San Antonio - Even here, deep in the heart of Texas, where the sage in bloom is like perfume, the UConn Huskies are malodorous. To some, anyway. Like the one scholar in the media who began the "UConn Invitational" line of questioning Saturday at the Final Four. Or the other sage who mindlessly asked UConn questions to the Stanford players … before Stanford has to play Oklahoma.

It's been like this all year. The national frame of reference to women's basketball is UConn, UConn, UConn. It has generated more opinions than ever about the sport. Not just about UConn's place in it, but "the good of the game" itself.

Amusingly, the opinions have come from major media outposts that often ignore women's basketball. Common sense suggests that's exactly what helps expose the game to new and different people and places. All good, right?

Except that what happens when the same blatherers perpetuate the "UConn is bad for the game" theme when their "knowledge" of women's basketball needs a lube job? Half of them would need a lifeline on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" to resolve that an "Auriemma" is the name of a coach and not part of an aria.

("Quick, Myrtle, get dressed. We'll be late for 'Evita' at The Met. I hear Patti LuPone is going to do a killer 'Don't Cry For Me Auriemma.'")

The consensus from the Alamodome on Saturday from the women's basketball intelligentsia: Such newfound publicity for the game is a lot like cough medicine. Ultimately it's good for you. But it's a little hard to swallow.

"It's a good thing because women's basketball is getting more attention. I just wish some of the people writing the opinions were better informed," said Rebecca Lobo, an ESPN analyst, who knows plenty about good writing. Her husband is former Sports Illustrated columnist Steve Rushin, author of the new novel, The Pint Man.

"If you want to ask if UConn's dominance is bad for ratings or for drama, OK. But to weigh in on the game is annoying for people who are involved in the sport. What UConn is doing is special. To say they're bad for the game is absurd. I know how hard it is for a columnist to come up with a good idea, believe me. But at least write about it intelligently and learn a little about it, beyond, 'my daughter plays soccer.'"

Sun guard and ESPN analyst Kara Lawson, meanwhile, wondered if some of the offenders sit at the intersection of preconceived notions and mean agendas.

"Sometimes, I feel like writers and people out there will use the flavor of the month to say something unkind. This year, it's UConn being undefeated," she said. "People watch sports for the uncertainty of the outcome or for greatness. I watched LeBron James play (Friday) night and I couldn't tell you who they were playing. I didn't look at the score half the time. Is anyone saying it's bad for the NBA that you don't care who wins the game, that you're just watching him?

"Any time you have a chance to watch greatness," Lawson said of UConn, "you should take advantage of it."

ESPN's Doris Burke, who is a color analyst and sideline reporter for women's college basketball, men's college basketball and the NBA, said more women's basketball talk is permeating men's events because of UConn. That's a good thing. The "are they good for the game" stuff is not.

"It frustrates me," Burke said. "Connecticut honors the game every time they step between the lines. And it's not just during games. When it's blustery and cold and freaking Storrs, Connecticut and you just don't feel like getting out of bed to go to practice, Geno is on them to be their best. You just don't get that way by half-assing it in practice. Hey, we all get out of bed cranky some days."

There is an unintended, and perhaps beneficial consequence to UConn's stardom. The Huskies' ability to increase the level of interest and expose some of the other worthwhile storylines to greater masses underscores what Lawson, Lobo and Burke have said.

This Final Four offers the story of Brittney Griner, the 6-foot-8 center at Baylor who doesn't just bring dunking to the game, but the far more significant menace of shot blocking. This Final Four offers Oklahoma guard Danielle Robinson, who may get the ball foul line to foul line faster than anybody else ever has. This Final Four offers the story of Stanford coach Tara Vanderveer, who once wore a ribbon to the 1990 Final Four in support of Oklahoma, which was about to disband the women's basketball program. Now they're playing each other.

And these are the storylines that may dot the national media this weekend, the residual effect of UConn's presence.

"You either get better or you just keep letting people win," Geno Auriemma said. "And if you just keep letting us win then, you're right, it's bad for the game. But I guarantee you that five years from now, there will be a lot more good teams in America than there are today because of what we're doing.

"Someone's gotta stand up and say, 'I'll be the bad guy.' And right now, I'm the bad guy. We're the Yankees. We're the Celtics. But everything goes away at some point. And when the change comes, it'll be because somebody's paid attention to what we're doing and says, 'You know, that's how we're going to do it.' It's going to happen. And I would like to think that we're going to help it happen and that's good for the game."

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.