Without looking it up on the Internet, tell me what team won the women’s basketball NCAA title last season.  Give up?  Maryland defeated Duke 78-75 in overtime.  It was the best basketball game I have seen in the last few years, but no one else I have met seems to know that the game was even played.  Most people don’t even care about women’s sports, let alone watch it.  It’s unfortunate, but a majority of female athletes don’t get the respect they deserve.

A perfect example of the apathy towards female sports is the lack of attention being paid to the glaring travesty in the current women’s college basketball coaches poll.  I assume that no one reading this story knows what I am referring to, so I’ll explain.  Both Ohio State and Oklahoma have 11-1 records.  Ohio State went on the road and defeated Oklahoma 74-67, yet the Sooners are ranked seventh, one spot ahead of the Buckeyes.  Sadly, this discrepancy is receiving zero media coverage.

Meanwhile, the heated debate about the college football rankings has been raging for months.  I can’t turn on ESPN without hearing about some team being overrated or some team being disrespected.  I thought USC’s 32-18 dismantling of Michigan would end these debates, but now I am forced to spend all day listening to why Boise State should get a shot at the national title.

The lack of interest in the basketball poll only begins to highlight the lack of respect shown to women’s sports today.  The ultimate slap in the face was delivered to the Detroit Shock of the WNBA.  The Shock won the 2006 championship in the fifth and final game, but the game was played in Joe Louis Arena instead of the Palace in Auburn Hills – their usual home arena.  The game wasn’t moved because of a Pistons playoff game, regular season game or even a preseason game, and it wasn’t moved because of a Red Wings game.  The game was moved because of a Mariah Carey concert!  There is nothing quite like playing hard all year long in order to secure home-court advantage and then losing it to Mariah Carey.  Try booting Duke from Cameron Indoor Stadium for a monster truck show or the Red Sox from Fenway Park for a concert and see how long it takes for a riot to start.

A few female athletes have become extremely popular and receive a ton of media coverage.  What is perplexing is the fact that the many of these well-known female athletes have yet to experience a lot of individual success.  IRL star Danica Patrick hasn’t won a race and isn’t even a consistent top-10 driver in a field of 18 but manages to be the most popular driver in the series.  Maybe it is because Danica is better looking than most or maybe it is because she is one of the few women in a male dominated sport.  Is that why I have to see hours of television coverage of Michelle Wie missing putts and cuts when she competes on the PGA Tour?

The most talented and most successful female athletes do not get a majority of the coverage and are rarely recognized for their accomplishments.  Does anyone even know that reigning WNBA MVP Lisa Leslie is going to miss the 2007 season because she is pregnant with her first child?  Apparently a female athlete has to look like a supermodel or have some other gimmick or hook in order to deserve the attention of the fans and media.

What can the rest of the female athletes do to get more media coverage and the recognition they deserve since performance and ability alone isn’t enough?  Maybe they can start fighting more during games and even go into the stands.  Maybe a female coach can promise to stay with her current team and leave for a new team a week later.  Other potential methods include releasing rap albums, substance abuse problems or the ever-popular DUI charge.

I happen to enjoy watching many women’s sports, especially basketball.  I don’t want people to watch a sport that doesn’t interest them, but I think more people would find women’s sports intriguing if they would just sit down and watch a game.  If the media isn’t reporting on these sports, then people aren’t going to watch.  So I ask ESPN:  show some highlights from women’s basketball games and talk about the rankings once in a while.  I look forward to the day when I can check out box scores from women’s basketball games without having to click on the More tab on the Yahoo! Sports page.