Why women's Final Four was better than men's this year | Mike Strange

It’s April and our attentions have turned to RBI doubles in the gap and sifting clues from spring football.

All in good time. Bear with me while I wring a few last thoughts out of college basketball.

For Tennessee’s men and women, the season has been finished for a couple weekends. The last men and women standing enjoyed one shining final moment the other night(s).

The men’s Final Four participants in Houston were an odd bunch of survivors. UConn at least had a history, four national titles between 1999 and 2014. San Diego State, Miami and especially Florida Atlantic weren’t on anyone’s Final Four radar in February, much less November.

I prefer the women’s Final Four roster. South Carolina, Iowa, Virginia Tech and LSU have been highly regarded through the entire journey of 2022-23.

I say that as a staunch advocate that the regular season matters. College hoops shouldn’t be viewed just as a tournament sport.

The NCAA tournament decides the official national champion. Still, it is, always has been, a March tournament.

It’s fun and I love it. I get pumped for Cinderella as much as the next fan. But I also like seeing the best teams rewarded for sustained excellence.

Houston, Alabama, Purdue and maybe Kansas were the best men’s teams through the season. A couple of them still there at the end battling for championship vindication would enhance the climax for me.

Any of the women’s Final Four entries had resumes worthy of being deemed a legit national champion.

So what of the Vols’ and Lady Vols’ resumes?

The best player in town this winter was Rickea Jackson. Had she not arrived via the transfer portal, it’s conceivable UT’s women could have finished 12-25 instead of the other way around.

Jackson is the most talented Lady Vol since Candace Parker. She averaged 19.2 points. Her ability to get a basket saved Tennessee in many a close call. Good for Kellie Harper for finding a way to get Jackson back for the 2023-24 season.

The Lady Vols were good, not great. Eleven of their 12 losses were to teams in the final Top 20 ranking. They beat only two teams in that final ranking. Averaging 15.3 turnovers a game is an albatross to drag around.

As for the men, it’s as if there were two seasons.

I texted a sportswriter friend a couple games into the schedule saying I didn’t like this team. Jacking up too many quick 3-pointers.

But the Vols found themselves, figured out a way to score enough to complement their tenacious defense. When January ended, they were 18-3, darlings of both the poll voters and the analytics geeks.

From February on, they were 7-8 and hard to watch. Oil was leaking before Zakai Zeigler went down, but they clearly missed him in the bracket.

That sparkling win over Duke was sandwiched by offensive duds against Louisiana and FAU, the latter one fatal.

Reaching the Sweet 16 was a fair achievement for this roster, in my opinion. There wasn’t a consistent dynamic scorer in the bunch. Olivier Nkamhoua was like a volcano. He had a couple of spectacular eruptions but more often was less threatening.

Freshman Julian Phillips showed early flashes but seemed to bog down the deeper he went into SEC play. I hope he’ll be back for another go-round.

Projecting next season’s roster is dicey because of the transfer portal. Maybe Rick Barnes will find a Rickea Jackson.

Meanwhile, who’s pitching today for the Vols? Any corners looking good in spring practice?

Mike Strange is a former writer for the News Sentinel. He currently writes a weekly sports column for Shopper News.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why women's Final Four was better than men's | Mike Strange