It’s nothing new that less attention is payed to women’s sports than men’s. One has to look no further than the financial struggles of the WNBA, a league that each day appears to be on the cusp of folding completely.

The same applies to the world of NCAA sports. If you asked the casual sports fan, how many do you think would be able to tell you what Tennessee Volunteers coach Pat Summit just accomplished? How many do you think would be able to tell you who the No. 1 women’s team in the nation is?

The fact that the answer is “fewer than most” is a problem.

I’ll be the first to admit that I was less than excited when I learned I would be covering the women’s basketball team this season. It took one game for me to turn my perspective around

The women’s game is a completely different game from the men’s, but different does not equal worse.

Is it the ability to dunk that draws fans to the men? Is it the increased level of power? If you’re looking for intensity, emotion and competition night in and night out, the women have exactly what you’re looking for.

The NIU women have a 7-3 conference record and are a lock to at least compete in the MAC tournament. Only weeks ago, they took a team that hasn’t lost in their last 20 games to overtime, in a game the Huskies really should have won. What’s more is the fact that this game was in DeKalb, yet student attendance was as low as it always is.

So why does women’s basketball continue to act as little more than a sidebar to the men’s? Just to use NIU as an example, men’s games this year have averaged about 1,000 more people a game than the women’s, according to the NIU athletic Web site. In nine home games, the men have averaged 1,791 fans while the women’s team has managed only an average of 634 fans a game.

Keep in mind that this is for a men’s team with a 6-16 overall record and a 2-8 conference record and has been a major disappointment thus far. I want to know why. Why does a sub-par team pull 1,000 more a night than a team who’s going to be contending for a MAC championship? Why are more people talking about the disappointment of the men’s team rather than the great conference play the women have been exhibiting?

Consider this a public service announcement to the student body of NIU: You do have the opportunity to watch a good NIU basketball team. You have the opportunity to see this team for free.

I know it may not be what you’re used to, but trust me, give it a chance. You won’t be disappointed.