WBB: A top-seed means frequent-flyer miles for Gamecocks

Off to the Sweet 16:

Well, Dawn Staley and her team have settled in at their regional. They deserved and earned a one-seed, and as needed, they won their two games in Columbia. As a one-seed, this generally means playing close to home.

Surely, Staley and the SEC Champion Gamecocks are playing in a nearby state, where travel is light and the fans and team are rewarded for winning everything in the Nation's perennial best league.

Of course they are. That's how the NCAA Tournament is supposed to work. Obviously, it doesn't work out sometimes, but more often than not, it does. So, the Gamecocks are obviously delighted with their regional in......Stockton, California?

NCAA's selection, USC's sacrifice:

To quote Ian Fleming's novel Goldfinger, "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time, it's enemy action."

Yes, three out of the last four years, the one-seeded Gamecocks have been shipped across time zones. It seems that USC has become the NCAA's victim, thanks in large part to a dearth of regional sites in the area.

It would seem that occasionally, the NCAA Selection Committee would send another one-seed across the contiguous states, but that has only happened once. In fact, the disparity runs deeper than most realize.

Something isn't adding up:

USC's four regionals have incurred more travel than all of the other one-seeds combined. I'll say it again, COMBINED. By road, in the last four seasons, USC has had regionals in Stanford (2,664 mi), Sioux Falls (1,355 mi), Stockton (2,638 mi), with a brief reprieve in Greensboro (183 mi).

That's an astounding 6,840 miles of distance, for a ONE SEED. From 2014-2017, what distance did the other one-seeds have? 6,344 miles.

UConn, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Maryland and Baylor have combined to average 529 miles per regional to USC's 1,710, and that's just one-way. Only Maryland (2,482 miles in 2014) has traveled in a similar fashion to the Gamecocks, though it appears that they have another gripe this year, being 3-seed in Bridgeport, CT.

Explanations for missing the mark:

These days, either the NCAA is playing favorites, or they expected the landscape of SEC women's basketball to be vastly different. Regionals in Lexington and Louisville appear to favor Tennessee, and while the Lady Vols were the power of the SEC, that still doesn't explain it all.

At some point in the three long-distance years, one would think that the NCAA would throw the Gamecocks a bone, but the committee quickly quashed any notion that USC would get a break.

The explanation was a head-scratcher for sure. Committee Chair Terry Gawlik's statement saying, "good of the game and the student-athlete experience" is immediately dismissed as a disingenuous toeing of the company line.

How could that comment be taken seriously?

Is it for the best "student-athlete experience" that the same team, deserving of a top seed, be sent cross-country at every opportunity?

Is it for the "good of the game" that the sport's rock star, Dawn Staley, and her team be ripped away from undoubtedly the best fan base in the nation?

The model citizens of Women's Basketball:

The Gamecocks and their fans have proven themselves worthy over the last four years, earning one seeds on the court and leading the nation in attendance in the stands. All of this while Staley has garnered attention that transcends college basketball and has earned her a place as the head coach of USA Women's Basketball.

One would think, at this point, that this is the kind of lethal combination that the NCAA would try to promote, to grow and foster their sport. But evidently not.

The plane has landed out West. Dawn's ladies are in Stockton, and while the fan base is relegated to watching it all on TV, I am positive that Dawn's team is not letting it interfere with their preparation or mindset. Staley's team is probably having a great time anyway and eager for the next game against Quinnipiac.

They have big dreams and big goals. As Staley said at the pep rally on Tuesday, the Gamecocks want to have a "Parade" in the next few weeks. If so, it will be one parade that the NCAA can't rain on.