Double feature on Selection Sunday set the tone, and now let's enjoy both big dances

On one show, the fact the Big Ten landed nine teams in the NCAA men's tournament was a talking point, mindful that no team from the conference has won the title since Michigan State in 2000.

On another show, the number of teams on double-digit winning streaks entering the NCAA women's tournament was a topic. Can the teams on a roll stay on a roll, including Stanford, the defending champion currently on a 20-game win streak?

And around these shows, we could start filling out our brackets.

After years of being held on separate days, the women's selection show was back to being held on the same evening as men's show. There was a resulting Selection Sunday Showcase — although I had to switch channels to make it feel like a showcase — that should become a fixture and something advertisers can support.

This came about as the women's tournament has been expanded to 68 teams — 64 teams plus the winners of four play-in games. Since the play-in games need to be held earlier in the week, the women's selection show was moved to Sunday, an hour after the men's show ended.

College hoopologists were in heaven as they broke down two brackets, including one for the women's Final Four that will be played April 1-3 at Target Center.

Putting both men's and women's selection shows on the same night broadens the spotlight on college basketball during its most important month. Everyone benefits. The NCAA shows it is addressing disparities. The continued growth and interest in women's basketball is being recognized. And the players, especially those with name, image and likeness deals, benefit from the broader spotlight as well.

Some of this progress has come the hard way, as a committee had to examine and recommended changes after women's teams did not receive or have access to the same facilities as men did last season when the games were in a bubble. It took that setting, because of the pandemic, to expose the inequalities between the two tournaments.

Changes are being made. Facilities, meals and even the swag bags the teams receive at the Final Four will be similar. Referees will be paid the same for the men's and women's Final Fours. ESPN hosts smartly addressed these developments after the women's brackets were revealed.

But Tom Brady nearly derailed everything.

He tweeted early Sunday evening — in the middle of the men's selection show — that he was returning for another season with Tampa Bay. ESPN had to deviate from its script to address the Brady news. Even when he's not throwing a pass, TB12 wins.

ESPN's Holly Rowe jokingly chided Brady for his timing. "Give us a day for basketball," she said.

The goal is to make the Selection Sunday so popular that athletes like Brady don't even think about making announcements during the shows.

These shows are a prelude to the first week of games, arguably the greatest sports week of the year. And both tournaments will reduce their fields from 68 to 16 teams in the next week.

During spring training, the television in the Hammond Stadium press box is often turned to a tournament game during Twins spring training games.

In 2004, when Lindsay Whalen, Janel McCarville and the rest of the Gophers women reached the Final Four, it was a race to get done in time to find a place in Fort Myers that televised early round games. It got easier as the Gophers advanced before falling to UConn.

It shouldn't be very hard this year to find your favorite team or player on the flatscreen. And Minnesotans have reasons to follow the Big Dance this year, even with the Gophers headed to the NIT.

Ayoka Lee, from Byron, Minn,, leads Kansas State into the tournament as a ninth seed. She scored an NCAA-record 61 points in a game earlier in the season.

The state of Iowa moves into Minneapolis if the No. 2 seed gets out of the Greensboro Regional. The Hawkeyes are led by the unstoppable Caitlin Clark, who has five triple doubles this season and leads Division I in scoring.

And lurking as a No. 2 seed in the Bridgeport, Conn., Regional is UConn. The Huskies are as healthy as they have been all season. And former Hopkins star Paige Bueckers could lead them to Target Center.

We already knew the destination. Now we know where the teams are coming from. Enjoy March Madness. Prepare your apologies to your bosses and co-workers for a slowdown in production due to watching games and following brackets. It's better to ask for forgiveness sometimes than permission.