March Madness, college athletes unionize, bobblehead theft

NPR’s Scott Simon and ESPN’s Michele Steele discuss March Madness, the new world of paid college athletes, and bobblehead crime.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

I look forward all week to being able to say, and now it’s time for sports.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: March Madness, time for brackets and small-change office pools, and a debate over the amateur status of college sports continues. Michele Steele of ESPN, a certified professional, joins us. Michele, thanks so much for being with us.

MICHELE STEELE: You can count on all of this sports news, Scott.

SIMON: Oh, my gosh, thank you.

STEELE: Yes.

SIMON: Thank you very much. Listen. The draw for both the men’s and women’s tournament will be set tomorrow night. Let’s begin with the women. The undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks are considered to be the undisputed favorites. But I don’t know. Do you want to count out Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes?

STEELE: I don’t think you can – you know, not after the kind of season she’s had. She’s the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer. And I think more broadly, Scott, this year, I think it’s possible the women’s tournament could be a bigger deal than the men’s side this year…

SIMON: Oh, yeah.

STEELE: …’Cause you got Clark, right?

SIMON: Yeah.

STEELE: You got Clark. You got the Iowa Hawkeyes. They’re going to be a 1-seed. You got a dynasty program with South Carolina. They have yet to lose a game. The defending champs – Louisiana State, UConn, always in contention.

SIMON: Yep.

STEELE: The women’s game is just riding a wave of popularity thanks to the big-time star power on that side.

SIMON: Men’s side now – not a clear favorite, right? You got Houston, Connecticut, Purdue, but it seems to be wide open.

STEELE: Yeah. Yeah, you know, Purdue, Houston and UConn are all slated to be or expected to be 1-seeds. There was talk that, you know Tennessee would be in there too, but they lost in the SEC Tournament. They got blown out of the water, losing 73-56…