For years now, the knock on womens' basketball vs. the mens' game...

[Black Diamond Vol]

...has been the lack of parity.  And while it's still true that only a small handful of teams have even a chance to win it all in the womens' game, it looks like the men are backsliding back to that point as well.  Just look at the respective Final Fours.  All four of the womens' #1 seeds made it.  For the men, you have three #1's, and #7 Michigan State.  But an underdog MSU making a run in March is about as surprising as the sun rising in the East.  Not to mention that UConn and UK are so far above the rest that their winning it all is pretty much a foregone conclusion. 

The women still lack parity.  But from where I sit, the mens' game has the least parity since Wooden's heyday.

[BanditVol]

...has been the lack of parity.  And while it's still true that only a small handful of teams have even a chance to win it all in the womens' game, it looks like the men are backsliding back to that point as well.  Just look at the respective Final Fours.  All four of the womens' #1 seeds made it.  For the men, you have three #1's, and #7 Michigan State.  But an underdog MSU making a run in March is about as surprising as the sun rising in the East.  Not to mention that UConn and UK are so far above the rest that their winning it all is pretty much a foregone conclusion. 

The women still lack parity.  But from where I sit, the mens' game has the least parity since Wooden's heyday.

True this season

[Clockwork Orange]

...has been the lack of parity.  And while it's still true that only a small handful of teams have even a chance to win it all in the womens' game, it looks like the men are backsliding back to that point as well.  Just look at the respective Final Fours.  All four of the womens' #1 seeds made it.  For the men, you have three #1's, and #7 Michigan State.  But an underdog MSU making a run in March is about as surprising as the sun rising in the East.  Not to mention that UConn and UK are so far above the rest that their winning it all is pretty much a foregone conclusion. 

The women still lack parity.  But from where I sit, the mens' game has the least parity since Wooden's heyday.

I don't agree with this at all. In the last three years, four of the twelve men's final four teams were 7+ seeds, and 6 of the twelve were 4+. In that same span, one 4 seed and one 5 seed made the women's final four, and the rest have been 1 or 2 seeds.

The parity in the men's game is pretty strong, and is almost non-existent in the women's game. Not much has changed IMO.

[Black Diamond Vol]

I don't agree with this at all. In the last three years, four of the twelve men's final four teams were 7+ seeds, and 6 of the twelve were 4+. In that same span, one 4 seed and one 5 seed made the women's final four, and the rest have been 1 or 2 seeds.

The parity in the men's game is pretty strong, and is almost non-existent in the women's game. Not much has changed IMO.

I know that's how it's been in recent past, but as more and more top coaches adopt the Calipari model, I think we're going to see more power consolidation among the big hoops powers.  You can probably count on one hand the number of programs that are even capable of recruiting multiple one and dones on an annual basis.   Cal and to a lesser extent Roy Williams have been living off those types of players for years.  Now Coach K has joined the party.   When ALL of the best players are going to the same 4-5 schools, the parity is going to dry up- IMO, it's already begun.   Time will tell, but this season feels like the new normal to me.  At least until some things change, ie eliminating the O&D rule.