A decado ago, Connecticut Public Television and the University of Connecticut embarked on a crazy experiment that has changed women's sports. Believing that they had an untapped and underserved market, they put a few of the women's Huskies games on public TV.

The success has been phenomenal. UConn women's basketball is now the highest rated show on any public TV station in the country.

It's great for CPTV, it's great for the school, and it's great for the fans. Having lived in Connecticuit for a few years, I can attest how awesome it is to be able to watch every single game of your favorite team, even when you can't always make it to the game.

The great coverage enables more fan support, and the fan support has helped make the UConn women's team into one of the most successful institutions in women's sports.

Public television is a great solution to some of the intractable problems that women's sports face. Fans can't follow a team if there's no TV coverage, but if fans don't follow a team, then there won't be TV coverage. Looking to an alternate medium like public television is a smart way out of the catch-22.

I've always wondered why the same thing couldn't work, at least on a smaller scale, in other markets? What about Gophers games in Minnesota or Huskies games in Seattle?

Maybe someday the same model will be put to use elsewhere. But if nothing else, the Huskies will remain on CPTV for years. CPTV and UConn have just signed a big new contract guaranteeing great coverage for years.