ZWF: A shining moment college basketball will never forget
Zander's Weekend Facts #113: Sunday, April 7, 2024
Inside this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts, a preview of the men’s and women’s college basketball national championship games, and a look at what Zander’s been reading this past week. Plus, a compilation of the top headlines you need to know about from the last seven days.
Also, go listen to the latest episode of the Zander’s Facts Podcast! Episode 136 features an exclusive real of Zander’s March Madness bracket, which was sadly busted in the second game of the tournament. Download the Zander’s Facts podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
Here are Zander’s Weekend Facts for Sunday, April 7, 2024:
National Championship Weekend in College Basketball
Four #1 seeds. Four storylines you can’t miss. Four teams full of incredible talent. Four of college basketball’s best. Four chances at the sport’s ultimate prize. Two National Champions.
The National Championship games on both the men’s and women’s sides of the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournaments have arrived, and they’ve brought on the potential for two spectacular days of basketball that the college game has never seen before.
What will take place over the next two days could set the foundation for one sport’s explosion, could produce groundbreaking history in the other, and will undoubtedly have America talking about the basketball programs of four public universities and the stars etching their names into the record books.
Here’s a preview of both the Men’s and Women’s National Championship games, along with Zander’s *always factual 😚* prediction:
Women’s: #1 South Carolina vs. #1 Iowa - Sunday 3:00 pm ET - ABC, ESPN
If you had said, maybe even a year or two ago, that the women’s college basketball national championship would have far more star power than its male counterpart, along with the potential to average more viewers than the men’s game, then I honestly would have laughed you out of the room. However, the first part of that statement is definitively true (unless you’re a diehard men’s basketball fan who has forbidden any mention of the women’s game in your life) and the second part is an actual possibility.
There is one name that has eclipsed the basketball world and has seemingly become a pop culture phenomenon throughout her remarkable run. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark has captured the attention of an increasingly growing number of people through her incredible on-court abilities.
Clark’s star power was glowing long before this season, yet these past 38 games have taken it to another dimension. Known for her prolific scoring, Clark broke the NCAA Women’s Basketball scoring record earlier this season against Michigan by shooting a three-pointer from the logo with ease. She then passed LSU’s Pete Maravich for the all-time college scoring record, regardless of gender, on a free throw against Ohio State.
Clark has been the unrivaled face of Iowa women’s basketball, a program that before Clark stepped on campus had been to just one Final Four in 1993. Now, the Hawkeyes are in the national title game for the second straight year and are looking to finally claim the sport’s biggest prize, a feat only one other Big Ten school has been able to accomplish while an active member of the conference.
South Carolina, on the other hand, is a team not defined externally as an individual, but as a collective force. The Gamecocks entered the Final Four this year for the second straight time undefeated on the season. This year, unlike last, they’ve maintained their unblemished record to the championship game.
Under head coach Dawn Staley, South Carolina has won 439 games and lost 106 since she took the reigns in 2008. Before Staley got to Columbia, the program had never been to the Final Four. They’ve now been there a total of six times. And since that first appearance in 2015, South Carolina has won 89% of their games. The program’s two championships in 2017 and 2022 underline how they’ve become the pinnacle of excellence in a sport whose top tier continues to get tougher and tougher.
This year’s squad, who have emerged victorious in 38 games and fallen victim in zero, is led by Kamila Cardoso, who gives the Gamecocks a significant size advantage over almost everybody at 6’ 7”, Ashlyn Watkins, and Raven Johnson, along with scorers MiLaysia Fulwiley and Te-Hina Paopao.
Of course, the Hawkeyes don’t exactly have slouches surrounding Clark, either. Hannah Stuelke will be part of Iowa’s answer to South Carolina’s interior presence, while Sydney Affolter, Molly Davis, Gabbie Marshall, and Kate Martin have all been peak scorers at times.
It all sets the stage for what could be a record-shattering game. Sunday’s National Championship game is widely expected to be the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history. To break the current mark, it would actually need to surpass the amount of viewers that tuned into Friday’s Iowa Final Four win over UConn. 14.2 million people watched that game on ESPN, which the network has said is the most-watched basketball game ever on ESPN. Not just women’s basketball, not just college basketball, we’re talking all of basketball. In fact, just two other non-football events have ever drawn a higher audience on the cable channel (two 2014 FIFA World Cup matches featuring the U.S. Men’s National Team against Portugal and Belgium.)
