Vice President Kamala Harris faced criticism on social media after mistakenly claiming that women's NCAA basketball teams were not allowed to use tournament brackets until 2022. In an interview with Spectrum News reporter Tim Boyum in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday, April 4, Harris discussed the progress made in women's college basketball, but her comments were marred by a significant error.
"Think about that ... Talk about progress," Harris said. "You know better late than never, but progress and what that has done. Because of course, when, you know, I had a bracket and it's not broken completely, but I won't talk about my bracket."
The Vice President continued, "But you know, just how we love we love March Madness. And even just now allowing the women to have brackets and what that does to encourage people to talk more about the women's teams, to watch them now they're being covered, you know, and and this is the reality people used to say are women's sports."
Critics quickly took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to mock Harris for confusing "March Madness" - a copyright that was extended to cover women's college basketball in 2022 - with the term "bracket." Congressman Wesley Hunt wrote, "Well, Madam Vice President, then how did the teams pick their next opponents, out of a hat? Maybe they just drew straws. Or maybe you're just completely full of it."
Other users shared images and links to social media posts from March 2021, showing Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, using NCAA women's tournament brackets they had filled out themselves. "So you went with #1 seeds. I thought you were a fan of #2s!" Harris wrote to Emhoff at the time.
A representative from Harris' office later confirmed that the Vice President had intended to refer to "March Madness" branding rather than tournament brackets. The Women's Tournament only started using the March Madness branding in 2022, which had previously belonged exclusively to the Men's Tournament. However, brackets have been a staple of the Division I Women's Tournament since its inception in 1982.
Despite the confusion in her statement, Harris' intended message about the progress made in women's sports was not entirely off-base. The extension of the March Madness branding to the Women's Tournament in 2022 was a significant step in increasing visibility and coverage of women's college basketball.
Harris herself has been an active participant in bracket-filling, tweeting a photo this March of her completed brackets for both the men's and women's tournaments. While she only hit one Final Four team in each bracket, her chosen champions - South Carolina in the women's tournament and UConn in the men's - are still in contention.
The Vice President's bracket for the women's tournament had South Carolina emerging victorious from a Final Four field featuring Stanford, USC, and UCLA. In reality, Iowa, UConn, and NC State round out the remaining teams in Cleveland. On the men's side, Harris chose UConn to win, with a Final Four consisting of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Marquette. The top-ranked Huskies will instead battle Alabama, with the winner facing the victor of the Purdue vs. NC State matchup.
While Harris' misstatement about the history of women's NCAA tournament brackets drew mockery and criticism, it also served to highlight the ongoing efforts to promote and celebrate women's sports. As the Vice President noted, increased visibility and coverage are crucial in generating interest and support for female athletes and their accomplishments.
