number of teams in the field.)
college basketball