Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer questions two-regional format

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PORTLAND, Ore. -- Stanford Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer asserted Thursday that women's college basketball has "grown so fast that we haven't necessarily kept up with every single change."

VanDerveer, speaking one day before the two-seed Cardinal face the three-seed NC State Wolfpack in the Portland 4 regional semifinal, said that she does not prefer the change to the two-regional site, which debuted last season.

"I think personally it would be nice to be spreading this regional out," said VanDerveer, who became college basketball's all-time winningest coach in January. "I think that women's basketball, sometimes we make decisions, making them for two, three and four years out, then we're not in that same place. I think that four teams here would be great."

Since Stanford was upset in the second round of the NCAA tournament last year, this is the first time VanDerveer has experienced the new two-regional site format, which debuted last season with regionals held in Seattle and Greenville, South Carolina. This year's other regional is in Albany, New York. 

The women's tournament previously held regionals at four sites, as the men's event continues to do. The two-site format was announced in 2019, before the sport's recent explosion in popularity.

NCAA Vice President for Women's Basketball Lynn Holzman told the Associated Press that the selection committee was slated to review the championship format after the 2025 tournament. She has been pushing for some time to move the review up to this year.

"That review would include the First Four, first and second rounds and also an evaluation of the two-site regional format," Holzman said. "We want to look at the preliminary rounds of the championship, and with the growth we've had the last few years I think we should move up that review to start in 2024."

Another talking point surrounding the tournament's format that has garnered mixed views is that the top 16 seeds in the bracket host the first two rounds of NCAA tournament games.

"I don't know that we have it figured out yet, what is best for women's basketball," VanDerveer said. "But when we figure it out now, it might be different in two or three years. I think that's a little bit of a dilemma. I think we have to decide for women's basketball are we going to keep playing home sites? Are we going to go to one site, go to Vegas? Are we going to go to four sites? Those are for the powers to be."

This will also be the first experience of the two-regional format for NC State coach Wes Moore, who said Thursday that "so far I like it. We'll see."

"I'm excited to be in Portland. I do like the fact that people don't have a home-court advantage," he said. "We ran into that a couple of years ago. We were a double-overtime loss away from going to the Final Four. From that standpoint, I've noticed that Oregon State is in Albany. UConn is in Portland. I think they've made an effort to kind of even the playing surface."

VanDerveer also reiterated her support for the units program that exists on the men's side in which teams earn revenue for their conference upon winning in the NCAA tournament. Advocates maintain that implementing units on the women's side would encourage athletic departments to invest in their women's basketball programs. NCAA president Charlie Baker said recently there's a "commitment" by the association to bring it to the women's game.

Given Stanford's historic success on the national stage, VanDerveer quipped that if anything the NCAA should implement a "retroactive" units program.

"I think that'd really show how far women's basketball has come," VanDerveer said. "I'm someone that is in favor of that ... I think we're right there. It's evidenced by the support in this room, the national coverage of women's basketball, the ratings on television."

Moore said he also supports women's programs getting awarded units.

"I think now with our new TV contract, the emphasis that ESPN has made on women's basketball, I think you're going to continue to see [the game] take leaps," Moore said. "A lot of this is due to the talent. You've got some great players right now. Now you have it where people are going to see a particular player. That just tells you how far our game has come.

"I hate to admit it, the portal has probably caused for parity. Right now I think this thing's pretty wide open. I know South Carolina has definitely separated themselves during the regular season. But I do think there's a lot of parity in our game. I think that makes it exciting for people, as well."

Next year, the regionals will be held in Spokane, Washington and Birmingham, Alabama while in 2026 they will be in Fort Worth, Texas and Sacramento, California.