Playing catchup

Geno Auriemma has no one but himself to blame. Isn't he the one who's always said that if the rest of women's college basketball didn't want his UConn Huskies to keep beating it eleventy-hundred to 12, the rest of women's college basketball needed to elevate its game?

Sort of like, you know, Arike Ogunbowale elevated as the clock died in overtime last night.

That would be Arike Ogunbowale of Notre Dame, UConn's nemesis if it actually has one, and her jumper as time expired rolled neatly off her fingertips and sailed true as true. And when it splashed down, Notre Dame had stunned the unbeaten Huskies, 91-89, in their NCAA semifinal.

It was the second year in a row UConn had been knocked out on a last-second shot two wins shy of yet another title -- Morgan Williams of Mississippi State stuck the dagger last year -- and, unless you're a fan of street-corner bullies, this could not be better news. Every year UConn fails to win is another step toward the women's game becoming healthier and more competitive. And that makes it infinitely more saleable as a commodity than it would be if the women's Final Four remained the Final Foregone Conclusion it has been until recently.

The irony of this, of course, is that it finally puts to rest the argument over whether or not UConn was hurting the women's game. The answer: Yes and no.

Yes, because the Huskies beating everyone eleventy-hundred to 12 and winning a gazillion games and a whole string of national titles in a row is not the sort of scenario that compels audiences to tune in.

No, because by winning all those games and titles and beating everyone eleventy-hundred to 12, UConn has done exactly what Auriemma has been saying: It's made everyone else raise their games. Although the Huskies remain the women's game's pre-eminent power, they're not the only power now. There are more quality programs in women's college buckets now than there's ever been -- Notre Dame excepted, because the Irish have been a quality program ever since Muffet McGraw showed up on the sideline.

So there it is. UConn has, in fact, been good for the women's game.

First by winning all those games.

Now by losing a couple.