Caitlin Clark celebrates during senior day ceremonies in Iowa City, Iowa.
Cliff Jette/AP
Women’s sports might indeed be having a “moment” — more viewers, more fan engagement, more buzz — but are you part of it?
In this week’s “Polling Place,” your home for Sun-Times polls on the site formerly known as Twitter, we wanted to know how tuned in you are this March to women’s college basketball. No, not just to Iowa megastar Caitlin Clark, either, though her popularity is undeniable. Will you be following the conference tournaments and, of course, the Big Dance?
“I’m extremely tuned in!” @_Ireland_Clark commented.
“It’s baseball spring training time,” @kaseyi99 wrote. “That’s where my focus is.”
We also asked if Clark is the greatest women’s college player ever.
“To me, it’s Cheryl Miller,” @HuskyBobbyH offered. “Without her, we don’t have Clark.”
Commenter @BradEbann likened Clark to Steph Curry, describing her offense in superlatives but questioning her defense.
Last, we asked voters for their Big Ten’s men’s tournament winning pick. No surprise: Regular-season champ Purdue is inspiring considerable confidence. Not from @ProhibitionRiot, though, who wrote, “I’ll pull for Purdue like always but will bet against [it] in every round.”
On to the polls:
Poll No. 1: It’s March. How tuned in are you to women’s college basketball?
It’s time for this week’s “Polling Place.” Let us hear from you! Selected comments will appear in Saturday’s paper.
Q1: It’s March. How tuned in are you to women’s college basketball?
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) March 7, 2024
Upshot: There was so much buzz around last year’s Final Four, it would be great to witness it take hold again. And there’s a great chance of that happening, isn’t there? Clark is far more famous than she was then. South Carolina again is undefeated. People are talking. Something’s happening here.
Poll No. 2: Is Iowa’s Caitlin Clark the greatest women’s college player ever?
Q2: Is Iowa’s Caitlin Clark the greatest women’s college player ever?
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) March 7, 2024
Upshot: The opinions tend to be strong on this matter. No matter where you come down, Clark just hit two or three more shots from the logo in the time it took you to read this sentence.
Poll No. 3: Who’s your pick to win the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament?
Q3: Who’s your pick to win the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament?
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) March 7, 2024
Upshot: The Boilermakers will try to cut down the nets in Minneapolis just as they did a year ago in Chicago, though the real tension will come after that in the Big Dance. Is this the year the Boilers — who haven’t been to a Final Four under longtime coach Matt Painter and never got to one under the great Gene Keady before him — finally break through?