After scathing report, NCAA makes changes for March Madness

Nearly a year ago, Oregon forward Sedona Prince took to Twitter to expose some of the more glaring inequities between the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments — an unwelcome viral moment for the organization and one that it is still responding to.

The NCAA has made major changes to its women’s basketball tournament. Many of the changes have been relatively easy to do, such as expanding the tournament to 68 teams and using the phrase “March Madness” — once limited to the men’s tourney — in branding.

“This year there will be numerous and notable enhancements to the championship,” said Lynn Holzman, the NCAA vice president of women’s basketball. “What those have translated to is an enhanced women’s basketball student-athlete experience and fan experience.”

Prince was happy to hear it.

“Making those changes is incredible and I hope it continues to be that way, and not just from a massive scandal, and a player exposing them on a national stage,” she told The Associated Press. “Things shouldn’t be fixed that way. ”

There is still a lot of work to do, such as TV rights and revenue disbursement, just two of the issues outlined in a blistering report released last summer that looked into the inequities. The differences between the two tournaments were stark.

The NCAA said it has made a major effort to make the two tournaments more equitable, on and off the court. While the organization wouldn’t give an exact dollar amount, it did say it has spent millions more on the women’s tournament this year, with the Final Four set for Minneapolis. The men’s Final Four is in New Orleans.

“The zero-based budgeting exercise mentioned in the gender-equity report has been very detailed and time-consuming in a good way,” said Dan Gavitt, the NCAA