Just for context, last year’s Women’s National Championship averaged 9.9 million viewers, the third-highest women’s final all-time behind the 1983 and 1986 championship games, which both featured Cheryl Miller and USC, against Louisiana Tech and Texas, respectively. Last year’s men’s final on CBS between UConn and San Diego State averaged 14.7 million viewers, which was the least-watched on record. In 2022, the Kansas-North Carolina final that aired on TBS, the network airing this year’s final, averaged 17.1 million viewers. This year’s men’s final will likely rise from last year and maybe even 2022, but could the women’s final actually eclipse it in terms of viewership this year? It now seems to be a possibility.
The stage is set, and the lights have never been brighter. Expect both teams to show up and perform to the moment. In the end, I just think that South Carolina has the ability to overwhelm anything Iowa’s offense can throw at them. So I’m going with the Gamecocks to become the first undefeated National Champion in the women’s game since UConn in 2016. But considering the best player on the floor will be on the other team, I absolutely wouldn’t be surprised if it went the other way. (Don’t worry, I won’t be as flimsy in my other prediction.) Either way, I’m expecting an all-time classic that the maybe 20 million+ who watch will talk about for years to come.
*ZANDER’S PREDICTION* South Carolina: 82 - Iowa: 79
Men’s: #1 Purdue vs. #1 UConn - Monday 9:20 pm ET - TBS, TNT, TruTV
It’s quite possible that the two best teams of the season on the women’s side are playing in the National Championship, but it would be hard to argue that is not the case for the men. In the 20 editions of the AP Top 25 Men’s College Basketball Poll that were released this year, either Purdue or UConn was #1 in 12 of them.
Purdue is seeking to complete a redemption story that’s been done just once before. In the 2018 NCAA Tournament, Virginia became the first #1 seed in the history of the tournament to lose to a #16 seed, UMBC. The next year, Virginia took care of business, in the regular season and in the tournament, and went on to win the program’s lone national title. Last season, Purdue became the second #1 seed to lose to a #16 seed when they fell to Fairleigh Dickinson. This year, Purdue returned to the NCAA Tournament as a #1 seed and has made it all the way to the final game, five rounds beyond where they fell one year ago.
To reach the promised land that the Cavaliers of five years ago showed was possible to attain, they’ll need to rely on perhaps the most recognizable name on the men’s side of college basketball. Zach Edey could also pass in terms of the largest name in men’s basketball. (In terms of physical size, not name length, I’m not silly.) At 7’ 3”, Edey stands as an incredibly intimidating presence for just about any opponent when he mans the middle. His 25.0 points per game are the most of any player in the sport, while his 12.2 rebounds per game are second-most in the country.
One of the big reasons for Purdue’s sustained tournament success this year, which has been a rarity in recent years even disregarding last year’s First Round exit, has been the supporting cast surrounding Edey. Lance Jones, Fletcher Loyer, and Braden Smith are all averaging over 10 points per game and have given Edey more assistance, crucial in the tight games the Boilermakers have played in this tournament against Gonzaga, Tennessee, and NC State.
Entering the Final Four, few teams in the history of the current NCAA Tournament format had been as dominant as UConn. In the four games they had played before the Final Four, UConn had beaten their opponents by an average of 28.3 points per game, tied with Kentucky in 1996 for most among previous national champions. Then in the Final Four, the Huskies held college basketball’s best offense, who had averaged 90.6 points per game, to 72 points in their 14-point victory. Suffice it to say, UConn is a well-oiled machine.
And while well-oiled machines have graced college basketball’s presence before, the consistency of UConn’s is less rare. UConn are the defending national champions, having beaten San Diego State by 17 points in last year’s title game. Just like this year, UConn won all their games in last year’s tournament by 14 points or more. Head Coach Dan Hurley has instilled a mentality in his teams of consistency, and in his sixth year as UConn coach, it’s paid off with a chance to become just the fourth head coach in men’s college basketball to win back-to-back championships. (Joining a group with Billy Donovan, Mike Krzyzewski, and John Wooden is not bad company.)
