The coliseum and women's hoops
I agree with Ed Hardin. The appeal of women's college basketball hasn't grown to the point that it can expect to hold regionals, such as the one in Greensboro, and expect to pack the house without a local drawing card such as Duke and Carolina.
Hence all those empty seats, despite marquee teams such as Rutgers and UConn in the field.
Only 4,623 fans turned out to see the Greensboro Regional final. (Starting the game after 9 for TV didn't help either.)
Heck, even the men's game has had trouble in the not-too-distant past packing far-flung arenas with teams the locals didn't care about.
In fact, this year's men's NCAA tournament featured a number of teams in arenas close to home including Carolina in Raleigh and Charlotte and UCLA in Anaheim.
Why wouldn't the women do the same, for event more obvious reasons? The women's game has a come a long way but it still has a long way to go. Truth is, I was surprised when the ACC women's tournament didn't sell out its Friday quarterfinals even with Carolina and Duke both playing.
That said, the coliseum still knows how to throw a good tournament. There isn't a better arena for hoops. We show the teams and their fans a good time when they come here and we make them feel appreciated.
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