Women’s college basketball has been improving every year. Geno Auriemma’s UConn, Dawn Staley’s South Carolina, and Kim Mulkey’s LSU have been at the top for years now and are the teams to beat, but more and more teams are making their case for a deep run in the NCAA tournament.
Over the years, Vic Schaefer’s Texas, Shea Ralph’s Vanderbilt, Jan Jensen’s Iowa, Niele Ivey’s Notre Dame, and Kim Caldwell’s Tennessee have proven that they can rise to the occasion and make an impact on college basketball.
Over the past few seasons, the spotlight has been dominated by the Iowa Hawkeyes, following the rapid rise of Caitlin Clark.
On Wednesday, Nielsen released its list of the 10 most popular women’s college basketball teams of the regular season, and Iowa topped the chart.
It seems Iowa is still reaping the benefits of Clark’s legendary college career, where she broke all sorts of records. Nielsen’s list of the most popular teams is as follows:
- Iowa Hawkeyes
- South Carolina Gamecocks
- LSU Tigers
- Tennessee Lady Volunteers
- Texas Longhorns
- UConn Huskies
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Iowa State Cyclones
- Michigan Wolverines
Nielsen took into account linear TV viewership as well as social media following.
Fans React to Iowa Being the Most Popular Women’s College Basketball Team
Fans online were surprised to see the Iowa Hawkeyes topping the list for the most popular women’s college basketball teams. One would have expected UConn and South Carolina, or even LSU, to be at the top due to their large fan bases and iconic players over the years.
Even the current form and players might have suggested three of those teams. However, that was not the case.
Here are a few fan reactions:
“Please define popular,” one fan demanded.
“Iowa WAS. Not anymore, because Clark is gone. Now they are a standard team,” another fan claimed.
“They must not be taking into account attendance or TV ratings. If they were, then South Carolina is #1,” one fan stated.
“We SUCK and we still get more attention than your fav lmao,” one Tennessee fan said.
“Man aint nobody paid attention to Iowa without CC,” one fan commented.
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