Donovan Clingan and Tristen Newton are two reasons why it isn’t exactly shocking to see the Huskies in this position once again. Both were significant parts of last year’s championship team and they’ve upgraded into essential pieces of this year’s squad. Newton is the team’s leading scorer, while Clingan leads the Huskies in rebounding. Stephon Castle and Cam Spencer have shown they can outshoot anyone they face, while Alex Karaban is another massive presence who was a champion last year.
Zach Edey poses a threat to the dominance UConn has imposed in the interior with Clingan and Samson Johnson, yet that’s not the only way the Huskies can beat you. As they showed in their win against trigger-happy Alabama, UConn’s offense can slowly wear you down by hitting a couple of massive threes to slowly drag your heart out. And of course, they can block your shots down low and produce a couple of rim-shattering dunks when you think they’re focused on the outside shot.
Purdue has had a terrific season and their run to this game just cements their elite status in the game this season. They are one of a few teams who can legitimately win the National Championship and not have it be a statistical outlier. Yet, they’ve run into a team who probably couldn’t lose even if they tried to. UConn dominated their opponents this year and they kept doing so in the NCAA Tournament. They went on a 30-0 run at one point in the Elite Eight against Illinois. And then where we actually had questions about the Huskies, in close games, they passed any test given with ease in their Final Four win over Alabama, a game where I never lost confidence in UConn’s ability to win. The UConn men’s basketball program has been to five previous national title games… and they’ve won all five. There’s absolutely no way UConn loses this game, and honestly I could easily see the margin of victory being much higher. UConn becomes the first team since Florida in 2006 and 2007 to repeat as national champions.
*ZANDER’S PREDICTION* UConn: 73 - Purdue: 63
2024 will be the year when it was remembered that college basketball put on the show of a lifetime. This is gonna be fun.
For more information on this week’s top story, here’s two articles from ESPN
ESPN - How the 2024 women's NCAA championship game will play out
ESPN - How the men's 2024 NCAA championship game matchup was set
What Zander’s been reading
Three of America’s largest retailers - Amazon, Target, and Walmart - all now have their own membership services promising same-day delivery, discounts, and other perks. But the services each have differing features, including the price and the products you can buy.
Check out this week’s featured article at MarketWatch - Target Circle 360 vs. Amazon Prime vs. Walmart+: Which annual membership is the best deal? - (Apple News link)
Rapid-fire Facts
These are top news headlines from the past week in rapid-fire fashion:
Solar Eclipse: A total solar eclipse is set to cross North America on Monday with all 48 of the lower U.S. states able to witness at least a partial eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the earth, moon, and sun align, with the moon passing in between the earth and sun to block the sun’s light and cast a shadow on the surface of the earth. Parts of the U.S. will witness a total solar eclipse, meaning the moon will fully obscure the sun. The path of the total eclipse is expected to cross into Texas in the early afternoon before making its way northeast into Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. The total eclipse path will then move into the Northeast states, passing through Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. While the partial eclipse could last hours in some places, the total eclipse will only last a maximum of four minutes for those in the path.
Mexico-Ecuador: Mexico announced on Friday that it is severing its diplomatic ties with Ecuador after Ecuadorian police broke into the Mexican Embassy. On Friday, police broke through the embassy’s doors to arrest former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who has been indicted on corruption charges and was seeking political asylum at the embassy. Mexico has threatened to bring a case to the World Court in The Hague. Many South American nations including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay sided with Mexico to condemn Ecuador’s actions.
Florida Abortion: The Florida Supreme Court upheld the state’s 15-week abortion ban last week. The Monday ruling also allows a six-week ban that state lawmakers passed last year to take effect. However, the state’s high court also allowed a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion to be put on the ballot in November. The amendment would enshrine abortion protections into the state constitution and would invalidate the six-week ban, which is scheduled to go into effect in May. For the amendment to pass, it would need 60% of the vote instead of a simple majority.
World Central Kitchen Strike: Seven humanitarian aid workers working with the World Central Kitchen were killed on Monday in Gaza after being hit by airstrikes. The strikes had been launched by the Israeli military, who on Friday acknowledged that the officers who ordered the strikes violated the Israeli Army’s protocols. Officials said that the strikes were ordered on insufficient and erroneous evidence that a passenger in the aid convoy was armed. World Central Kitchen, which was founded by chef José Andrés, said that it had coordinated their plans in advance with the Israeli military.
