Yes, it is April and baseball season has begun, but our favorite college basketball tournaments are still underway and down to the Final Four for both men and women.

When the beginning of March comes around, we all get that twinkle in our eyes. We know what’s to come and what we have to do. The brackets are printed, our internet connections are fired up and the TV’s turned on in High-Def.

Our weekends are filled with nonstop basketball, Thursday through Sunday, but are the ratings up to par? And are we focusing more on the men’s side or the women’s?

Rarely will you see the average male college student holding a women’s NCAA basketball bracket.

Women seem to fall into a second class. No one really talks about their games and no one will hear too much about the results on the radio or TV. I have not heard one thing about who is in the Final Four for women, but I know that all number one seeds are in the men’s Final Four.

This spring, the men’s tournament has been making basketball more interesting, while the women’s tournament made basketball somewhat boring from the beginning.

There are no Cinderella teams in the women’s NCAA Tournament. The lowest seeded team to win a game was Florida St. (11) who lost in the Sweet 16 to Oklahoma St. (3). Once the Elite Eight arrived it was only one and two seeds.

On the other hand, the men’s NCAA tournament has had some major upsets. Not only have there been some amazing games, but history has been made with four one-seeds reaching the Final Four.

Even though there have been a few interesting games, the ratings are still very low. According to CBS statistics, 34 out of 60 games in the men’s tournament have been won by 12 or more points, which is up from the 29 out of 60 from last year.

With games ending in blowouts, and having the top seeds almost always win, it makes the game less interesting. People want to know who won, but they can just tune in later for the results, instead of watching the entire game.

The women’s bracket and tournament is so top heavy with Division I schools that the other schools like UC-Santa Barbara (13) and Oral Roberts (16) barely have a chance.

All these schools have great reputations, amazing athletes and have established themselves, but some don’t have what it takes. The talented mid-majors have great skill, but continue to get crushed.

The NCAA Tournament is important for both the men and women, but in the end when there are only number one and two seeds vying for the championship, it makes the tourney somewhat dull. Viewers lose interest because it was expected, despite it being the first time in history all one seeds have reached the Final Four on the men’s side.

Some may say that it’s better to watch the one seeds compete against each other because you can then see who the true winner is, but why have a tournament with other schools, if you only want to see the number ones compete?

Even though the men’s Final Four are all top ranked seeds, the women still have some diversity with: Connecticut (1) vs. Stanford (2) and LSU (2) vs. Tennessee (1).

March Madness is still not over and many of us have our winners still in the running to win the championship, while others may just watch to see who beat the hypothetical winner they chose earlier.

The blowouts have happened and domination has prevailed, but now we can watch the men and women show us who the true winner is.

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