Every year the best teams in college basketball play each other in a massive tournament called March Madness. This NCAA sponsored event receives much attention, with many fans creating brackets to bet who they think will win the tournament.

This season, however, was a little different. While the men’s team usually gets most of the attention through game attendance and television ratings, this year the women’s teams reigned supreme.

The strongest women’s team’s this season were North Carolina State, University of Connecticut, the University of South Carolina, and the University of Iowa. These teams made up the final four with Iowa and South Carolina moving on to the final two, with South Carolina ultimately winning the tournament. However, not only have the teams garnered more media attention, but also so have the players. During this past season, the last few games were the most watched games in women’s basketball ever.

The most notable player of the season was Caitlin Clark of the University of Iowa. After her team lost in the final round of the tournament, Clark was still the top pick during the WNBA draft for next season. Her popularity helped increase views in women’s basketball overall.

During the WNBA draft this year, many people sat on the edge of their seats watching the event live after the success of the March Madness season. Clark was picked to join the team Indiana Fever with a four year contract of $300,000. The top four women, Clark, Cameron Brink (Stanford University), Kamilla Cardoso (South Carolina), and Rickea Jackson (University of Tennessee) all received similar contracts.

Following the WNBA draft, there has been mass controversy over social media. While the top four picks for women received  four year contracts of about 300,000 dollars. In the last NBA men’s draft, the top four picks for men received a contract of 8-10 million dollars. While the women are starting to receive media attention, they are not getting paid equally to the men.

The success of the women during March Madness brought more attention to both women’s basketball in general and gender equality in sports. The success of the women during March Madness brought more attention to both women’s basketball in general and gender equality in sports. It has sparked crucial conversations about pay disparities between the WNBA and NBA and given the movement for fair compensation more momentum.