Earthquakes: Two earthquakes taking place on opposite ends of the world drew headlines last week. In Taiwan, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck just offshore of the island on Wednesday. 13 people were killed and at least 900 were injured as buildings collapsed and landslides took place, while over 400 people are stranded after their locations were cut off by the damage. There have been hundreds of aftershocks, including a 5.2 magnitude aftershock that hit on Saturday morning. On Friday, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck New Jersey, shaking the major East Coast cities of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. The quake was the largest to strike the East Coast since a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck Virginia in 2011, with shaking felt from Maine to Georgia.
Zander’s Facts Sporting Club
Here are the top headlines from the sports world in the Sporting Club:
NBA Playoffs Countdown: Just one week remains in the NBA regular season before the calendar flips to the postseason. As of Sunday morning, just four teams have clinched guaranteed playoff spots. The Boston Celtics in the East and the Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets, and Oklahoma City Thunder in the West have all clinched playoff spots. In the East, all 10 spots in the Playoffs and Play-In Tournament have been clinched, yet seeding will be determined over the next week. In the West, the Houston Rockets are currently the only team outside the top 10 with a shot at the postseason, yet one additional loss will eliminate them. All 30 teams will play on the final day of the regular season next Sunday at either 1:00 pm ET or 3:30 pm ET.
UEFA Champions League Quarterfinals: The knockout rounds of the UEFA Champions League resume on Tuesday as eight clubs remain in this year’s competition. The first leg matches of the Quarterfinals will take place this week, beginning with Arsenal-Bayern Munich and Real Madrid-Manchester City. On Wednesday, the matchups will be Atletico Madrid-Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain-FC Barcelona. All four matches will kick off at 3:00 pm ET and stream on Paramount+. The Arsenal-Bayern and PSG-Barcelona matches will also air on CBS. The second leg matches will take place next week with the visiting clubs in the first leg hosting the second leg games.
The Masters: Golf’s first major of 2024 is set to get underway later this week in Augusta, Georgia. The Masters is set to tee off on Thursday with the Par Three contest kicking off festivities on Wednesday. Defending champion Jon Rahm returns to defend his title and is one of the favorites to win the tournament. Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, and Jordan Spieth are also some of the favorites. ESPN will air the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday beginning at 3:00 pm ET, with streaming coverage beforehand. CBS will air the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday, with coverage beginning at 3:00 pm ET on Saturday and 2:00 pm ET on Sunday, with streaming coverage beforehand.
Basketball Hall of Fame: The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2024 was officially announced on Saturday. Among those to be inducted include Chauncey Billups, the current head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers who won the NBA Finals as a player with the Detroit Pistons in 2004, Vince Carter, who is the only NBA player to play in four different decades, and Walter Davis, who is the all-time leading scorer for the Phoenix Suns. Also included are Jerry West, who is already in the hall as a player and member of the 1960 Olympic Gold winning-team and will enter as a contributor, four-time WNBA champion Seimone Augustus, five-time NBA champion Michael Cooper, two-time NBA champion Dick Barnett, and Michele Timms, the first Australian to play basketball internationally. Doug Collins, Harley Redin, Bo Ryan, and Charles Smith will enter as coaches, while Indiana Pacers owner Herb Simon will also be inducted.
SheBelieves Cup: The U.S. Women’s National Team will face Canada in the final of the SheBelieves Cup on Tuesday. The SheBelieves Cup is a women’s soccer competition composed of friendly matches, with this year’s tournament being held in Atlanta and Columbus, Ohio. The semifinals took place on Saturday with the U.S. coming from behind to beat Japan 2-1. In the second semifinal, Canada took down Brazil in penalties after a 1-1 draw. The final between the U.S. and Canada will be played in Columbus on Tuesday at 7:00 pm ET and air on TBS and Universo. In the eight previous editions of the tournament, the U.S. have won the final six times while Canada are in their first SheBelieves Cup final.
Wrapping up the Facts
Before this edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts wraps up, here’s another reminder to check out the latest episodes of the Zander’s Facts podcast. Download and listen to the latest episode of the podcast, along with every episode of Zander’s Facts, wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also listen to every episode of the podcast on this very website. All Zander’s Facts podcast episodes are now available on zandersfacts.com under the “Zander’s Facts” tab for your enjoyment! That includes the next episode of the Zander’s Facts Podcast, which comes out this Wednesday!
That’s a wrap on this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts. The facts in print return next Sunday, April 14, 2024.
